Denmark and Norway have more explicit syllabuses for English as a Foreign Language and more time allocated to EFL than Sweden. If measures have been taken to improve the syllabus and to increase time for EFL in these countries, do these measures need to be taken in Sweden too? This study aims to explore time allocation and the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning approaches in the primary school years 1-3 in Sweden. 114 teachers participated in this study through a web-based questionnaire. The findings show that teachers experience time constraints associated with EFL, and a third of the respondents state that they compensate for the time constraints associated with EFL through CLIL approaches. However, whether or not CLIL is indeed present in primary school years 1-3 is difficult to decide, due to the lack of a common frame of reference for CLIL in Sweden and in primary schools, as well as the contextual variables that affect and shape EFL and CLIL. Little, if any, research into the effects of CLIL in years 1-3 in Sweden has been carried out, so this study might help to highlight possible areas of interest for future research and prompt further exploration of the field.

This study investigates the Involvement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn (2001). The involvement load hypothesis posits that vocabulary learning is determined by involvement load or mental effort. Involvement load has three components, need, search, and evaluation and each component is scored for three levels: index 2 for the strongest, index 1 for a moderate degree, and index 0 for none. Each participant learned six words with graphic organizers at the high involvement load (need index 1, search index 1, evaluation index 2, total index 4) and six at the low involvement load (need index 1, search index 1, and evaluation index 0, total index 2). Immediately and one week after completing the graphic organizer task, vocabulary knowledge was measured using three vocabulary tests that tested different levels of vocabulary knowledge: a translation test, a difficult multiple-choice test, and an easy multiple-choice test. Quantitative analyses of data from 291 university and college students in Japan were conducted, and audio-recordings from five pairs were analyzed to examine learning processes. Repeated measures MANOVA and ANOVAs revealed significant differences between the conditions of the two involvement loads in the translation test and the easy multiple-choice test, but not in the difficult multiple-choice test. The effects of Task and Time were statistically significant, but there was no interaction. There were significant differences between the immediate test and delayed test observed in the translation test and the easy multiple-choice test, but not with the difficult multiple-choice test. The current study supports the involvement load hypothesis, but caution is advised. Even though the high involvement load graphic organizers yielded more vocabulary retention than those with less involvement load in two out of the three vocabulary tests, the differences in mean scores were small and extensive differences were not observed in the participants' discussions. Additional statistical analysis indicated that the three vocabulary tests measured three levels of vocabulary knowledge. Determining the effectiveness of graphic organizers for vocabulary learning was only mildly successful as forcing greater involvement load proved to be challenging. / CITE/Language Arts

Denna kunskapsöversikt syftar till att sammanställa, analysera och presentera vad forskningen anser om att använda bilderböcker i undervisning av andraspråk i grundskolans tidigare år, alltså årskurserna 1 till 6 där eleverna är mellan 6-14 år. Med undervisning i andraspråk och andraspråksundervisning menar vi exempelvis engelskundervisning i det svenska skolsystemet som utgår ifrån svenska som modersmål och förstaspråk. Vidare är syftet att dedidaktiska för- och nackdelarna med bilderböcker kartläggs och att vi ska kunna reflektera över det sammanställda kunskapsfältet. Urvalet av artiklar samlades in genom en systematisk litteratursökning i olika databaser. Artiklarna är primärstudier med en spridning över olika delar av världen. Forskarna i våra utvalda studier använder antingen kvalitativ, kvantitativ eller blandade datainsamlingsmetoder. Den samlade forskningen som vi tagit del av visar ensamstämmighet kring den positiva effekten av att använda bilderböcker i undervisning av andra språk. De olika forskningsstudierna fokuserar på olika språkförmågor såsom ordinlärning, läsning och skrivning. Utöver dessa lyfts vikten av motivation som central del i samtliga studier. Studierna lyfter även fram behovet av ytterligare forskning inom fältet och belyser bristen på språklärarnas kompetens och lärarnas begränsade tid för att på ett strukturerat sätt använda bilderböcker i andraspråksundervisning.

The aim of this project is to provide useful data from published dictionaries, corpora, and instructional materials, as well as sample lessons, to promote the teaching of Unorthodox Oral Expressions (UOEs) to learners of English as a second/foreign language. In the first chapter, the author reviews relevant literature, explains what UOEs are, and discusses the importance of incorporating UOEs in EFL or ESL classrooms. In the second chapter, a linguistic categorization of UOEs is given. In the third chapter, the results are given of an examination of 10 different dictionaries. The purpose of this examination was to find which of 56 target UOEs are included in each dictionary and what kind of definitions are given for them. The results show that many common UOEs are not included in most, or any, dictionaries. For the UOEs that are included in most dictionaries, the definitions do not always agree, and factors such as intonation are not taken into account. Moreover, the explanations on how the UOEs can be used are not complete. In the fourth chapter, three English language corpora are examined to discover which of the target 56 UOEs are the most frequently used. The results show some differences in UOE frequency between the corpora that include both spoken and written English text and the spoken English corpora. In the fifth chapter, the teaching of UOEs in ESL textbooks is analyzed. The results show that most of these books do not teach UOEs explicitly. In chapter six, experimental instructional units are provided. Results of piloting these lessons at Brigham Young University's English Language Center are discussed. In the last chapter, the author suggests possible future research involving UOEs.

