Ekaterina Protassova

This study investigates teacher agency in preschool bilingual education, focusing on the ways in which educators deal with linguistic, cultural, and relational dynamics in Finnish–Russian early childhood contexts. Drawing on educators’ reflections, the findings show that professional agency extends beyond curriculum delivery to include identity work, creative self-expression, and the cultivation of an affective environment that supports children’s linguistic, socio-emotional, and cultural development. Interviewed members of the staff highlight the significance of their native language and cultural experience as foundations for transmitting knowledge and values, while also recognizing the need for professional development to deepen their understanding of bilingual acquisition processes. The study further demonstrates that bilingual education is shaped by the emotional climate, relational atmosphere, and affective atmosphere of preschools, where cooperation with parents, collegial support, and child–teacher bonds play decisive roles. At the same time, educators face challenges such as heavy workloads, limited resources, and difficulties in engaging parents, which reveal a tension between the ideal of collaborative bilingualism and the realities of everyday practice. The research aligns with global perspectives on flexible bilingual strategies—such as the “one teacher–one language” approach and translanguaging—and underscores the importance of systemic support, professional development, and inclusive policies. The findings suggest that effective bilingual education requires not only linguistic expertise but also emotional commitment, cultural sensitivity, and empathetic collaboration across teachers, parents, and institutions.

Global migration is reshaping demographics and increasing linguistic and cultural diversity in previously homogeneous communities (Lapp et al

This article examines multilingualism in the prose of Vladimir Sorokin and Viktor Pelevin through an integrated translingual and sociolinguistic framework. Despite extensive scholarship on both authors’ postmodern and neomodernist aesthetics, the role of multilingual practices in their narrative structures remained underexplored. The study addresses this gap by analyzing how code-switching, borrowing, neologism, and resemanticization function across their texts as systematic rather than ornamental devices. Drawing on close reading and corpus-based selection of multilingual elements, the analysis identifies three main dimensions of literary multilingualism: discursive power, identity negotiation, and cultural translation. These dimensions reveal how linguistic hierarchies encode ideological asymmetries, how characters and narrative voices construct shifting subjectivities in contexts of globalization and post-Soviet transformation, and how meaning is transformed through cross-linguistic circulation. The comparative analysis shows that Sorokin’s multilingualism foregrounds cultural commodification and the marketization of language, while Pelevin’s linguistic hybridity emphasizes ontological instability and the simulation of meaning systems. In both cases, multilingual practices destabilize monolingual norms and function as structural principles shaping dystopian imaginaries, cultural critique, and representations of the world. The article argues that multilingualism in these works is not a stylistic feature but a central mechanism through which power, ideology, and meaning are produced and contested in contemporary Russian literature.

We frame our study within the concept of teacher agency, which enables us to connect broader theoretical debates with the specific context of our research. Bilingual preschools provide a particular...

1. Globalization has significantly reshaped culinary landscapes, enabling the widespread availability of diverse ingredients and cuisines (Inglis 2015). This exposure allows individuals to explore ...

People in multilingual societies develop complex and interconnected food-making and food-discussing networks. On the basis of an experimental course titled “Food at Home, Food on the Move: Globalization and Regionalism in Modern Food Culture” taught at the University of Helsinki, we will show how the acquisition of culinary terminology puts forward the interconnectedness of languages and the dynamics between them in several sociolinguistic contexts. The lectures were grouped geographically: Eating with the Neighbors (Finnish cuisine and Swedish, Russian, Karelian and other influences); From the Baltic to Central Europe (Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, German, and Hungarian food cultures); Formative Cuisines of the Mediterranean (French, Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern cuisine, etc.); and Eating Outside Europe (food culture influences from the US, Mexico, China, Japan, and India). The assignments included a critical lecture diary, an essay about eating experiences, or additional reading, a conversational analysis of a culinary show, or fieldwork in an ethnic restaurant. Raising awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, motivating course participants to discuss the role and interaction of languages in their repertoire, makes them reflect on their multilingual identities. It allows educators to explore individuals’ DLCs in different contexts while navigating diverse global and local environments based on the principles of fairness and equality in education.

Linguistic practices in heritage language (HL) acquisition refer to the ways in which language is used, managed, and passed on within families, communities, or institutions to help children, adolescents, and young adults learn and maintain it

Introduction: Among the first objects which babies view and watch are various toys. The play has an enduring impact for the personal growth. The goal of our project was to explore why toys and playthings brought from the country of origin are an important component of the material and symbolic heritage in diasporic Russophone families, how their meaning is negotiated, and values assigned.Materials and methods: The study uses thematic, discourse, and content analysis drawing on a survey and group interviews. The participants (53 + 25), aged 5–61 at the time of relocation, emigrated from Russia and other post-Soviet countries to various destinations for personal, family, and professional reasons.Results and discussion: The results of the survey we conducted emphasize the multifaceted role of toys in child development, family culture, and education, stressing the importance of play over the toys themselves. Respondents advocate a thoughtful curation of toys to foster creativity and emotional growth, noting that an excess of toys may hinder children’s imagination. Psychologically, toys provide comfort, joy, and a sense of continuity amidst transitions. Families value traditional or handmade toys for their cultural and historical significance, creativity enhancement, emotional connections, and intergenerational bonding in the language transmission. The independent play fosters processing of emotions and transitions from life in a familiar milieu to a new environment. Environmental concerns about plastic toys and a preference for sustainable materials are raised. Participants view toys as contributors to children’s integration into the host society. The detailed personal narratives of those who migrated at an early age focus on the toys that shaped their early years revealing a profound significance of playthings, reflecting on the creativity and resourcefulness in their play and witnessing diverse economic circumstances and cultural backgrounds.Conclusion: Participants’ memories and experiences with toys show how language serves as a crucial medium for expressing and preserving memories, while culture provides the context within which these toys are understood and valued. Social interactions and cultural norms impact the significance of toys in the lives of the Russophone immigrants.

Successful interaction between family and preschool is crucial in the early stages of bilingual development. Traditionally, a Finnish–Russian preschool brings together children from Finnish-speaking, Russian-speaking, and bilingual families. Educators communicate with children and parents in different languages, using specific translanguaging strategies to develop both languages. The study explores how educators interact with parents and how children interact with each other without a common language. Reflective interviews with teachers explore various aspects of their professional activities, emphasizing the expert use of different languages to expand children’s language skills and foster appreciation. Teachers’ attitudes can shift upon reflection, underscoring the need for partnerships with parents. Additionally, the study analyzes educators’ opinions about play without a common language among children with diverse languages. The longitudinal case study within a bilingual Finnish–Russian preschool thematically groups answers from 18 interviews, focusing on the dynamic relationship between teachers and parents, crucial for creating a supportive learning environment for children’s holistic development. The results show that educators, when reflecting on their role in bilingual education, emphasize a wide range of positive examples of interactions with parents, from constructive professional relationships to long-lasting friendships. They believe that while they cannot replace family interactions, they can develop the child’s abilities within their group of peers. Specifically, play without a common language allows children to communicate with peers in different languages.