京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第22102号 / 地環博第188号 / 新制||地環||37(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)准教授 SINGER JANE, 教授 佐野 亘, 講師 BAARS ROGER CLOUD / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

Language anxiety (LA) is “the worry and negative emotional reaction when learning and using a second language and is especially relevant in a classroom where self-expression takes place” (Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014, p. 14). In the present study, particular attention is drawn to the development of students’ communicative competence and speaking proficiency in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. The prevalence and effects of foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) were examined among Swedish EFL lower secondary school students, reporting the triggers of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and FLSA from the perspective of pupils and teachers. A mixed-methods approach was applied to collect data from pupils (N=273) where a self-report questionnaire, a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) operationalised originally by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) is administered, plus open-ended semi-structured interviews with open-ended and closed questions were conducted with pupils (N=67) and teachers (N=5). The participants were grouped into three categories: low, medium and high anxiety, based on their scores. The results showed that 26% of the participants were assigned as low anxious learners; 59% of the students experienced medium levels of FLSA and 15% of the pupils were highly anxious language learners. Interviews with pupils and teachers explored the effects and the sources of the FLA and FLSA on pupils’ oral and general English language proficiency (fear of negative evaluation (FNE), affective variables, grades, teachers, classmates, pronunciation, and classroom atmosphere), noting that some pupils reported that monologic genres such as long episodes of speaking, evaluation situations and giving an oral presentation present the most anxiety-provoking contexts in EFL lessons.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第19081号 / 人博第734号 / 新制||人||176(附属図書館) / 26||人博||734(吉田南総合図書館) / 32032 / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 / (主査)教授 壇辻 正剛, 教授 東郷 雄二, 教授 齋藤 治之, 教授 服部 文昭 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

Providing written feedback is a time-consuming part of an English teacher’s work life and there are many ways in which feedback can be provided. According to the Swedish National Agency of Education (2011), teachers must provide their students with feedback. Studies have been conducted investigating feedback provision and teachers’ feedback practices, but few studies have shed light on the students’ perception of feedback, especially in Swedish, and even Nordic, contexts. This study investigated students’ perception and use of teacher feedback on written assignments in an EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom in mid-Sweden. The study investigated both student perception of feedback, with specific focus on WCF (written corrective feedback), and students’ use of the feedback. The method used for data collection was a semi-structured internet survey containing 21 questions. The participants were 30 upper secondary school students. The results of the study showed that students mostly perceived feedback as important and useful, especially when it contained concrete tips and proposals for text improvement. They regarded CF and WCF as important as they wanted to become aware of what errors they made to avoid making those in future writing. Nevertheless, they reported that too extensive feedback (unfocused CF) was not preferred. Both positive and negative feedback were considered useful for future writing and a large majority read the feedback they received every time. Feedback provided together with a grade was also read by the students, as they wanted to have information about strengths and weaknesses in the text as well as motivation for the grade. To conclude, feedback was mostly perceived as important and useful, and the students used it to improve their writing.

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.

EFL classrooms in Sweden are multilingual spaces which consist of a wide range of learners with different backgrounds; constantly forcing teachers to adapt their practices to what they believe will be most beneficial for the students’ learning outcomes. This study focuses on teachers' language practices in EFL classrooms in lower secondary education. The study will present if English teacher practices involve translanguaging patterns or not through classroom observations. The observed practices will be examined and compared with additional data from post-observation interviews to gain context and the teachers’ beliefs to the observed practices. The study aims to map and increase our understanding of teachers' language practices in the EFL classroom, focusing on the perspectives of the teachers. Three different teachers were observed at two different schools in Stockholm, working with students in grades 7 and 9. Field notes and results showed that the observed practices were mainly English only and connected to “English as a base language” + Swedish. Only one teacher translanguaged but all teachers were aware and conscious of their teaching choices and their impact on students’ learning outcomes. Two out of three teachers could imagine incorporating translanguaging patterns in their teaching, while the third teacher believed in an English only approach with ultimate language immersion for proficiency development. The study showed that there is a slight difference in the role of the English language in the observed classrooms, which was expected since the syllabus (Lgr22) neither encourages nor prohibits the use of Swedish when teaching English; so naturally the different teachers use their linguistic resources differently. However, all teachers proclaimed to be aware and have conscious thoughts behind their teaching decisions and they all emphasised on “being understood” as the most important aspect. Lastly, it was revealed that students mirror the teachers' linguistic behaviour even if the teacher specifically tells them not to.

Dyslexia is a widely known disorder that impairs the diagnosed students’ literacy in multiple ways. There is a lot of research done on how dyslexia hinders literacy skills in a person's first language; however, not as much research has been done on how the disorder affects the reading skills in English as a second language (ESL). The purpose and aim of the literature review is to examine and evaluate how dyslexia affects the reading skills and reading comprehension, and to explore what pedagogical tools that are available to better facilitate reading skills for dyslexic students in ESL. The method used for conducting this literature review was through searching peer-reviewed scientific articles in two separate databases. Furthermore, the results showed that dyslexic students’ reading skills were impaired by poor working memory and poor phonological awareness. Nevertheless, the results also indicated that there are several pedagogical tools available, such as computer-based instruction for example, in order to aid dyslexic students in developing their reading skills in ESL. Consequently, the findings of this literature review coincided with the Swedish curriculum and the Swedish syllabus for the English courses in the upper secondary school concerning using various teaching strategies and pedagogical tools in the teaching of ESL. The almost certain inevitability of teaching dyslexic students in ESL in the future profession as an ESL teacher further validates and amplifies the importance of this study.

