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Learning Finnish as a foreign language for people on the autism spectrum

Hello! I am a student at the University of Helsinki, and I am currently writing my master's thesis about the experiences of people on the autism spectrum who are learning/have learnt Finnish as a foreign language. I have created this questionnaire to help me in my research. All the answers are given anonymously. If you are on the autism spectrum and have any experience in learning Finnish as a foreign language, would you take the time to answer my questions? It would really help me a lot! :)

Turvattu
Survio
Luo kyselytutkimus

First I will ask a few things about you, such as your age and your native language. Then, I will ask how easy or difficult different aspects of learning Finnish have felt to you. The questionnaire has 27 questions, and not all of them are mandatory. Thank you so much for your participation! Let's begin!

1

How old are you?

2

Gender

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3

Have you been officially diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder?

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4

Even though these terms are controversial/disappearing, have you been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome? If not, would you say you have so called "high functioning autism"?

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5

What is your native language?

6

Besides Finnish, have you studied other foreign languages? If so, which one(s)?

7

How long have you studied Finnish?

8

Where have you studied Finnish?

Ex: at language classes, on your own, as your major or minor subject at the university...
9

Why did you start learning Finnish?

10

How would you describe your current language level in Finnish?

Here you can either use the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (A2, B1...) or answer with sentences (for example: I can speak Finnish fluently)
11

Is this the first time you answer a survey about this topic? (aka people on the autism spectrum who learn Finnish as a foreign language)

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Luo kyselytutkimus

I would now like to know what in your opinion feels easy or difficult about learning Finnish. You can answer even if you studied Finnish a long time ago and don't study it anymore. In this case, you can answer based on how difficult things felt at the time when you were studying them.

12

Finnish cases and their use

Ex: genetive (taloN), partitive (taloA), inessive (taloSSA)
13

The fact that the cases often have several meanings

Ex: Kissa on pöydäLLÄ vs Matkustan junaLLA vs MinuLLA on kissa
14

Finnish verb conjugation

Ex: olen, olin, olen ollut...
15

The passive

Ex: ollaan, syödään, otetaan...
16

The different word types

Ex: word that end in -nen (nainen, ihminen), word that end in -e (perhe, tietokone) etc.
17

The vowel harmony

Vowel harmony means that the letters a, o, u and the letters ä, ö, y do not usually appear in the same words.
18

The fact that some consonants turn into others or disappear (consonant gradation)

Ex: äiTi - äiDillä, puKu - puVussa, meKKo - meKon
19

Learning vocabulary, and the fact that some words resemble each other a lot

Ex: tuli - tulli - tuuli, palo - pallo
20

If you would like to elaborate on the answers you gave to the previous questions, please do it here:

Luo kyselytutkimus
21

Finnish is easy to learn, because it is systematic and the rules have very few exceptions

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22

I have noticed repetitive patterns in Finnish that have made learning the language easier

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23

What do you think is the hardest thing about learning Finnish?

24

What do you think is the easiest thing about learning Finnish?

25

If you've learned other foreign languages, has Finnish been more difficult to learn than the others?

This question is optional.
26

If you had to describe Finnish language in a couple sentences, what would you say?

This question is optional.
27

Do you have any other thoughts about learning Finnish that you would like to share? If so, do it here!

This question is optional.

Thank you so much for your answers!

Luo kyselytutkimus