A Qualitative Textual Study: A Comparison of How the Democratic Mission of the School and English as a Lingua Franca Are Presented in the Finnish Curriculum for Åland and the Swedish National Curriculum

Abstract: This essay examines and compares how the Swedish national curriculum and the Finnish curriculum for Åland’s Lyceum present English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and the democratic mission of the school. This investigation is performed through a qualitative textual study with qualitative content analysis and by including influential aspects as political history, language planning, the perception of the concept of democracy, the perception of the concept of the fundamental values and tasks of the school, and the alignment with the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The hypothesis is that even though both curricula share the goal of preparing students for civic participation in a democratic society and ELF, their strategies differ.