The most important part of learning a language is being able to communicate, understanding others and making yourself understood. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a perspective on language teaching where the focus is on the students and letting them communicate and interact with each other in the learning language. CLT creates safe classroom environments and great knowledge in how to use the language in everyday life. The aim with the study was to investigate English teachers’ usage of CLT and attitudes towards using CLT in the Swedish classroom during English teaching. Seven English teachers in Sweden participated in the study by answering questions in a semi-structured interview that was designed to answer the study´s research questions. The main results show that although English teachers are not familiar with the concept of CLT, they still have a positive attitude towards many tools and activities that are in keeping with it – and they also use these tools and activities. Hence, to get the most out of what CLT has to offer in the Swedish classroom, support from schools in the form of a teacher-training program would be appropriate.

This paper examines the effects of explicit morphology instruction on English vocabulary acquisition and morphological awareness in a Swedish L2 secondary school context. The purpose of this paper was to research if explicit morphology instruction affects students’ vocabulary acquisition and morphological awareness. The research questions for this paper are: To what extent does explicit morphology instruction affect morphological awareness in a Swedish 7-9 school context? and to what extent does explicit morphology instruction affect vocabulary learning in a Swedish 7-9 school context? A quantitative method with pre- and posttests was used to measure the effects of the intervention at a school with three participating classes and one teacher that taught the intervention. The study was conducted during a four-week period with short sessions of the intervention taught in the experimental groups each lesson and the control-group were taught their ordinary materials. The results of our study were statistically insignificant because of issues regarding the number of participating students. Instead, we focused on highlighting specific examples from the experimental groups in both morphological awareness and vocabulary acquisition

The intention of this study is to examine how music influences the secondlanguage acquisition for secondary student, as well as unfolding how songs asteaching tools can be applied to English as a foreign language (EFL) education.Research indicates that songs help generate motivational and linguistic benefitsto students as it prompts development in all four language skills if songs areapplied accurately. English songs can likewise provide students with an insightin social and cultural aspects appearing in countries where English is spoken.This might be some of many reasons to why the English syllabus for year 7-9 inSweden list songs in education as a developing mean that needs to be addressed.However, the implementation of songs in English education does not comewithout friction as teachers witness the hardship that might occur when usingmusic as teaching tools. The issues derive from teachers not knowing how toselect songs that serve an educational purpose, the overall image where music isseen as s fun activity rather than an educational activity, and that songs are notconsidered to help students reach teaching goals. These components all promptfor a demotivation amongst students to participate in song-centred lectures,creating a negative impact on students’ language development.

Extramural English (EE) engagement is common amongst young English as a foreign language (EFL) learner in Sweden. However, the ESL students engage in EE activities to varying degrees and their English proficiency could be positively affected by the amount of time spent on EE activities. The present study therefore aims to increase knowledge about grade 6 students’ EE engagement and its possible correlate with the students’ English grades in a Swedish context. Additionally, the study explores which types of EE activities: receptive, productive, and interactive, the students engage most in, and if there is some correlation between type of EE activity engaged in and English grade. This was investigated through mixed-method research, conducting both a quantitative digital questionnaire with 30 participant sixth graders and two qualitative focus group interviews with a total of five sixth graders participating. The findings show that the grade 6 students with high English grades engage most in interactive EE activities, whereas low-grade English students mostly engage in receptive EE activities. Additionally, the qualitative results indicate that grade 6 students perceive benefits of learning English through EE engagement. However, the present study cannot prove any statistically significant correlation between number of hours spent on EE activities per week and English grades. The present study suggests that EFL teachers consider and incorporate the increasing EE engagement of their students in the didactic choices made for English language teaching (ELT). To comprehensively explore the effects that young ESL learners’ EE engagement has on their English acquisition and grades, further research should focus on longitudinal studies, representing a greater variety and number of students participating.

