1. When creating teaching materials, keep in mind that the language of instruction is not necessarily every student's strongest language. Open up the terminology by providing key terms in all three languages on your slideshow. Provide opportunities for students to compare and discuss the concepts and their meaning.

2. Create opportunities for students to talk about their language skills before the course starts. For example, you can ask students in a preliminary assignment to reflect on which languages they are able to use and in which languages they like to study and ask how you could support the students linguistically. Give them the opportunity to talk about the factors that affect studying also in private.

3. Discuss the students' goals and wishes regarding the studies at the beginning of the course. Create local language contracts: which languages can be used in teaching, in studies and together with the teacher and with the other students?

4. When dividing the students into groups, consider students’ different language backgrounds. Reflect on when it is beneficial to form multilingual groups and when is it appropriate for them to work in monolingual groups. You can support students' group work by offering phrases and word lists in both languages.

5. Explain to the students that they can speak Swedish/Finnish/some other language even if they only have basic knowledge of that language. The students feel safe when they know that it is okay to speak a language even if they are not native speakers of that language.

6. All languages are languages for learning, and mixing languages is a natural part of multilingual communication.

7. Inform students at the beginning of each lesson what is expected of them in terms of interaction in the class and peer group discussions. It is easier for students with speech anxiety if they can anticipate and prepare for social situations in the classroom.

8. Languages are learned in interaction and in cooperation with others. Create opportunities for students to speak, write and communicate in the language of instruction, but also in other languages.

9. Your own linguistic behavior affects the atmosphere in the classroom. Use your own language skills actively. Don’t be afraid to speak languages that you don't have full command of, or to make mistakes. With your own language activities, you can show that you can function as an expert while you are developing your knowledge of a language.

10. Respect the students' linguistic rights and their linguistic identity. Do not make assumptions about the students' linguistic background or their language skills. Let the students define their own relationship to different languages and language groups

The guidelines were developed in the University of Helsinki's PEDAMO project 

PEDAMO (Pedagogik och språklig diversitet i tvåspråkiga examina) studies learning and teaching in bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) bachelor's degree programs at the University of Helsinki (TvEx). Although PEDAMO focuses on bilingual degrees, most teaching groups at the university are linguistically diverse in one way or another and asymmetrical in language skills, and the guidelines can be applied to a wide range of situations. Read more about Pedamo and TvEx in Finnish or in Swedish.