The aim with this essay is to examine how relevant the strategies compiled by the National Agency for Education are to English language teachers in Sweden.  The main focus is on the area of strategies in general but in order to go further into depth in a specific area, there is a selective focus on vocabulary learning strategies as well. Moreover, this study has been facilitated with the help from teachers. The teachers answered a number of questions through a quantitative questionnaire. The teachers selected to participate in this study all teach at high school level. A total of eight teachers participated as informants. As the main theory, this study used the original classification framework designed by Chamot and O’Malley (1990). The conclusions drawn from the results is that teachers found all strategies listed by the Swedish National Agency for Education to have importance even though some were more important than others. Furthermore, with regards to the vocabulary learning, the conclusion has been drawn that teachers use several techniques in their teaching. However, the summary of the vocabulary strategies shows the importance to vary. Some informants answered that they use the strategies frequently although in quite a few cases they answered that they use them infrequently, which awakens the question of relevance in the daily teaching practice.

The present study focuses on how the European Language Portfolio (ELP) can be used in a Swedish school. More particularly it aims at exploring how a group of teachers have adapted the use of the material to their particular pedagogical situation. It also aims at finding out what the same group of teachers identifies as the ELP’s strengths and possible weaknesses.For this purpose, a case study was carried out in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with four language teachers at an upper secondary school in the south of Sweden. Although the teachers started out using the official ELP 16+, only the language passport has been kept. The teachers have adapted the rest of the material to their own situation. Three different adaptations were identified and presented. Moreover, the teachers identified a number of areas that they saw as the ELP’s strengths. Among these areas were the material’s compatibility with the Swedish steering documents and the language biography (in adapted versions). When asked about the possible weaknesses, the teachers’ main concerns were the standard checklists and the fact that working with the ELP is time-consuming in different ways.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

This dissertation investigates the relationship between Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and language-learning approaches. In this sense, Language Learning Autonomy (LLA) seems to be the most preferred candidate by researchers in order to become the suitable approach in order to make the most out of technology (Blin, 1999; Little, 2001; Littlemore, 2003; The European Directorate General of Education and Culture, 2003; sanz, 2003; Villanueva, 2003). The increasing research on this specific field and the theoretical reflections derived from it over the last decade constitutes the framework of our study. Following previous studies (Beatty, 2003; Chapelle, 2003; Alessi, 2001; Marqués, 1995, 2001; Rushby, 1997; Shin and Wastell, 1998; Blin, 1999; Holliday, 1999; Hoven, 1997, 1999; Murray, 1998; Sanz, 2003), the aim of the present study is to examine to what extent an approach to language learning autonomy from a socioconstructivist perspective can effectively inform the design of a specific language learning package taht promotes both autonomising behaviours and positive attitudes in learners. With these reflections in mind, three aspects underline the present study, namely 1) the need to carry out qualitative studies in order to inform a theoretical framework for CALL development, 2) the need to focus on the relationship between CALL and LLA and 3) the need to examine the "teachibility"of learner autonomy by means of a language learning package designed for this specific purpose. This context motivated the following actions: 1) to design a pilot application based upon autonomising criteria (TADLA: Technology Applied to the Development of Learner Autonomy); 2) to test this design with learners with a specific learner style regarding their learner autonomy degree. And finally 3) to compare the results obtained in the tests of other language learning package (Communicate and Connect, 2003).The results obtained in the case-study confirm that the criteria upon which the design of TADLA is based could be considered the requirements that enable the integration of autonomising strategies within the learning activities. In this sense, attention to learning styles, implementation of authentic materials, the possibility of transfer and a discursive approach among others are suitable criteria for the development of attitudes that could lead to a later development of learner autonomy.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

This thesis explores how learner independence was implemented as a curricular goal at a tertiary level Preparatory Programme (PP) in the United Arab Emirates. This exploratory-interpretive case study shows how students and teachers at the English programme responded to an Independent Learning Log (ILL) and how they interpreted learner autonomy with respect to the ILL. The study analyzes how various interpretations of autonomy affected the students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the ILL. The interviews and the surveys used in this study were conducted between 20122014. The data was examined using Critical Discourse Analysis and was coded with NVivo software. As a result of the data analysis, the researcher identified themes related to student and teacher roles in the promotion of autonomy, learner representations in TESOL, and issues of control and agency, in the language classroom and out-of-class. The findings suggest that, in the teachers’ discourse, students are assigned passive roles and are often represented as lacking, deficient, and in need of control. Furthermore, the teachers are represented as the agents and controllers of education. These findings are supported by other studies from different cultural settings. This suggests that the US and THEM divide is not unique to the context of this study, but, rather, that it reflects a broader issue that is characteristic of TESOL discourse. In the discussion section, the researcher demonstrates how the themes identified in this study draw on a Social Order perspective in education. It is argued that this conceptual model remains ingrained in teachers’ and students’ group consciousness as the default model for learning. We conclude that learner independence as an educational goal is incompatible with this way in which students and teachers conceptualise education. In order for autonomy to become a feasible educational goal, we need to re-think how we organise language learning and what roles teachers and students assign each other. Overall, this case study reveals the problems that educators may face when promoting autonomy in a language programme. An understanding of these issues may help future language programmes develop better strategies towards fostering learner autonomy at an institutional level.

TITLE: Practice Enterprise as a Way of Acquiring Foreign Languages AUTHOR: Simona Pecková DEPARTMENT: Department of the French Language and Literature SUPERVISOR: Dr.PhDr. Renáta Listíková, MCF ABSTRACT: The thesis deals with the potential that the subject called practice enterprise represents for acquisition of foreign languages. The aim of the work is to carry out a survey of the present situation, to find about the pupils' level of business language and also to discover what their attitude to the practice enterprise and their motivation to study foreign languages are. By focussing the language instruction on working life, we want to enhance their competitiveness on the labour market. Quantitative research methods are combined here with qualitative ones. Concerning the tools of research, we used didactic test, questionnaire, interview and focus group. We have found out that the practice enterprise has a positive influence on students' level of foreign languages. However, no connection between practice enterprise and pupils' attitude to foreign languages and their motivation to study them has been proved. In order to take a bigger advantage of the potential of practice enterprise as a means to acquire foreign languages, we recommend a bigger and a more systematic integration of language instruction into...

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