This is an essay in the field of English literature didactics. It argues for the use of authentic texts in literacy acquisition. Specifically, the aim of this essay is to justify the use of the novel Push in an English language classroom in Sweden by presenting a literature lesson plan and validating it by three intrerview responses from teachers at a senior high school. I believe students may find the theme of the novel engaging and motivating. The lesson plan is outlined as a student writing project. In this writing project, students will practice reading, speaking and writing skills. The project also includes peer- response which is an activity mentioned in the Englsih 5 syllabus. The lesson plan aims to achieve the learning outcomes of what the Swedish curriculum and syllabus state. The project is validated by a questionnaire, sent by e-mail to teachers at a senior high school in Gävle, regarding the relevance of the proposed lesson plan. Since only three teachers found it possible to participate this essay should be considerate as a pilot case study. However their answers and my analysis provide practical teaching guidelines and indicate the relevance of this particular lesson plan.

This study reports on the use and benefits of fiction as a method to teach English as a second language in primary school. The study was conducted by reading previous research and conducting one-on-one interviews with six active teachers. The teachers all taught English in first to third grade, and they all had received education for it. The interviews contained questions about the use of fiction in both English and Swedish education. The results show that the general idea of using fiction to teach English is positive; however, only one teacher used it in practice. The other teachers list films and speaking exercises as their main tools for teaching English. According to previous research and interviews, the results of using fiction are positive, as it enhances vocabulary, comprehension and pronunciation. It has been shown that reading fiction enhances vocabulary, as the children are interested in what they read and therefore learn more as it engages them.

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the underlying factors involved in introducing authentic literature to the EFL classroom. The purpose has been to establish which factors should be considered in order to facilitate both the discrepancies between more literate pupils and less literate pupils, and the differing experiences and backgrounds of the class as a whole. The research focuses on the introduction of literature within whole group reading sessions, and considers factors such as equal reading levels versus below reading levels, protagonist gender, book titles and the amount of English read outside of the classroom.The dissertation discusses the reliability of readability programs, vocabulary required in order to comprehend second language literature, pupils’ ever increasing contact with English outside of school and pupils’ reactions to texts deemed either equal or below their own literacy level. In a classroom investigation, pupils were presented with texts taken from books judged to be either equal to or below their suggested age group, and asked to comment on their reading experiences. Results showed that texts from both sectors were received favourably, and that factors such as genre, protagonist gender and the book’s title were more decisive factors to a book’s popularity. Indeed, pupils noticed little or no difference in books written for a younger audience. Furthermore, an interview with an English teacher at a compulsory school confirmed that a book’s suggested age range had little or no importance when choosing texts for the classroom, and suggests that vocabulary focus in class can combat any discrepancy in pupil literacy levels.

The English language is widely used throughout the world and has become a core subject in many countries, especially for students in the upper elementary classroom. While textbooks have been the preferred EFL teaching method for a long time, this belief has seemingly changed within the last few years. Therefore, this study looks at what prior research says about the use of authentic texts in the EFL upper elementary classroom with an aim to answer research questions on how teachers can work with authentic texts, what the potential benefits of using authentic texts are and what teachers and students say about the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. While this thesis is written from a Swedish perspective, it is recognized that many countries teach EFL. Therefore, international results have also been taken into consideration and seven previous research studies have been analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. Results indicate that the use of authentic texts is beneficial in teaching EFL. However, many teachers are still reluctant to use these, mainly because of time constraints and the belief that such texts are too difficult for their students. Since these findings are mainly focused on areas outside of Sweden, additional research is needed before conclusions can be drawn on the use of authentic texts in the Swedish upper elementary EFL classroom. / <p>Engelska</p>

