Anna-Kaisa Jokipohja (anna-kaisa.jokipohja@uta.fi) works in the project as a research assistant. She is interested in the processes of teaching and learning Finnish as a second language. She is planning to write a doctoral dissertation on the use of gestures in second language (F2) classroom interaction.
Laura Kananen (laura.e.kananen@tuni.fi) is a doctoral student. The aim of her research is to analyse the development of interactional competence of adult literacy learners with migrational background. Her data is longitudinal and gathered both from classrooms interactions and everyday life encounters. The practical aim of her research is to develop pedagogical and material practices to support F2 adult literacy learners´ learning processes in classroom interaction and in their social world outside the classroom.
Niina Lilja (niina.lilja@uta.fi) works as a University Lecturer at the University of Tampere. Her research focuses on the use and learning of Finnish as a second language in a variety of interactional settings. She is especially interested in analysing how linguistic, embodied and material resources work together in interactions and how participants deploy these resources to construct meaningful social actions.
Terhi Tapaninen (terhi.tapaninen@staff.uta.fi) is a teacher of Finnish as a second language. She is motivated by finding new pedagogical practices and by experimenting with various teaching methods. She believes in learning by doing and learning by interacting. In addition to her teaching career, she has written textbooks for learners of Finnish, participated in several international networks and projects developing methods for second language learning and teaching and worked in projects of continuing education for teachers.
Johanna Saario (johanna.saario@jyu.fi) works as a Finnish as a Second Language Lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä Language Centre. Her research interests are related to the learning of Finnish language in interaction. She has conducted research on classroom interaction and disciplinary literacy, as well as analyzed the possibilities that everyday interactions create for language learning.
(Pictures Jonne Renvall / The University of Tampere)