This project aims to research teachers’ and students’ perspectives on Foreign Language Anxiety when speaking English, and what strategies teachers and students report having in the ESL classroom. To achieve this, three ninth-grade students were interviewed in a group setting, and five secondary school ESL teachers used semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted in a school south of Sweden. This is done to get both perspectives with a focus on perceptions and strategies to manage speech-related anxiety. Speaking is one of the four important skills that students need to master to fully master a language. The results show that many students find Foreign Language Anxiety to be a factor in hindering their progress in English, as they sometimes have difficulties speaking because of psychological issues where anxiety often occurs as a factor. Through exploration and comparison between the perceptions of students and teachers, the study uncovers effective strategies to lessen or eliminate Foreign Language Anxiety for students and help them develop their speaking skills in English. Additionally, the results show that it is important to give the students the opportunities and conditions for them to succeed regardless of psychological barriers. This study contributes to the existing findings of Foreign Language Anxiety while adding the comparison between the teachers and students and also effective strategies.

Engelskämnet ska bidra till att elever förbereds och utvecklar kunskaper för att kunna verka i ett globalt sammanhang. Elevers upplevelser av att verbalt kommunicera i engelskklassrummet påverkar deras språk- och kunskapsutveckling. Många elever upplever oroskänslor över att bli utpekade när de talar engelska som främmande språk. Studien har därmed i syfte att undersöka hur elever i grundskolans årskurs 4–6 upplever att kommunicera verbalt inför klasskamrater i engelskklassrummet. Syftet besvaras genom två frågeställningar: Hur upplever elever att kommunicera verbalt i engelskundervisningen? I vilken utsträckning upplever elever att klassrumsklimatet påverkar viljan att verbalt kommunicera i engelskklassrummet? För att undersöka elevers upplevelser av verbal kommunikation på engelska kombineras det sociokognitiva perspektivet med en kvalitativ analys som grundar sig i semistrukturerade fokusgruppsintervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med tolv elever från tre olika skolor. Studiens resultat visar att eleverna är motiverade till att lära sig engelska, men det finns situationer där de inte är trygga att verbalt kommunicera, exempelvis vid muntliga presentationer. Slutligen konstateras att lärarens stöttning och klassrumsklimatet är avgörande för god språkutveckling. / The English subject should help prepare and develop students' ability to operate in a global context. Students' experiences of communicating orally in the English classroom affect their language and knowledge development. Many students experience feelings of anxiety about being singled out when speaking English as a foreign language. The aim of this study is to investigate how students in grades 4-6 of elementary school experience communicating verbally in front of classmates in the English classroom. Aims are fulfilled, and research questions are answered concerning students' experiences: How do students experience verbal communication in English classes? To what extent do students feel that the classroom climate affects their willingness to verbally communicate in the English classroom? To investigate students' experiences of oral communication in English, the socio-cognitive perspective is combined with a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured focus group interviews. The interviews were conducted with twelve students from three different schools. The results of the study show that students are motivated to learn English, but that there are situations where they do not feel confident in oral communication, such as oral presentations. Finally, it is concluded that teacher support and classroom climate are crucial for good language development.

