MEDIATED RECEPTIVE MULTILINGUALISM: COMPREHENSION OF FINNISH VIA ESTONIAN BY RUSSIAN-DOMINANT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

This study deals with mediated receptive multilingualism in comprehension of Finnish by Russian-dominant upper secondary school students in Estonia. The objective of the experiment is to analyse whether students with Russian as L1 and Estonian as L2, with no prior knowledge of Finnish, can understand Finnish utilizing their command of Estonian. The research in this field can enhance understanding of the processes in acquiring a foreign language without direct exposure to it. The linguistic experiment that was compiled to assist the objective of the research consisted of a test written in Finnish and a questionnaire. The respondents had to take the test and then fill in the questionnaire that aided to interpret the results. The outcome of the study indicated that the students excellently tackled the tasks of the experiment on understanding texts in Finnish. The students' L2 (Estonian) played a key role in understanding the Finnish texts. Likewise, the results of the experiment demonstrated that the understanding of a foreign text can be influenced not only by early-acquired languages, but also by other factors, such as frequent traveling to a country where the language is spoken, the internet, advertising and intuition.