Research

Language learning is never just about listening or reading, but also about brain development. Now you have the opportunity to join the research to prove that! Here you will learn more about our research and data collection in practice.
What does this project look in practice?

We will add enriched activities to the daily Chinese class in the comprehensive primary schools in Southern Finland. 

  • These activities are uniquely designed for language learning. After our careful and concrete planning, they are both educational and fun for school-aged children.
  • The activities are part of the Chinese language learning at school, delivered by a professional educator and the child's Chinese language teacher.
  • The research on learning will take place in the spring and fall of 2025. The comparison of test results collected at different time points will show you how beneficial these activities can be to language learning and brain development.
  • No prior knowledge of Chinese is needed.
  • No special equipment or clothing is needed.
What kinds of measurements do we have?

Data will be collected through language tests and brain recordings.

Language tests measure various skills including listening, word recognition, and pronunciation. Instructions and test items are easy for children to understand and suit their language proficiency so that they will never feel too stressed or frustrated during tests.

Apart from language tests, we also have brain recordings to look at how language learning shapes children’s brains and the way they think. The results will be highly useful for language teaching.

Brain recordings (electroencephalogram, EEG) are a safe and painless procedure to record the brain's spontaneous activity. Children can do this either alone or with the company of a schoolmate or guardian. During the measurement, children will play a simple game while wearing a cloth electrode cap.

Why are we doing this?

Music sessions setting the pace of the students' day! Years ago, in a primary school, about 40 children regularly participated in after-school activities. They were divided into two groups of about 20 children, but there were more or less of them in groups every day, depending on what time they left school. They are also free to group eg. for scheduling reasons. All were first or second grade students with a musical background to mention. The instructors of the groups remained the same throughout the school year.

Since the afternoon activities were music-oriented, the daily programme included diverse singing and rhythm games in about 15-minute sessions from the very beginning. They were virtually the same in both groups, but their timing varied:

Group A first did their homework and then held a singing playtime. Group B first had a singing play session, after which the children did their homework. After games and homework, there were outdoor activities, a snack and more musical activities.

After a while, group B instructors noticed that group B children were always able to get outdoors faster than group A. During the year, it turned out that group B children completed their homework almost half as fast as group A. Eventually, Group A decided to start the afternoon activities with music.

Our conclusion from this observation of everyday activities is that music sessions should be placed to rhythm children's activities. They can suitably cheer and calm you down, as well as divert your thoughts away from cognitive (homework-related) learning for a while.  After the music sessions, homework tastes good again!

We will make sure all children are safe and comfortable
  • The research plan has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee in the Humanities and Social and Behavioural Sciences.    
  • After having permission from the principal, the doctoral researcher Xiazhen Liu has been joining the Chinese class since January 2024; the research assistants have met with the children in the 2024 Spring semester. Therefore, the children are familiar with our researchers and are comfortable with them being around. 
  • Written consent from guardians and oral consent from children is needed before investigation 
  • All activities and tests are age-appropriate, safe, and painless.  
  • All activities and tests take place in children's schools. No extra transportation or other time-consuming actions are needed. 
  • No audio or video recordings are included.  
  • Test results will be handled on absolutely confidential basis. 
Research privacy notice

In the privacy notice (text in Finnish), you will find information about the processing of personal data in the longitudinal study on Chinese language learning in Finnish elementary schools. 

If you have any questions or concerns about the research or would like to receive some more information, please get in touch with Xiazhen Liu (xiazhen.liu@helsinki.fi) and Dr. Mari Tervaniemi (mari.tervaniemi@helsinki.fi).