Given current changes and trends in foreign language (FL) education (National Standards, waning interest in FL study), educators need to develop intellectually stimulating tasks to encourage personal, inter-/intrapersonal and cultural growth. Although many researchers postulate that fictional texts are a superior means to accomplish this goal (Swaffar, 1992; Shanahan, 1997; Einbeck, 2002), only few have experimented with using them as a basis for culture learning (Scott and Huntington, 2002) or measured their overall efficacy for FL learning. This study investigated the effectiveness of fictional media in the German intermediate FL classroom using a multi-faceted research design incorporating different data sets (questionnaires, student journals, and CMC chats), which underwent quantitative and/or qualitative analyses.The pre-posttest format for of three questionnaires assessed changes in learners' responses to FL attitude and motivation for study, course interest, the National Standards, perceptions about the intellectual content of fictional media, motivation, and enjoyment. Results showed that literature provides educational value beyond the level of language acquisition and encourages a multitude of learning dimensions.Students' CMC journals written about fictional media were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001) to ascertain changes of word usage in certain categories over the duration of the semester. A qualitative analysis using Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Glaser 1992 & 1998) showed emergent changes and themes relevant for culture and language learning. In addition to the journals, learners' CMC chats were also analyzed qualitatively to investigate the social nature of L2 language use and its pedagogical implications (Vygotsky, 1986). Shifts in categories and the emergence of themes were attributed to the effect of Text content/Genre rather than Time, and learners' chat did not evidence co-constructivist/dialogic learning as first postulated.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the vocabulary in authentic texts used by upper secondary English teachers teaching the course English 7 reach the expectations set by the Swedish National Agency for Education and the CEFR. This was done by analysing 26 texts contributed from five teachers with vocabulary profile web tools such as Text Inspector and Compleat Lexical Tutor. The analysis focused on word frequency and the CEFR levels.. The word frequency results showed that the vocabulary difficulty of teachers’ texts deviated slightly of being too simple or difficult for English 7 students, while the CEFR results showed that the vocabulary difficulty was too advanced for English 7 students. Although the results deviated from one another, the vocabulary difficulty of the teachers’ texts was often similar to each other. Furthermore, the results showed that the vocabulary difficulty often variated between text genres. The study, therefore, reasoned that the English 7 teachers enact their agency by selecting texts that they not only believe are suitable for their students but also will be suitable for students with different language proficiencies. The study concluded that English 7 teachers select texts of similar vocabulary difficulty and that English 7 students read authentic texts that contain advanced vocabulary that goes beyond the expectations of the CEFR. The study also suggested that further research should investigate how the CEFR should be interpreted and that similar studies should include a closer engagement with the teachers to obtain their views on how and why they select particular authentic texts.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the possible role of alternative learning materials in the subject of English through an action research project in year nine, secondary school. The aim is to investigate the participating students’ engagement and comprehension of the texts used in the project. Some of the goals of the syllabus for English presuppose that pupils should be able to use various types of materials and sources of information in their learning. The goals also require a way of working characterised by variation and the use of different types of learning materials in English. In this particular study, data were collected continually during the process through questionnaires, observation notes and individual interviews with four pupils. A majority of the participants found working with the materials both engaging and enjoyable. Significant factors were mainly the varied nature of the texts, the presence of unfamiliar vocabulary and the texts’ relevance for the pupils. Regarding language development, the primary outcomes of the project were improvement of vocabulary as well as increased knowledge about various types of texts.

The aim of this thesis is to elucidate how English teachers in Sweden choose what materials to use in the classroom and how they benefit students. In order to accomplish this, I studied a variety of theories that deal with the subject of using traditional teaching aids versus authentic materials. Four interviews with English teachers of different backgrounds and experiences were conducted. I analysed the results of the interviews in conjunction with the theories. My conclusion is that teachers use different materials based on a combination of experiences and preferences. However, due to the limited number of interviewees in this study, it is not possible to draw any general conclusions. Nevertheless, it seems probable that new and inexperienced teachers seek comfort in traditional teaching aids such as textbooks and accessories, while experienced teachers lean towards incorporating authentic materials in their teaching to a larger extent. The experienced interviewees feel that authentic materials enable students to learn in an environment where they forget that they are actually ‘learning’. Instead, English becomes the natural means of communication. However, most interviewees agreed that time constraints sometimes make it difficult to incorporate authentic materials in the classroom. It is my own conclusion that authentic materials provide teachers with a never-ending source of inspiration that has the potential to revitalize and even reinvent the profession.

International assessments indicate that Swedish students achieve high results in reading, writing and understanding English. However, this does not mean that the students display oral proficiency, despite an emphasis on functional and communicative language skills in the current English Syllabus. While a previous literature study by this researcher has shown that authentic texts are a way to increase these skills, most of the results shown are from an international viewpoint. Thus an empirical study was conducted within Sweden with the aim to examine the use of authentic texts in the Swedish EFL upper elementary classroom. Twelve teachers have answered a questionnaire on how they use authentic texts in their language teaching, as well as their opinions about these as a teaching tool. Additionally, 37 students have answered a questionnaire on their attitudes about authentic texts. Results indicate that all of the teachers surveyed see authentic texts as an effective way to increase students’ communicative competence and English language skills; however, only a few use them with any frequency in language teaching. Furthermore, this seems to affect the students’ attitudes, since many say that they read authentic texts in their free time, but prefer to learn English out of a textbook at school. These findings are based on a small area of Sweden. Therefore, further research is needed to learn if these opinions hold true for the entire country or vary dependent upon region or other factors not taken into consideration in this study.

AbstractDaskalos, Konstantinos & Jellum Ling, Jeppe (2005)Authentic texts or adapted texts – That is the question! The use of authentic and adapted texts in the study of English in two Swedish upper secondary schools and a study of student and teacher attitudes towards these texts. Skolutveckling och ledarskap, Lärarutbildningen 60 p, Malmö HögskolaThe aim of this paper is to find out which attitudes teachers and students have towards authentic and adapted texts used in the teaching of English in two Swedish grammar schools. Furthermore, the paper aims to demonstrate the importance of proper text selection in relation to student motivation.To achieve this, a survey was conducted with second year students in two different schools; on top of this, several interviews were conducted with students as well as an interview with a teacher. This was done to demonstrate the different attitudes towards the textbook and authentic texts and to illustrate the importance of choosing topics that students can relate to.The results show that students preferred to read authentic texts. These texts provided them with interesting topics. The teacher also preferred to use authentic texts and agreed that authentic texts usually created an active classroom, but pointed out that to substitute the textbook entirely with authentic material was unrealistic. Therefore, a combination of the two types of text would be preferable.