We cannot say for sure that competitions in theoretical subjects has increased in Swedish schools. However, Swedish educators testify that the number of competitions in school has increased in recent years. Läsloppet is a reading competition aimed at third-graders, and is carried out in cooperation between the municipal library and the schools in a municipality in the southern parts of Stockholm. This case study examined how a third grade teacher reason about participation in this reading competition and how her class work with literature reading during the competition. Through a survey it also examined her students’ thoughts on reading in general and on participating in Läsloppet. Within the theoretical frame of Aidan Chambers theories of reading environment and “the reading circle”, combined with various aspects on motivation, the purpose of this paper was to examine how Läsloppet could serve as a reading promotion tool, and what participating in a reading contest could mean for students’ motivation to read. The questions used to answer this was: How can participating in Läsloppet be described based on the concept reading environment and various aspects of reading motivation? How does the teacher describe the participation in Läsloppet from an educational perspective? How do the students experience reading in school and the participating in Läsloppet? Results showed that students with motivation in reading benefits the most by participating in the reading competition. Students with low or no interest in reading seems to show low interest in reading even after participating in the contest. From an educational perspective the competition had some positive effects in creating a good reading environment for the class participating in this study.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka om och hur pedagoger upplevde vilka effekter läshundar hade på elevers motivation för läsning i lågstadiet. Syftet var dessutom att ta reda på vilka sätt dessa pedagoger uppfattade effekterna. Läshundar ska hjälpa elever att utveckla sin läsning och bidra till elevers motivation till att läsa. Eleverna läser högt för läshunden och hunden finns där för att uppmuntra eleverna till lärande. Tidigare forskning (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch & Messent, 1983, s. 461) visade att hundar kunde påverka människan genom att dämpa stress och ångest.Som metod tillämpades en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fyra pedagoger. Då den tidigare forskningen i Sverige var begränsad och antalet personer med koppling till läshundar var få, resulterade det i fyra deltagare i studien. Under utförandet av studien pågick även virusutbrottet Covid-19, vilket försvårade urvalet av deltagare.Med fokus på intrinsic motivation, som är en del av teorin SDT (self determination theory), (Deci, Ryan, 2000, s. 69) och läsmotivation (Bråten, 2008, s.75) applicerades två motivationsteorier för att analysera resultatet. Med hjälp av definitioner på dessa begrepp behandlades resultatet utifrån dessa teorier.Resultatet visade att pedagogerna ansåg att läshundar påverkade elevers motivation för läsning. Detta synliggjordes genom att eleverna blev engagerade, nyfikna och kände en glädje till att läsa för hunden. Pedagogerna upplevde att elevernas mående, beteende och inställning till läsning hade förbättrats. Dessutom upplevde pedagogerna att läshundenhjälpte eleverna att göra framsteg i sin läsutveckling med hjälp av deras inre motivation.Resultatet i denna studie pekar på att läshundar ökar elevers motivation för att läsa. Studien visade även att det behövs mer forskning för att göra resultatet generaliserbart. Detta på grund av att denna studie har gjorts i en begränsad omfattning. I likhet med tidigare forskning visade pedagogernas intervjusvar att det finns en tydlig uppfattning om att läshundar kan fungera som ett hjälpande verktyg i skolan.Författarna av denna uppsats ansvarar för olika delar av studien. Lina Fransson ansvarar för analysen av intervjusvaren från pedagog a och b, samt kapitel 6: Metod. Tilda Nordenholm ansvarar för analysen av intervjusvaren från pedagog c och d, samt kapitel 3: Tidigare forskning. De andra delarna av uppsatsen har författarna ett gemensamt ansvar över.

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to better understand how 9th grade honors and general education language arts students valued reading, and to discover if there were any connections between the types of reading values, expectancies for success, and the student’s ultimate language arts course selection. This study was grounded in the expectancy-value theory and considered all 4 task values including utility, attainment, intrinsic, cost, and the expectancies (e.g., past experiences and reader identity) of the participants as well. First, a survey was administered to 9th graders (N = 118) enrolled in either a general language arts course or in an honors language arts course, and who were attending a public high school. The surveys allowed for a general overview of how these 9th graders viewed their motivation to read (based on reported expectancies and values) and how this motivation either influenced or did not influence their course enrollment decisions related to their 9th grade language arts course. Overall mean scores from the survey indicated the participants reported fairly high reading motivation. The results of a t-test comparing the mean score between the two groups indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between honors and general education students when it came to their reading motivation, with a medium effect size reported. A point biserial correlation analysis was conducted next to determine if there were significant correlations between course selection and the values and expectancies. The results indicated that the higher a student’s reading motivation, which was based on the survey score, then the more likely the student was to enroll in an honors language arts course. Attainment was the only value that also reported a positive and statistically significant correlation. After the surveys, six participants were identified and invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interview participants were chosen using purposive sampling. Two of these 9th graders were identified as having a high score on the motivation survey, two 9th graders with a medium score on the motivation survey, and two 9th graders with low scores on the motivation survey. The interview findings revealed six themes that emerged from the data analysis including reader identity, perceived competence, cost and choices to read, conflicting emotions and feelings about reading, perceived reading usefulness and expectations for reading in life, and course enrollment decisions. The findings of this study provide information about how 9th graders see and value reading, how these 9th graders are motivated to read, and how teachers, school leaders, and counselors can better support 9th graders as they make decisions about which course to enroll in so that students may be able to reach their full academic and vocational potential.