O ensino de Língua Estrangeira para Crianças (LEC) bem como sua pesquisa encontram-se em expansão no Brasil e no mundo (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Entre os estudos na área de LEC faltam pesquisas que avaliem e analisem dados que provenham de intervenções do ensino de escrita em LEC para crianças alfabetizadas entre 8 e 10 anos (Figueira, 2010). Com o intuito de contribuir para o ensino da escrita em inglês para o nível fundamental, esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar como uma intervenção pedagógica, realizada com alunos do 5º ano em uma escola particular paulista, ensinou o texto persuasivo em inglês e quais foram as implicações desse ensino para os participantes. Nesta pesquisa de mestrado, a professora-pesquisadora objetivou intervir na compreensão de texto de opinião dos alunos de modo a propiciar a expansão do conhecimento (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009) e o aprimoramento da escrita deles. Conforme as ações de aprendizagem de Davydov (1988), os alunos responderam à pergunta-problema elaborada para o curso, formularam representações sobre as características da persuasão, analisaram textos biográficos e textos persuasivos e, ao final da intervenção, redigiram textos persuasivos sobre o real inventor do avião. A intervenção pedagógica teve suas bases na Teoria da Atividade Sócio Histórico e Cultural, conforme os teóricos Vygotsky (2007) e Davydov (1988). Para Vygotsky (2007), as funções intelectuais dos seres humanos não são tidas como meros resultados de maturação biológica, como algo natural e inato a todos os seres humanos, pois são construídas socialmente com o auxílio fundamental da linguagem. Isso revela que as funções mentais superiores advêm da interação social, das práticas sociais e da história. Desse modo, a cognição não surge apenas do funcionamento biológico, pois advém da integração do corpo biológico com as práticas sociais (Vygotsky, 2007). Outra base teórica para a intervenção foi a Escola Australiana de Gêneros Textuais. Nessa perspectiva, o gênero textual se materializa no uso da língua, que é um meio pelo qual o ser humano constrói significados em um dado contexto social (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). Dessa forma, o gênero pode servir como uma ferramenta utilizada para criar Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal e expandir o conhecimento dos alunos. As perspectivas teóricas adotadas, portanto, objetivaram agir no campo em que atuaram (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Os resultados obtidos após a realização da intervenção pedagógica apontam para a conscientização dos alunos em relação à função persuasiva dos textos de opinião. Além disso, a análise de dados demonstrou que os alunos melhoraram sua escrita de texto de opinião em relação ao pré-teste, realizado antes da intervenção pedagógica. A conclusão aponta que ainda há muito a ser feito na área do ensino da escrita em língua estrangeira, mas que a criança deve ser sensibilizada a produzir textos de opinião ainda na escola primária (Souza, 2003: 73), uma vez que a argumentação e a persuasão estão presentes nas situações cotidianas, escolares ou familiares, das crianças / The teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Children as well as its research are in expansion not only in Brazil but all over the world (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Among the studies in the area of teaching English as a Foreign Language to children there is a lack of researches that evaluate and analyze data that come from interventions in the teaching of writing to literate children aged between 8 and 10 (Figueira, 2010). With the objective of contributing to the Teaching of Writing in English as a Foreign Language to Elementary School Children, this dissertation aims to demonstrate a) how a pedagogical intervention, that was held at a private school in São Paulo, taught the persuasive text and b) to discuss the implications of this teaching to the participants were. In this master research, the researcher and teacher aimed to intervene in the students comprehension of opinion writing in order to provoke the expansion of students comprehension (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009), as well as to promote their writing improvement. In conformity with Davydov´s learning actions (1988), students answered the problem-question elaborated for the course, formulated representations about the characteristics of persuasion, analyzed biographical and persuasive texts and, in the end of the intervention, wrote persuasive texts about the real inventor of the airplane. The pedagogical intervention had its basis on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, in conformity with the theories of Vygotsky (2007) and Davydov (1988). For Vygotsky, the intellectual functions of human beings are not mere results of biological maturation, as if they were something natural and innate for all human beings. Instead, the intellectual functions are socially constructed with the fundamental assistance of language. This reveals that higher mental functions derive from social interaction, from social and historical practices. In this sense, cognition emerges not only from biological functioning, but also from the integration of biological and social practice (Vygotsky, 2007). Another theoretical basis used for the intervention was the Australian School of Genre. In this perspective, the textual genre is materialized through language, which is a means through which human beings make meanings in social contexts (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). In this way, genre can be seen as a tool to build Zone of Proximal Development and expand students knowledge. These goals are connected with the theoretical perspectives adopted since their objective is to promote agency in the field they act upon (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Analysis of data revealed that the intervention promoted awareness of students in relation to the persuasive function of opinion texts. Moreover, the data analysis showed that students improved their opinion writing in relation to the pre-tests realized before the pedagogical intervention. The conclusion remarks that there is still much to do in the area of writing as a foreign language to children, but children must be sensitized to write opinion texts in primary school (Souza, 2003: 73), since argumentation and persuasion are present in everyday school or family children situations

