It has been widely debated whether the use of the mother tongue is effective when learning a new language or if teachers should instead use the target language all the time in a language classroom. While some research shows that the use of the mother tongue is detrimental, other studies suggest that it can be used as a tool (e.g. for translations and for instructions) for teaching a new language. This study aims at exploring whether English or Swedish is predominantly used in English language teaching in Swedish primary schools and which factors contribute to the choice of language. Three primary school teachers and their pupils aged between 8 and10 at two primary schools in Sweden participated in the study. The data were collected through surveys and observations and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings show that the Swedish language is predominantly used during English lessons. Moreover, according to the participants in the study, this dominance is linked to the teachers´ need to create a positive classroom environment where the pupils feel safe, comfortable, and confident using their mother tongue as a tool for language learning.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur engelsklärare i åk 4-6 belyser och säger sig använda smartboarden i engelskundervisning. Denna studie är baserad på kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre grundlärare som undervisar i engelska i år 4, 5 och 6, och TPACK-modellen har valts som teoretisk utgångspunkt för analys, tolkning och diskussion av materialet. Resultatet visar vilka för- och nackdelar med smartboarden som upplevs av lärarna. En fördel som framkommer är att smartboarden gör det möjligt att spara och dela lektionsinnehållet, medan en nackdel som omnämns är teknikens sårbarhet som medför att läraren ständigt måste ha en alternativ lektionsplan i beredskap. Resultatet visar också att de tre lärarna framför allt använder smartboarden som projektor, dvs. ett visningsredskap, och att dess fulla användningspotential ofta lämnas outnyttjad till följd av att lärarna får otillräcklig teknisk utbildning och bristfälligt pedagogiskt stöd för hur smartboarden ska integreras i ämnesundervisningen på bästa sätt.

The purpose of this degree study it to fill the research gap of outdoor education in Gaza Strip-Palestine. It explored the perspective of Elementary English language teachers on what they understand outdoor education and explained the lack of research on outdoor education in this region. The study adapted a qualitative research method by conducting semi-structed interviews with 11 teachers from both private and UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) schools in the Gaza-Strip. The data was analyzed by employing inductive content analysis. The result has provided that the teachers have heard of outdoor education, but yet they lack awareness regarding the actual term and what it means. Adding to this, they responded positively on considering implementing outdoor English language lesson. However, they illustrated limitation that they would face to conduct them. The research evoked that these limitation are the same reasons which why outdoor education and learning is not common in the Gaza-Strip. Thus, they stand behind the main causes of the lake of research in this field in that certain region.

Code-switching has been shown to be beneficial for students’ language learning and forstrengthening their identities. Despite this, it can be interpreted that code-switching isnot encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school in Sweden.Because of this potential disagreement, this study aims to broaden the knowledge ofhow upper secondary school teachers relate to code-switching in their differentclassrooms. Thereby, this study seeks to examine some upper secondary school EFLteachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as the use of code-switching in theirdifferent classrooms. In this qualitative study, four upper secondary school teachers ofEnglish participated in semi-structured interviews followed by classroom observations.The teachers represent all courses of English at upper secondary school level and theyrepresent schools with different programs and students with different first languages.The results show that the teachers have limited knowledge of code-switching and thatthey believe that a large amount of target language use in the classroom is favorable.Nevertheless, the results also show that the teachers as well as their students use codeswitchingboth intentionally and unintentionally for various purposes, but none of theparticipating teachers seem to use code-switching as a strategy to promote long-standinglanguage acquisition. However, the results indicate that the teachers seem to effectivelyadapt their code-switching behavior to their student group. The findings of this studyare in line with earlier research where it, for instance, is argued that code-switching ismore suitable for classes with students with lower language proficiency.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate how teachers’ assessments in the SwedishUpper Secondary School are affected by the national tests in English language courses.By conducting a qualitative investigation in the shape of interviews with six teachers, Iaimed to show how the teachers feel that their profession is affected by the nationaltesting, whether it is positive or negative. This was done whilst also examining thenational tests within the context of school-developmental theory and assessment theory.The Swedish School Inspectorate have shown repeatedly in reports that there is a greatdiscrepancy regarding how students are assessed on a school-to-school basis which issomething that they wish to inhibit, as the Swedish school-system encouragesequivalency-based assessment. The national tests also tend to add stress both due to theadditional workload that the teachers experience, but also for the students who feelpressured to perform well under difficult testing situations.Since national testing in English is an annual assessment in Sweden teachers arecontinuously exposed to an additional workload at the end of each school year, whilststill being expected to handle their regular workload. To investigate how teachers feelabout the national tests in regards to how they perform their final assessments cantherefore be of importance, as it can provide us with an additional viewpoint as toexplain how or why national testing is or is not working in its current state.The results of the study show that although teachers find the national tests helpful sinceit provides them with additional material for assessment, the stress and additionalworkload does not outweigh the positives. There is also a tendency expressed that thenational tests tend to confirm what previous material has already shown regardingstudents. One suggestion for how the national tests can be bettered is to centralizemarking, as that would allow teachers to focus on teaching rather than worry aboutmarking. Overall, the results therefore show a negative impact on the teachers’ work.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第23985号 / 人博第1037号 / 新制||人||244(附属図書館) / 2022||人博||1037(吉田南総合図書館) / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 / (主査)准教授 金丸 敏幸, 教授 柳瀬 陽介, 教授 STEWART Timothy William, 教授 田地野 彰 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