Incidental vocabulary learning is a form of acquiring new words without having a specific intention in the acquisition, and it can occur in or out of the educational frame (Hatami, 2017). In the digital age, incidental vocabulary acquisition is increased as learners encounter and assimilate new words through different online platforms and technological tools. The study was conducted by searching digital databases ERC and ERIC using keywords such as "EFL," "L2," "reading," "listening," "viewing," and "watching" over 15 years (2008-2023). The studies that focus on traditional strategies or word frequency over incidental learning were excluded. Consequently, the results include diverse locations and learners and aim to capture a comprehensive view of incidental vocabulary learning.  This study explores the efficacy of incidental vocabulary learning modes—reading, listening, and watching—in an English as a foreign language classroom, considering the influence and the role of digitalization. While reading appears as the most potent mode of input for incidental vocabulary acquisition, listening and viewing also contribute significantly, but not as significantly as reading. Moreover, combining reading with listening has the most multifaceted approach and superior results in incidental vocabulary learning for foreign language educators. However, due to the lack of research on specific age groups and diverse situations, further studies are needed to explore various student types and effective methods for learning new vocabulary, particularly in Swedish schools.

Proper spelling is important for efficient communication between people with different first languages in the 21st century. While Swedish functions as an intranational language within Sweden, it sees little to no use outside of Scandinavia. English fills the role as a second language that all Swedish students must learn, yet more focus appears to be given to grammar rather than spelling. Spelling is important and knowing the kinds of spelling errors Swedish learners of English tend to make can help educators improve the spelling proficiency of their students. The aim of this study is to investigate the spelling errors made by senior high school students in Sweden by analyzing a collection of essays written by students and gathered in the Uppsala Learner English Corpus (ULEC). The results of this study show that spelling proficiency nearly doubled for students in their third year in senior high school compared to their first year, yet the distribution of spelling errors remained the same. Additionally, some particular sounds that appear to be especially problematic for Swedish spellers were identified, such as /ə/, /l/, /s/ and /k/. / Korrekt stavning är viktig för effektiv kommunikation mellan människor med olika modersmål i tjugohundratalet. Medans svenska fungerar som ett språk mellan människor inom Sverige, ser det lite till ingen nytta utanför Skandinavien. Engelska fyller rollen som andraspråk som alla svenska elever måste lära sig, ändå sätts mer fokus på grammatik över stavning. Stavning är viktig och att veta vilka typer av stavfel som svenska elever brukar göra på engelska kan hjälpa lärare förbättra elevernas stavningskunskaper. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka svenska gymnasielevers felstavningar i Engelska genom att analysera en samlig essäer skrivna av studenter och samlade i Uppsala Learner English Corpus (ULEC). Resultaten från den här studien visar att stavningskunskaperna hos eleverna hade nästan fördubblats när de gick det tredje år på gymnasiet jämfört med när de gick det första, men att fördelningen av stavfel förblev densamma. Dessutom har vissa ljud identifierats som verkar vara särskilt problematiska för svenska elever att stava, såsom /ə/, /l/, /s/ and /k/.

The Swedish curriculum is and has been evolving for as long as it has existed. Since 1994 the communicative proficiency has been one of the most central aspects of the English subject in Swedish elementary school. However, an ever-evolving issue is the increasing Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) among pupils. This causes difficulties in the development of communicative proficiency. This literary review aims to find aspects of the educational situation which can be altered to decrease pupils FLA and FLCA. This paper has a basis of five articles and one thesis which have been reviewed and analyzed. The results show several aspects which can have an impact on pupils FLA and FLCA. One of which being that students are less anxious when they feel that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. Another aspect that can decrease pupils' FLA or FLCA is when they can experience their proficiency evolving. For this development to occur the amount of time spent learning the subject is central. The conclusion of this paper brings forward several both social and organizational factors that can be altered in favor of the pupils feeling less FLA and FLCA. / Kursplanen i engelska har under de senaste 40 åren fokuserat mer ochmer på den kommunikativa förmågan. Samtidigt har elevers ängslankring att kommunicera på engelska ökat. Att elever upplever en ökadForeign Language Anxiety (FLA) och Foreign Language ClassroomAnxiety (FLCA) skapar ökade utmaningar för att i klassrummet kunnautveckla elevernas kommunikativa förmåga. Under dennalitteraturöversikt undersöks och problematiseras hur elevers FLApåverkas av tidig språkstart, men även hur man kan planeraundervisningen för att minska FLA in klassrummet. För att besvaradessa frågor har artiklar och avhandlingar sökts fram i flertaletdatabaser. Resultatet som framkommer är att elevers FLA och FLCAminskar då de inser att misstag är centrala för språkinlärningensamt att deras förmågor utvecklas med tiden. Det framkommer även attelever har en större språklig utveckling av att börja med engelska tidigt,dock är det inte fastställt att detta har med åldern på eleverna att göradå det även kan bero på fler undervisningstimmar. Sammanfattningsvisbeskrivs både sociala och organisatoriska aspekter avundervisningssituationen som är centrala att överväga för att påverkaelevers FLA och FLCA.