I am a PhD candidate in Finnish language and a Project Researcher in the MultiLX: Strategies to strengthen European linguistic capital in a globalised world research project, which explores multilingualism among young adults across Europe.
Previously, I have worked in various research and teaching positions in the Nordic countries and North America. I was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and worked in Finnish language programs at the universities of Toronto, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. In Jyväskylä, I have worked as a researcher on two team-ethnographic projects: Building Blocks, which explored work-related language learning, and Crossing Borders, which focused on art-based research methods, language, and belonging. I have also taught courses in Finnish as a second and foreign language for pre-service and in-service teachers in Jyväskylä.
My research interests include language and power across institutional contexts, with attention to linguistic and racial diversity, (de)colonization, and (in)equity. In my dissertation, I examine language ideologies, raciolinguistic ideologies, and de facto language policy in vocational education and training in Finland. I analyze team-ethnographic data collected with vocational educators and migrant vocational students applying critical sociolinguistic research methods. My supervisors are Prof. Minna Suni and Prof. Sari Pietikäinen.
The PhD is part of the research project Building Blocks: Developing Second Language Resources for Working Life (PI Prof. Suni). My work is funded by the Ellen and Artturi Nyyssönen Foundation, the Finnish Literature Society, the OLVI Foundation, the Fulbright Finland Foundation, the American-Scandinavian Foundation (Suomi-Amerikka Yhdistysten Liitto), and the Finnish Cultural Foundation as well as the Department of Language & Communication Studies and the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä.
