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Poster Short Abstract

My doctoral dissertation examines the influence of language proficiency requirements from the perspective of adult immigrants through co-creative citizen science, in which adult immigrants act as researchers. The first phase of my research focuses on identifying shared concerns.

Poster Abstract

The language proficiency requirements for immigrants have become increasingly stringent in Finland and across Europe, impacting access to, e.g., higher education, employment, and citizenship. My doctoral research is the first venture to study such issues. As a part of the IMPACT project (https://www.jyu.fi/fi/hankkeet/impact), my doctoral dissertation examines the influence of language proficiency requirements from the perspective of adult immigrants through co-creative citizen science, in which adult immigrants act as researchers. The first phase of my research focuses on identifying shared concerns, with the aim of educating and preparing the research community before engaging in co-designed research with adult immigrants (Robinson, Delany & Sugden 2024, 4). The first research question is: What themes related to language proficiency requirements and high stakes language testing in Finland do adult immigrants consider important to investigate? To explore this question, I analyze the multilingual survey data collected in the IMPACT project (around 200 responses). I will use thematic analysis to identify themes in the data that are relevant to the research conducted in collaboration with adult immigrants. In my poster, I will present preliminary research findings to the first research question on the basis of this data.

Reference: Robinson, D., Delany, J. & Sugden, H. (2024). Beyond Science: Exploring the Value of Co-created Citizen Science for Diverse Community Groups. Citizen Science: Theory and Prac-tice, 9(1): 13, 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.682