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A current topic in Swedish schools is the use of computer games and gaming. One reason is because computers are becoming more and more integrated into the schools, and the technology plays a large role in the everyday lives of the pupils. Since teachers should integrate pupils’ interests in the formal teaching, it is of interest to know what attitudes teachers have towards gaming. Therefore the aim of this empirical study is to gain an insight into the attitudes Swedish primary teachers have towards online and offline computer games in the EFL classroom. An additional aim is to investigate to what extent teachers use games. Five interviews were conducted with teachers in different Swedish schools in a small to medium-sized municipality. After the interviews were transcribed, the results were analyzed and discussed in relation to relevant research and the sociocultural theory. The results show that teachers are positive towards games and gaming, mostly because gaming often contains interaction with others and learning from peers is a main component in sociocultural theory. However, only one out of the five participants had at some point used games. The conclusion is that teachers are unsure about how to use games in their teaching and that training and courses in this area would be valuable. More research is needed within this area, and it would be of value to investigate what suggested courses would contain and also to investigate exactly how games can be used in teaching.

This study explores Swedish English language teacher’s (ELT’s) attitudes towards EE, their reasons for or against its inclusion in their classrooms, and how these views affect their planning, instruction and assessment. Themes for investigation are established through thorough review of literature in the field in a Swedish context and explored through thematic analysis of interviews and a survey study. The ELTs in this study view EE as a positive contribution to students’ language development and a good source of authentic materials. Inclusion of EE is seen as a way to increase student engagement. However the causal relationship between EE and language proficiency is questioned. EE and ELTs’ attitudes towards it can be clearly seen to affect lesson planning, classroom activities and assessment. Inclusion of students’ EE is used by some ELTs as a tool to bridge differences caused by heterogenous levels of proficiency and authenticity gaps. Lastly, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teachers viewed inclusion of EE as a critical aspect in their instruction. Municipal teachers saw inclusion of EE primarily as a method to increase student engagement.

A useful medium when teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners is authentic children’s literature. Previous research in the area has provided insight into benefits and challenges in something that could be described as ‘fiction-based teaching’. There is however little to none that is set in a Swedish classroom context.  The aim of the current study was to find how teachers in Sweden utilize children’s literature in teaching English as a foreign language in grades 1–3. The study was performed using semi structured interviews with five teachers in the central east coast of Sweden. The participants gave insight into how they use English fiction as a teaching tool, which follows the structure of the didactic questions what, how and why. The teachers’ experienced challenges in using such a medium as a teaching tool were also processed in the study. To understand and analyse the gathered data, Aidan Chambers and Lev Vygotsky’s theories about young learners were used. The main findings of the study show that processing literature via discussions between teachers and students is beneficial for language acquisition, such as vocabulary gain and comprehension. At the same time, the teachers mention challenges in using such a method, for example a lack of time and how to differentiate the teaching of EFL. The conclusion was that these findings were in line with the previous research that has been made in the area.

Superdiversity has reached the EFL classroom and consequently language acquisition’s starting point has changed from one to various native languages. EFL teachers in Sweden meet a broad spectrum of students, varying from nearly bilingual when it comes to English, to students, who have to learn both English and Swedish from scratch. Meanwhile, the Swedish school system aspires to provide all students with an equal education. In addition to the increasingly diverse student body, EFL teachers also face the dilemma of steering documents that can be perceived as favouring the traditional monolingual principle of language teaching, while at the same time EFL teachers are asked to support students’ development into plurilingualists that embrace linguistic and cultural diversity. This thesis seeks to investigate EFL teachers’ reasoning concerning linguistic diversity and inclusion methods in the EFL classroom, as a part of school practice. Furthermore, this thesis aims to give a picture of the current situation in Swedish schools and seeks to find indications of whether further training is required in order to embrace the diversity of the globalized classroom. Mixed methods are used to examine the current situation and the results are based on the answers of 35 EFL teachers in Sweden. The findings indicate that most EFL teachers rarely include students’ L1 in the EFL classroom and that the inclusion of students’ L1 is for many participants related with weaker proficiency in English. Additionally, the necessity of enhancing the benefits of translanguaging pedagogy for all students, and consequently further education for EFL teachers can be identified, because the very important aspect of identity that matters when it comes to school success has hardly been considered.

English education in Sweden tends to be viewed as a second language, rather than a foreign language. Therefore, it is generally expected that instruction is performed, and content is taught in English. However, previous research shows that English is generally not the sole language used, even in classrooms with explicit “English only” policies. The following essay has investigated how this translates into classroom practice through observations of classroom interactions between students and teachers, as well as between students and students. Three different teachers were observed at two upper secondary schools. Shorter interviews were also conducted with the teachers. The results showed large differences between observations, but some clear trends were observed nonetheless. Socializing and metalanguage were more prevalent than other code-switches among students, while floor-holding was very rare and in most observations, non-existent. All teachers claimed to use English as much as possible although they also recognized the utility of using Swedish as a tool in the classroom. The view that English should be used as the language of instruction to a great extent was additionally observed in teacher interviews. However, there were no categorical opinions arguing for “English only”. The teachers also largely concurred with the use of Swedish, or other first languages as a language of comparison. This was supported by observations in the classrooms and significant differences existed between teachers. An investigation with a larger cohort in this field could be fruitful for future researchers. The results of the study could be used to further examine strategies to find a balance in the classroom between English and Swedish. The differences between classrooms show that there is no clear consensus on the extent of Swedish use in the EFL classroom. In order to improve teaching it is important to know why students use code-switching and in what situations it might be helpful to them, such as in translation or grammatical rules. However, different classrooms may require different approaches, which highlight the importance of discussing these issues.

