Teaching strategies and materials in foreign language teaching in Finland: Focus on basic and upper secondary education

The purpose of this study was to investigate what teaching strategies and materials are
used in foreign language education in Finland. The data were collected with an online questionnaire that was answered by 550 language teachers from primary school to adult education. Descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA were used to analyse the dataset. The results showed that printed textbooks, mechanical exercises, communicative tasks, and comprehension exercises were widely used in foreign language education, while fiction, non-fiction, and national and international collaboration were rarely implemented into teaching. Major differences in the use of teaching strategies and materials were detected across educational levels. The results imply that training about more multifaceted teaching methods for teachers and student teachers is required, and greater attention should be given to diversifying foreign language teaching materials. Providing higher-quality ready-made materials for teachers and considering the effect of the matriculation examination on teaching strategies and materials are also essential implications of this study.