This thesis is a qualitative text analysis of worksheets used in conjunction with watching films in English language studies in Swedish middle schools. The assignments used in the thesis were partly collected from partner schools in the teacher program and partly collected from a website which is a database of teacher submitted lesson plans. The results of the thesis include a presentation and discussion of different worksheets used by teachers, using a structure based on one used for critical discourse analysis instruction with students. The evidence suggests that two factors gave an increase in explicitly named aspects of critical literacy in film studies: firstly, that the assignment be situated in a program of study within the Swedish curriculum which shares many of the goals of critical literacy studies and secondly that the choice of film is one that challenges students to reconsider their experiences in light of the film. This study also raises the concern that the questioning methods used to implement critical literacy studies are being used to increase student talk for the purposes of grading oral proficiency without interactive discussions.

The purpose of this literature review is to compare some critical reading comprehension classroom practices globally, with particular focus on the teaching of reading comprehension in Sweden, where student well being and equity are issues of importance. Critical literacy used is a term that encompasses many aspects of power related issues in language. The Swedish curriculum is explicit in naming these issues of student identity and democratic agency which it shares with critical pedagogical practices. The result of the review is a presentation and discussion of the different studies, using a structure based on one used for critical discourse analysis instruction with students. The evidence suggests that higher level comprehension is a skill that takes time to train and should be done explicitly by pointing out the aspects of language which convey meaning. Learning to search the text for evidence of the underlying meaning gave verystrong effect sizes on standardized tests for reading comprehension. The reading comprehension results of minority/ESL students on standardized tests improved when space was made to discuss very different experiences within the same culture in language classrooms.