Language practices in the work communities of Finnish Language Centres

Abstract Linguistic diversity is growing in Higher Education, driven by factors like internationalization and digitalization. This trend necessitates a reevaluation of language practices within academic communities. Language Centres play a crucial role in modelling effective practices and reshaping these practices to address the multilingual needs of university staff and students. This study explores how university Language Centre staff in Finland describe language practices within their work communities and examines the motives behind them. A Language Centre is an institution within a university focused on teaching and supporting language learning. Survey data from 95 staff members across all Finnish universities was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings indicate positive correlations between the clarity of language practices, visibility of multilingualism, freedom of language choices, and staff satisfaction. However, challenges remain in maintaining clarity of such practices and satisfaction of the staff. The qualitative analysis identified six key motives for language choice: time-benefit ratio, national languages, communication certainty and emotions, accessibility and inclusion, lingua franca, and multilingualism. A constellation model is introduced to highlight the situational and dynamic interplay of these factors shaped by the surrounding space and the conception of language ownership. This study acknowledges the situational nature of community dynamics and stresses the importance of discussion to promote mutual understanding. Language issues extend beyond individual preferences to the community’s overall capacity for language awareness. The results of this research encourage Language Centre professionals to not only facilitate discussions on language practices as experts within their universities but also to actively reflect on these issues within their own communities.