Paula Korkala

I work as a project researcher in a national project where we are developing a nationwide Finnish language proficiency assessment tool to support the selection and transition between the Finnish language and literature courses in basic education. The tool is meant to help teachers assess when it’s recommended for a multilingual student to move from studying Finnish as a second language and literature (S2) to studying Finnish language and literature (S1). In this project funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education, we collaborate with many parties, and it’s especially important for us to involve different schools from all over Finland.

I’m interested in learning, multilingualism, language awareness, motivation, and students’ self-concepts and the learning environments that influence them. I’m also interested in language-aware pedagogy in reading and literature teaching, as well as teaching and learning vocabulary in S2 teaching.

I have worked as an S2 teacher for learners of all ages, but in my official role over the past few years, I have been teaching multilingual middle school students. I am also a textbook author.  

Feel free to get in touch if you're interested in collaborating on any of the topics mentioned above, or if your school wants to participate in a project developing a Finnish language proficiency assessment tool.  

More information about the assessment tool is available on the Finnish National Agency for Education's website.