Language as a Proxy in Inclusion and Exclusion: Language and access to services

Language thus acts as a gatekeeper for in/exclusion in society, and speaking an official, national language is portrayed as a sign of loyalty towards the state and a proof of ‘integration’ and trustworthiness. In this, language practices become a site in which assumptions about belonging, competence and cultural alignment are imposed. This is also relevant in institutional encounters, where assessment, documentation and language requirements may shape access, participation and belonging. 

Research in language studies has, however, for several decades shown how language ideologies are always about more than language. In many state policies, language is used as a proxy for race, ethnicity, religion or other categories that cannot legally act as basis for differentiation. In this, certain populations and speakers are surveilled and marked more than others, maintaining colonial power asymmetries. ‘Language barriers’ thereby also reflect embedded power hierarchies and structures to in/exclude. 

Monolingual language ideologies are deeply embedded in conceptions of identity and belonging, as well as in how the host society interprets its existing linguistic diversity in relation to the linguistic integration of newcomers. At the same time, research shows that an individual’s language use reflects their linguistic citizenship: their agency, participation, and opportunities to exercise control over their linguistic resources and to construct new identities and communities.

This panel aims to bring together scholars working at the intersection of language and migration studies to explore different ways in which language acts as a means for social inclusion/exclusion, through topics concerning for example:

• Language learning and teaching
• Language requirements and testing
• Language in institutional encounters
• Language ideologies
• Linguistic citizenship and activism

The language of the session is English, and we invite presentations from a range of contexts and angles.

Finland’s welfare state promises equal access to healthcare, but that promise depends on being able to communicate in local languages. For minority migrant groups, this requirement can quietly sort who receives full access to care and whose needs are heard. This paper examines how language barriers function as a gatekeeping mechanism in healthcare encounters among Nepali migrants, a growing but understudied community in Finland.

The study draws on 27 semi-structured interviews with working-age Nepali migrants. The study was conducted between February and August 2023 and analysed thematically. Findings highlight that limited Finnish proficiency made it difficult for participants to understand medical instructions, follow referral pathways, and communicate symptoms accurately. This further contributed to medication errors. Participants who spoke English or little Finnish often felt they received less attentive care, which some read as a form of discrimination linked to how they sounded rather than what they needed. Professional interpreter services, although legally guaranteed, were frequently unreliable, while privacy concerns discouraged the use of community interpreters within this small, tightly connected community. As a result, many participants turned to employers, family, and co-ethnic networks for guidance, sometimes receiving misleading information about their healthcare rights.

These findings suggest that language operates as more than a communication barrier. It works as a proxy for migrant status and belonging, reproducing exclusion in a system that presents itself as universal. The paper argues that healthcare institutions expect fluency in Finnish or Swedish, the two local languages. Among migrants who have not yet learned these languages, a group growing alongside rising international migration, this expectation decides who is treated as a full member of the healthcare system and who is left to navigate it through informal, uneven support.

The Finnish maternity and child health clinic system (neuvola) is considered a cornerstone of primary healthcare. However, increasing linguistic diversity challenges equal access to services. This study examines the multilingual accessibility of online information on neuvola services from legal and linguistic perspectives. The data comprise neuvola-related webpages maintained by all 21 wellbeing service counties, Helsinki and Åland. The legal analysis focuses on linguistic rights, access to information, and accessibility of neuvola-services, and the linguistic analysis applies the 4-A/AAAQ framework to evaluate the availability and accessibility of multilingual information.

The results reveal great regional variation. Bilingual (Finnish and Swedish) wellbeing service counties provide more comprehensive and functionally accessible multilingual information, whereas monolingual regions often offer only partial translations. Common problems include untranslated subpages, links redirecting users to Finnish-language content, and fragmented multilingual service pathways. Although legal minimum requirements are met, practical linguistic accessibility, particularly in foreign languages, remains uneven. The findings reveal challenges in equality in access that that vary geographically and directly impact the sociodemographic distribution of social justice.

Equal access requires not only information availability but also the ability to find, understand, and use information regardless of linguistic background. Linguistic accessibility is therefore not merely a technical issue; it is also a matter of participation and inclusion. The inability to access information in a language that is understandable limit people’s ability to exercise their rights and participate in decisions concerning their health, which may in turn reduce the use of health services. It may also weaken trust in public neuvola services and encourage people to seek alternative service providers.

This paper examines how the national minority languages Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani Chib and Sami, as well as Swedish Sign Language, function as sites of inclusion and exclusion within the Church of Sweden. Building on research on language ideologies, minoritisation and institutional belonging, the study explores how linguistic hierarchies, historical assimilation and policy–practice gaps shape minority language users’ experiences of participation and trust in religious institutional settings.

A central analytical focus is how monolingual language ideologies influence perceptions of linguistic proximity and distance. These ideologies contribute to the idea that some languages feel closer to Swedish and therefore more appropriate within church structures, while others are perceived as linguistically or culturally foreign. Swedish Sign Language is often associated with long institutional continuity and with user groups perceived as native to Sweden, which reinforces its visibility and acceptance. Romani Chib, despite its long history in Sweden, is frequently associated with migration and mobility, which affects how the language is positioned and understood within the Church of Sweden. These ideological patterns reflect broader societal tendencies in which language becomes a proxy for race, ethnicity or cultural alignment, shaping who is recognised as belonging and who is perceived as peripheral.

The paper analyses how minority language users navigate these ideologies and how trust is built, eroded or negotiated in encounters with a majority language institution. It also investigates how employees interpret language policies and how institutional decisions, such as reductions in Finnish language activities, influence minority language users’ perceptions of reliability, accountability and linguistic equity.

Methodologically, the project combines an anonymous survey, interviews with church employees and discursive analysis of policy documents. Together, these approaches illuminate how minority language users negotiate their linguistic positioning within the Church of Sweden.

The structure of integration services in Swedish is facing changes due to recent legislative amendments of the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (HE 74/2026 vp). The government proposal on the Integration Act was commented by civil society actors, integration service providers, universities, municipalities, ombudsmen and authorities during January and February 2026.  By analysing the comments on the legislative proposal from these actors and by combining the view of key actors for integration in Swedish, such as Bildningsalliansen and a main provider of integration services in Swedish language in the Metropolitan area, Luckan, this research focuses on paradoxes in the legislative changes with a focus on linguistic rights, equality and non-discrimination.

This research report is funded by the Swedish Culture Foundation and is part of a three year-long research project (2026–2028) on national legislation and policy documents related to linguistic rights. The goal is to identify gaps and needs concerning access to linguistic and cultural diversity. Work package 1 is led by the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University, and it scrutinizes relevant legislation that regulates the status of the migrant, concerning their opportunities to integrate.  

The reform of the Integration Act has a labour market focus on integration, leaving some groups of immigrants outside of the focus of integration, such as children, victims of human-trafficking, refugees and elderly immigrants. Simultaneous cuts of the funding of organizations in the third sector, risk to exacerbate the consequences of persons in vulnerable situations.