Studien utforskade användningen av den Artificiell Intelligens chatbot, ChatGPT, i undervisningen av engelska (ELT) och hur elever och lärare på svenska gymnasieskolor uppfattade användningen av ChatGPT i engelskundervisningen. Studien har samlat båda kvantitativa data från 63 gymnasieelever genom en online-enkät och kvalitativa data från intervjuer med två engelsklärare på gymnasienivå. Forskningen undersökte i vilken utsträckning och för vilka syften elever använde ChatGPT, förändringarna i undervisningsmetoder inom ELT, samt fördelar och utmaningar med ChatGPT ur lärarnas perspektiv. Studien använde teoretiska ramverk som The Unified Technology Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Language teacher cognition och Learner Autonomy. Resultaten indikerar att elever huvudsakligen använder ChatGPT för idegenerering och inspiration. Dock har anvädningen av ChatGPT för engelskinlärning inte blivit populär bland eleverna. Förändringar i undervisningsmetoder märks främst i klassrum bedömningar, aktiviteter, och hjälp med lektionsplanering och materialförberedelse. Fördelar med ChatGPT inkluderar idegenerering, främjande av Learner Autonomy, medan utmaningar inkluderar oro för tillförlitlighet, begränsad inlärning, och frågor om akademisk ohederlighet. Detta understryker behovet av noggrant övervägande vid inkluderingen av ChatGPT i pedagogiska sammanhang. / The study explored the application of artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, in English language teaching (ELT) and learning, exploring how Swedish upper secondary school students’ and teachers’ perceived ChatGPT in English class. The study collected quantitative data consisting of 63 upper secondary school students’ through an online questionnaire, and qualitative data from interviews with two upper-secondary ELT Teachers. The research explores the extent and purposes of students’ use of ChatGPT, the changes in ELT instructional practices, and the affordances and challenges of ChatGPT from teacher’s perspectives. This study adopts the unified technology acceptance and use of technology theory (UTAUT), Language teacher cognition and Learning autonomy as theoretical frameworks. The results indicate that students primarily use ChatGPT for brainstorming and inspiration, however, using ChatGPT for English learning has not become popular among students. Changes in instructional practices are noticeable in in-class assessments, activities, and assistance with lesson planning and material preparation. The affordances of ChatGPT are brainstorming, promoting learner autonomy, and the challenges include reliability concerns, limited learning, and issues of academic dishonesty. This emphasises the need for careful consideration when including ChatGPT in pedagogical implications.

Listening comprehension is considered one of the more difficult language skills to teach, which has caused a debate regarding what impact English varieties have on the learners of English. Previous research is divided, with researchers stating that English varieties influence intelligibility and comprehensibility of speech in listening comprehension, while others claim it has no effect. This study aims to investigate Swedish teachers’ attitudes to English varieties in listening comprehension and what affects their choice of teaching material used in listening comprehension contexts. A survey was conducted alongside semi-structured interviews with teachers from upper secondary schools in Sweden. Four counties in Sweden were randomly selected, and all the teachers from each county were contacted with requests to participate in the study. In total, 35 teachers answered the survey, and six participated in the interviews. The results show that teachers are united in that learners of English should be exposed to different English varieties in listening comprehension. However, they are divided on its importance in other contexts, such as if the content of the teaching material used in listening comprehension is more important than the English variety used. They are also divided on if the English varieties affected their choice of teaching material to use in listening comprehension at all.

This thesis aims to address why the adoption of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) within the language classroom is so varied, and its success so unclear, despite fifty years of investment and research. The huge promise of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) driven results has created an imbalance in language teaching, where initiatives are brought about from outside the classroom, with teachers held accountable for their adoption. My reading of the literature is that lack of consideration of the teacher’s role in implementation of classroom technology has led to mismatched expectations and performance. If the nature of the teacher’s contribution is recognized, I believe that this can lead to more effective use of ICT, which I have set out to show. My study, based on a survey of 319 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers across the international group of 31 schools in which I work, seeks to put the teacher back into the picture by examining where their enacted beliefs in social constructivist pedagogy best align with classroom use of digital technology. I coin this emerging praxis ‘microblending’, a pedagogy rooted in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory and contemporary methodology, and I seek to demonstrate its relevance in this study I test the viability of measuring teacher’s microblending readiness through application of Technology Acceptance Modelling (TAM) in an EFL setting to produce a model that explains the variation in classroom use of ICT. My model is based on a critical replication of the WST (‘Will, Skill, Tool’) model, a TAM model which has so far only been used in mainstream classroom teaching. I have updated, created and piloted new instruments within the scope of the study, which are now already in use within the institution where I carried out my investigations. Using both linear regression and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques I explored how these measurements of the learning environment can explain a teacher’s application of technology. This first attempt appears to explain over 89% of the variation in classroom use of technology, which already exceeds the predictive power of several contemporary models in use in parallel fields of education. Given further work to refine and apply the model, a valuable improvement could be made in how teachers work with ICT in the language classroom for improved learning outcomes.

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