This research explores the affective responses of five upper-secondary English ESL/EFL students using computer-mediated peer feedback (CMPF), in a writing assignment. The pragmatic approach to the research makes use of a thematic analysis using, motivation, anxiety, attitude, and self-confidence. These themes were extrapolated from Krashen’s Affective filter theory because they are hypothesized to affect second language acquisition. Additionally, the four themes offer a pragmatic framework for exploring student’s affective experiences. The primary data was collected through a series of semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded and transcribed to create the primary data. The participants reveal that their learning environment was characterized by distinctly, positive affective responses, low affective filters and favorable conditions for second language acquisition. It is noteworthy that the lack of real time communication alleviated communication apprehension, but also contributed to test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The minor negative affective responses documented in the study were offset by consistent and constant use of both the computer mediated learning platform, and peer feedback. The results of this study are worth consideration for academics and professionals who are interested in how affective responses impact second language acquisition.

This study aims to investigate and compare in-service and pre-service teachers confidence and knowledge regarding dyslexia. In order to investigate this, two research questions are formulated: 1) We seek to identify differences in the way that in-service and pre-service teachers perceive their own competency in dealing with and accommodating the needs of students with dyslexia in the English classroom. 2) We seek to identify differences in the knowledge that in-service and pre-service teachers have in the areas touched upon in the first research question. In addition to these two research questions two hypotheses are made regarding the expected results. (a) That in-service teachers will have greatly larger knowledge regarding dyslexia while, (b) teacher educations does not provide pre-service teachers with enough information and tools to aid dyslexic students. To find an answer to these research questions, a questionnaire is created and sent to in-service teachers working in southern Skåne and pre-service teachers currently enrolled in Malmö University’s teachers’ education. The results show that pre-service teachers do not feel confident in their ability to detect students with dyslexia. In comparison, in-service teachers feel more confident in this area. However, several of the participants from the in-service teacher demographic present that they, in alignment with the pre-service teacher demographic did not feel confident in their ability to detect dyslexic students in their class. From both demographics the results show that participants feel highly unconfident regarding teaching EFL to dyslexic students.

In today's globalized society, English is one of the main ways of communication. Therefore, teaching students English in such a way that they not only understand the basics, but are confident enough to communicate with an international population of varied ability and linguistic background becomes a high priority in school. In this study we look at the reported communicative confidence level (CCL) of learners at a Swedish upper secondary school. This quantitative study collected data from questionnaires from upper secondary students in the Swedish school. We found that the participants displayed an above average level of perceived communicative confidence; that a higher academic achievement correlated with a higher CCL; that the expected need, the context, and the interlocutors do not correlate with the CCL; and that a higher degree of formality and unfamiliarity of a communication situation seems to correlate with a lower CCL. To be able to make confident generalisations in the future about CCL, we suggest this study be reproduced on a larger set of data and that actual CCL, as opposed to participant perception of CCL, could be observed.

Swedish school today is a mixture of children who come from different countries and speak different languages. Due to conflicts and war raging in various parts of the world, the refugee stream of people seeking asylum in Sweden has put much pressure on the schools around the country. Studies show that immigrant children fall behind in the education and that students whose first language is not Swedish do not reach the knowledge requirements and goals for English to the same degree of success as other groups of students. The aim for this thesis was to investigate what teachers in a K-3 English classrooms in Sweden do to support immigrant students, and what can be found in previous research to explain such poor performance. The aim was also to explore what methods teachers report using and how these methods are connected to Lgr11 and previous research. The use of Swedish instead of the target language when teaching English seems to be dominating in the schools. Since research found shows that children tend to use their first language when learning additional languages, the use of Swedish becomes demanding and confusing for the immigrant students: they end up having to learn a new language in a new language.

To gain a deeper understanding of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers’ knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs about written feedback (WF), this thesis explored four Swedish upper secondary school EFL teachers’ cognitions about WF, the sources of their cognitions about WF, and ways in which their cognitions about WF are reflected in their actual feedback practices. To carry out this exploratory investigation, the study made use of semi-structured interviews, sample student texts with teacher WF, and stimulated recall interviews. Using thematic analysis, the findings revealed five main themes of cognitions about WF: WF as a tool based on student needs, basis for discussion, precise error, progression tracker, and self-sufficiency. The findings also show that the three main sources of cognitions about WF were receiving WF, practicum & teacher education, and learning by doing. An implication of this study is that EFL teachers need to give different types of WF depending on the learner.

Manually grading essays and providing comprehensive feedback pose significant challenges for writing instructors, requiring subjective assessments of various writing elements. Automated essay scoring (AES) systems have emerged as a potential solution, offering improved grading consistency and time efficiency, along with insightful analytics. However, the use of AES in English as a Second Language (ESL) remains rare. This dissertation aims to explore the implementation of AES in ESL education to enhance teaching and learning. The dissertation presents a study involving ESL teachers who learned to use a specific AES system called LightSide, a free and open text mining tool, to enhance writing instruction. The study involved observations, interviews, and a workshop where teachers learned to build their own AES using LightSide. The study aimed to address questions related to teacher interest in using AES, challenges faced by teachers, and the influence of the workshop on teachers' perceptions of AES. By exploring the use of AES in ESL education, this research provides valuable insights to inform the integration of technology and enhance the teaching and learning of writing skills for English language learners.