[pt] A presente tese de doutorado tem como objetivo investigar o discurso dos livros didáticos de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira e sua relação com a construção de identidades sociais dos alunos. Buscando verificar como estes livros representam sócio-discursivamente o mundo e os contextos culturais relacionados à língua alvo; observar em que medida oferecem oportunidades de voz aos alunos; e como situam-se em relação ao ensino e aprendizagem da língua inglesa, esta pesquisa adota uma teoria de linguagem de base sistêmico- funcional, uma perspectiva sócio-interacionista de ensino e aprendizagem e uma abordagem crítica de discurso e de cultura. A partir de uma visão não-essencialista das identidades e considerando a sociedade inserida na pós- modernidade, este trabalho analisa doze livros de ensino de inglês, de seis séries didáticas, nos níveis iniciante e intermediário. Os livros foram selecionados de acordo com parâmetros de variação quanto aos seus objetivos comunicativos, público alvo, local e data de publicação, bem como mercados consumidores. Os tópicos e os contextos culturais foram investigados para identificar a visão de mundo representada em cada livro (metafunção ideacional); as atividades propostas foram relacionadas aos papéis sociais imaginados pelo autor para os usuários projetados do livro e às oportunidades para o aluno mostrar sua voz (metafunção interpessoal); e a organização estrutural do material (metafunção textual) foi estudada com a finalidade de identificar as crenças do autor em relação ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira. A análise do corpus mostrou que as escolhas dos tópicos e dos contextos culturais propiciam uma visão de mundo que pode induzir os alunos a adotar determinadas identidades que são apresentadas como certas, socialmente aceitas e legitimadas nos livros. Os resultados apontam para uma visão de mundo, em oito dos doze livros, americanizada e europeizada, sendo o status e a visibilidade determinantes de sucesso, tal como na sociedade pós-moderna. A organização dos livros didáticos, muitas vezes tematizando o componente gramatical, mostra que os autores, em sua maioria, vêm o processo de ensino e aprendizagem como um conjunto de regras formais a serem apreendidas e reproduzidas e não como uma forma de agir no mundo. A análise das atividades propostas mostrou que há pouco espaço para a cultura dos aprendizes e poucas oportunidades para que mostrem sua voz e exerçam livremente suas identidades. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a importância da discussão das questões relevantes ligadas ao uso do livro didático e necessidade de conscientização dos alunos, professores e pesquisadores quanto à força social e discursiva destes materiais, que podem interferir na construção de identidades, de mundos e de crenças. / [en] The purpose of this research is to investigate the discourse of English as foreign language coursebooks and its relation to students´ construction of social identities. In order to observe socio-discursively how these books represent the world and the cultural contexts related to the English language; to investigate the extent to which they offer voice opportunities to students; and to identify the beliefs they reflect concerning the teaching and learning of English, this thesis adopts a systemic-functional approach to language, a socio- interactionist view of teaching and learning and a critical perspective of discourse and culture. Adopting a non-essentialist view of social identities and considering the insertion of society in post modernity, this research analyzes twelve English coursebooks, from six different series, at beginner and intermediate levels. Books were selected according to variation parameters involving communicative objectives, target audience, both place and date of publication, and consumer market. Topics and cultural contexts were investigated to identify the world view expressed in each book (ideational metafunction); exercises and activities were both related to the social roles imagined for projected book users and to students´ voice opportunities (interpersonal metafunction); finally, the structural organization of the materials (textual metafunction) was studied to identify authors´ beliefs concerning the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. The analysis showed that the choice of topics and cultural contexts provides a world view that may lead students to adopt certain identities which are presented as the right ones, socially acceptable and legitimated in several books. Results also indicate, in eight out of the twelve books analyzed, the representation of an American and European world view, where status and visibility are crucial to success, in accordance with post modern society. The organization of the materials, which generally thematize grammar, shows that most authors understand the teaching and learning process as a set of formal rules to be apprehended and reproduced, rather than a way of acting in the world. The analysis of the exercises and activities showed that there is little space for learners´ cultures and few opportunities for them to show their voice and perform their identities freely. Results of this research point to the importance of discussing these issues and making students, teachers and researchers who deal with coursebooks aware of the social and discursive force inherent to the materials, which can interfere with the construction of identities, worlds and beliefs.

