2023

Pitkänen-Huhta, Anne; Mård-Miettinen, Karita; Nikula, Tarja

This article, a lead-in to the special issue, starts by discussing the key characteristics of language education in Finland, with a special focus on how the official bilingualism and development of multilingualism feature in the structures of language education. Secondly, the article presents some recent turns in research on language use and learning, which have influenced current ways of understanding language learning. Research has shown that language learning is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, which needs to be approached from various disciplinary angles. Thirdly, the article discusses ways of portraying the complexity and layeredness of language and language learning and identifies five key themes characterising the way language learning is approached in the articles of this special issue. Finally, the 17 articles in the special issue are presented.