O ensino de Língua Estrangeira para Crianças (LEC) bem como sua pesquisa encontram-se em expansão no Brasil e no mundo (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Entre os estudos na área de LEC faltam pesquisas que avaliem e analisem dados que provenham de intervenções do ensino de escrita em LEC para crianças alfabetizadas entre 8 e 10 anos (Figueira, 2010). Com o intuito de contribuir para o ensino da escrita em inglês para o nível fundamental, esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar como uma intervenção pedagógica, realizada com alunos do 5º ano em uma escola particular paulista, ensinou o texto persuasivo em inglês e quais foram as implicações desse ensino para os participantes. Nesta pesquisa de mestrado, a professora-pesquisadora objetivou intervir na compreensão de texto de opinião dos alunos de modo a propiciar a expansão do conhecimento (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009) e o aprimoramento da escrita deles. Conforme as ações de aprendizagem de Davydov (1988), os alunos responderam à pergunta-problema elaborada para o curso, formularam representações sobre as características da persuasão, analisaram textos biográficos e textos persuasivos e, ao final da intervenção, redigiram textos persuasivos sobre o real inventor do avião. A intervenção pedagógica teve suas bases na Teoria da Atividade Sócio Histórico e Cultural, conforme os teóricos Vygotsky (2007) e Davydov (1988). Para Vygotsky (2007), as funções intelectuais dos seres humanos não são tidas como meros resultados de maturação biológica, como algo natural e inato a todos os seres humanos, pois são construídas socialmente com o auxílio fundamental da linguagem. Isso revela que as funções mentais superiores advêm da interação social, das práticas sociais e da história. Desse modo, a cognição não surge apenas do funcionamento biológico, pois advém da integração do corpo biológico com as práticas sociais (Vygotsky, 2007). Outra base teórica para a intervenção foi a Escola Australiana de Gêneros Textuais. Nessa perspectiva, o gênero textual se materializa no uso da língua, que é um meio pelo qual o ser humano constrói significados em um dado contexto social (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). Dessa forma, o gênero pode servir como uma ferramenta utilizada para criar Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal e expandir o conhecimento dos alunos. As perspectivas teóricas adotadas, portanto, objetivaram agir no campo em que atuaram (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Os resultados obtidos após a realização da intervenção pedagógica apontam para a conscientização dos alunos em relação à função persuasiva dos textos de opinião. Além disso, a análise de dados demonstrou que os alunos melhoraram sua escrita de texto de opinião em relação ao pré-teste, realizado antes da intervenção pedagógica. A conclusão aponta que ainda há muito a ser feito na área do ensino da escrita em língua estrangeira, mas que a criança deve ser sensibilizada a produzir textos de opinião ainda na escola primária (Souza, 2003: 73), uma vez que a argumentação e a persuasão estão presentes nas situações cotidianas, escolares ou familiares, das crianças / The teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Children as well as its research are in expansion not only in Brazil but all over the world (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Among the studies in the area of teaching English as a Foreign Language to children there is a lack of researches that evaluate and analyze data that come from interventions in the teaching of writing to literate children aged between 8 and 10 (Figueira, 2010). With the objective of contributing to the Teaching of Writing in English as a Foreign Language to Elementary School Children, this dissertation aims to demonstrate a) how a pedagogical intervention, that was held at a private school in São Paulo, taught the persuasive text and b) to discuss the implications of this teaching to the participants were. In this master research, the researcher and teacher aimed to intervene in the students comprehension of opinion writing in order to provoke the expansion of students comprehension (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009), as well as to promote their writing improvement. In conformity with Davydov´s learning actions (1988), students answered the problem-question elaborated for the course, formulated representations about the characteristics of persuasion, analyzed biographical and persuasive texts and, in the end of the intervention, wrote persuasive texts about the real inventor of the airplane. The pedagogical intervention had its basis on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, in conformity with the theories of Vygotsky (2007) and Davydov (1988). For Vygotsky, the intellectual functions of human beings are not mere results of biological maturation, as if they were something natural and innate for all human beings. Instead, the intellectual functions are socially constructed with the fundamental assistance of language. This reveals that higher mental functions derive from social interaction, from social and historical practices. In this sense, cognition emerges not only from biological functioning, but also from the integration of biological and social practice (Vygotsky, 2007). Another theoretical basis used for the intervention was the Australian School of Genre. In this perspective, the textual genre is materialized through language, which is a means through which human beings make meanings in social contexts (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). In this way, genre can be seen as a tool to build Zone of Proximal Development and expand students knowledge. These goals are connected with the theoretical perspectives adopted since their objective is to promote agency in the field they act upon (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Analysis of data revealed that the intervention promoted awareness of students in relation to the persuasive function of opinion texts. Moreover, the data analysis showed that students improved their opinion writing in relation to the pre-tests realized before the pedagogical intervention. The conclusion remarks that there is still much to do in the area of writing as a foreign language to children, but children must be sensitized to write opinion texts in primary school (Souza, 2003: 73), since argumentation and persuasion are present in everyday school or family children situations

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.