Forskning har visat att svenskar, i synnerhet barn och ungdomar, läser allt läser mindre. Multimodala medier skapar nya möjligheter och nya verktyg för att utforma undervisning och på så vis även försöka främja elevers motivation till att läsa. Den här studien har som syfte att bidra med kunskap om hur svensklärare arbetar med multimodala medier i klassrummet för att främja elevers läsmotivation. Genom intervjuer med fyra yrkesverksamma svensklärare på gymnasiet undersöker studien hur lärare beskriver sina kunskaper om multimodala medier och deras didaktiska möjligheter och utmaningar när det gäller främjandet av läsmotivation, samt vilka för- respektive nackdelar det finns i arbetet med multimodala medier kontra traditionella texter. Resultatet visar att samtliga lärare besitter olika mycket kunskap om hur multimodala medier kan användas i undervisningen för att främja läsmotivation hos eleverna. Lärarna beskriver att multimodala medier skapar förutsättningar för att fånga upp fler elever i klassrummet och kan fungera som en hjälpande hand eller språngbräda in i berättandet och till en motivation att läsa. Exempelvis genom att elever får möjlighet att med olika medier ta till sig en och samma berättelse. / Research indicates that the Swedish population, especially children and young adults, read less and less. Multimodal media have the potential to create new opportunities and new tools for teachers to foster student’s motivation to read. The purpose of this study is thus to contribute with knowledge about how Swedish teachers use multimodal media in the classroom to promote students reading motivation. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with 4 teachers from different upper secondary schools in Sweden, with the purpose to analyze how teachers describe their knowledge of multimodal media and their didactic possibilities and challenges regarding the promotion of reading motivation, and what advantages and disadvantages there are in working with multimodal media versus traditional books.  The study shows that all of the interviewed teachers possess various much knowledge about how multimodal media can be used in classrooms to promote students reading motivation. The teachers describe that multimodal media can act as a helping hand or springboard to increase student motivation to read. For example, by giving student the opportunity to understand a specific story through different multimodal media.

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This thesis focuses on how cultural connections in classroom influences students value of learning, specifically, their value of reading. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized the importance of balancing cognitive and conative aspects of childrens reading development. However, what is lacking in these studies is a focus on Pacific Islander (PI) children. The purpose of this study was to examine value of reading for diverse students who may be struggling in classrooms designed for White, middle-class students. Findings provide educators and those working with diverse students a chance to consider how connecting cultural backgrounds for all students can help in classrooms. This study was framed from a larger study on equity in teaching academic language conducted by the supervising professor, Dr. Bryant Jensen. This research study used a mixed method approach: multiple regression analysis to predict gains in PI students reading values, and interviews with classroom teachers. Fourth through sixth grade Latino and PI students in 32 classrooms participating in the quantitative study, and three teachers were interviewed. Due to the short time frame, PI students value of reading did not increase on average. Themes also emerged during interviews with the classroom teachers. I conclude with a discussion, implications, and recommendations for future research studies and educators working with PI and other diverse students.

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This essay aims to investigate Swedish upper secondary school students' perceptions about their attitudes and motivation towards extensive reading in English. Further, this essay also aims to investigate students' attitudes towards self-selected reading as a potentially more motivational classroom strategy in comparison to teacher-selected reading. The main research questions addressed are 'What are Swedish upper secondary school students' attitudes to extensive reading in English?' and 'Do the students perceive self-selected reading to be more motivational than teacher-selected reading?'. The hypothesis is that students recognize learner autonomy to have a positive effect upon their reading attitudes and therefore prefer self-selected reading materials. Through collecting data using mixed methods consisting of 40 questionnaires and seven interviews, and further analyzing this data using qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics, this study presents several findings. The results show that students’ attitudes are mixed: students are both more positive and negative towards extensive reading in English than for reading in general. Through further comparing the students' attitudes regarding the two reading selection practices—self-selected or teacher-selected reading—this study shows that 90% of students believe that self-selected reading would positively impact their reading enjoyment. Additionally, the results also imply that it is not necessarily learner autonomy that students perceive as likely to improve their reading attitudes, but that they rather just want their reading materials to align with their personal interests. This degree project essay concludes that many of the students are not feeling intrinsically motivated to read in their English class, and are thus relying on extrinsic factors for motivation instead, such as grades, which leaves them with negative reading experiences and attitudes. Finally, some pedagogical implications in relation to this study's findings are discussed.