[pt] Esta pesquisa consiste em uma investigação sobre os aspectos multimodais do Quadro Branco Interativo (QBI) como ferramenta mediadora no ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira (EILE). Inicialmente, procurou-se utilizar os fundamentos da Teoria da Atividade para contextualizar o artefato tecnológico em questão no plano das atividades docentes, desde o processo de elaboração até a execução das aulas. Os conceitos de mediação, atividade de ensino, conjunto e sistema de gêneros correspondem à base para a sistematização e contextualização, em nível individual ou coletivo, das ações e operações referentes ao ambiente de sala de aula em que o QBI se insere. Conforme o estudo circunscrevia-se às questões de ensino, foi desenvolvido um questionário on-line com o intuito de averiguar as perspectivas de um grupo de docentes pertencentes a uma renomada instituição particular, ícone no EILE, através do uso de ferramentas de última geração, entre elas, o QBI. A finalidade principal consistia no melhor entendimento das atividades docentes mediadas pela tecnologia sob análise, buscando-se elementos facilitadores e/ou delimitadores em todo o processo, contrastando essas experiências paralelamente com outros recursos mais tradicionais, como o quadro negro, quadro branco, transparências e slides. Os resultados obtidos favorecem a utilização do QBI em virtude da multiplicidade de recursos disponíveis. Entretanto, argumenta-se que o mesmo não deve ocupar o lugar central no âmbito das práticas docentes supracitadas. / [en] This research consists of an investigation on the multimodal aspects of the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) as a mediating tool in the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL). Initially, the theoretical background offered by Activity Theory was used with a view to contextualizing the technological artifact in question in the field of teaching activities, from the process of elaborating a lesson to the moment of executing it. The concepts of mediation, teaching activity, set of genres and genre systems constitute the basis for systematizing and contextualizing, whether individually or collectively, the array of actions and operations referring to the classroom environment where the IWB is present. Since the study was delimited to the matter of teaching, an online questionnaire was developed in order to check the perspectives of a group of teachers from a renowned private institution, with excellence in the TEFL through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, which also include the IWB. The main purpose of this questionnaire was to obtain a better understanding of the teaching activities mediated by the IWB, by searching for facilitators or delimiters throughout the process, besides comparing these results with more traditional tools, such as blackboards, whiteboards, transparencies and slides/presentations. The results favor the use of the IWB due to its multiplicity and availability of resources; nevertheless, it is argued that it should not be the main focus in any of the teaching activities mentioned above.

The aim of this thesis is to introduce the concept of cross-language mediation, which is well established in some countries abroad but is not widely used in the Czech environment, from various points of view. The work tries to show that cross-language mediation is an engaging, effective and interesting activity preparing the learners for real-life mediating situations employing both mother tongue and English. The work is enriching for its battery of mediation activities designed for the Czech context, mediation assessment criteria and a survey among Czech and foreign teachers summarizing their attitude towards mediation and its role in EFL lessons. KEYWORDS: cross-language mediation, translation, mother tongue in EFL teaching

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Considerando que os mÃtodos e abordagens desenvolvidos ao longo dos sÃculos pouco exploraram a metÃfora e reconhecendo a sua importÃncia no processo de ensino/aprendizagem de InglÃs como LÃngua Estrangeira (ILE), este estudo investiga esse seu papel como elemento facilitador, tanto descrevendo o tratamento que lhe à dado nos manuais didÃticos, quanto analisando se a instruÃÃo sobre mapeamentos metafÃricos e esquemas imagÃticos pertinentes à linguagem figurada contribui para uma melhor compreensÃo do aprendiz. Este trabalho apresenta inicialmente a visÃo clÃssica da metÃfora, que priorizou a lÃgica e a abstraÃÃo, contrapondo, a essa perspectiva, a visÃo experiencialista, que considera a metÃfora instrumento de organizaÃÃo e produÃÃo cognitiva. Essa visÃo tem como base a Teoria da MetÃfora Conceitual, de Lakoff e Johnson (1980, 1999) e as valiosas contribuiÃÃes de Grady (1997a). A metodologia adotada em cada uma das duas investigaÃÃes: a documental (que examinou a abordagem nos manuais didÃticos) e a semi-experimental (que tem o seu foco na anÃlise do papel da metÃfora como facilitadora da compreensÃo do aprendiz de lÃngua estrangeira), assim como todos os procedimentos adotados para obtenÃÃo e anÃlise dos dados sÃo, entÃo, descritos. Em seguida, os resultados sÃo apresentados e discutidos. / Based on the fact that teaching/learning methods and approaches developed in previous centuries haven`t focused on metaphor and taking into account how important it has become to the teaching/learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), this study investigates the role of metaphor as an element which can favor this process.This investigation not only describes the treatment which is given to it in sets of books used in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses, but also evaluates if the instruction on metaphoric mappings and image schemas which belong in the figurative language contribute to a better understanding on the learner`s part. First, it presents the traditional view of metaphor, which emphasized logic and abstraction, in opposition to the experiential view, which considers metaphor an instrument of cognitive organization and production. This concept is based on Lakoff and Johnson`s (1980, 1999) Theory of Conceptual Metaphor, as well as on Grady`s (1997a) important contributions. The methods used in the documental investigation (which examines the approach in the sets of books), and those used in the semi-experimental one (which investigates if metaphor favors the learner`s understanding), as well as all the proceedings used to obtain and analyze the specific data are then described. Following that, the results are presented and discussed.