Face-to-Face Communication and Social Positioning in the Experience World of Finnish Technical Professionals

Abstract

The objective of the research was to examine the experience world of professionals in the field of technology as users of foreign languages to illustrate the general meaning structure in the agency of a foreign language user. The theoretical framework of this research was phenomenological. The fieldwork was carried out through thematic interviews with seven interviewees in a medium-sized Finnish engineering company with international operations. Through a phenomenological method of analysis the individual meaning units were identified. Out of these individual meaning units a common meaning structure that reflected the experiences of all the interviewees was uncovered. Face-to-face communication and social positioning manifested as common meaning units, significant elements forming this structure in the accounts of the interviewees. Thus the findings of this research project suggest that in foreign language education special attention should be paid on establishing oral communication and thereby nurturing interactive communication skills in the students, instead of focusing on providing web-based language education.