Bilingual Higher Education BiEd

The project develops bilingual pedagogy for English-taught degree programs.

The aim of the project is to improve the employment opportunities of international students in Finland. This will be achieved by strengthening the learning of the Finnish language in English-taught degree programs. The project will develop models for bilingual pedagogy and internships, enhance the multilingual and cultural awareness skills of  staff, and support the receptiveness of the labor market

The number of foreign-language students in universities of applied sciences, especially in English-taught programs, has increased rapidly. However, these graduates often face higher unemployment rates or end up in jobs that do not match their qualifications, leading to underutilization of their skills or emigration.

Key actions of the project:
1. Pilot bilingual study modules in English-language UAS degrees, where Finnish language instruction is integrated with subject teaching.
2. Enhance the bilingual pedagogical skills of teaching and guidance staff.
3. Develop a model of bilingual pedagogy that can be applied to different degrees regardless of the field.
4. Develop a model for bilingual internships that supports workplaces in guiding bilingual internships and helps foreign-language students learn the language at the internship site.
5. Develop an online course on language-aware teaching for teaching and guidance staff. The online course will benefit staff working in both Finnish and English programs.

The project is led by Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), with co-implementers Humak University of Applied Sciences, Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OAMK), and Savonia University of Applied Sciences. The project runs from January 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027.