The Swedish government has authorised the teaching of mathematics in English to Swedish speaking students. Much of that teaching is performed by foreign trained native English speaking teachers lacking training in second language learners. This systematic review summarises international studies from the last ten years that deal with the teaching of mathematics to second language learners. The review shows that second language students working in a bilingual environment achieve higher rates of content and language knowledge than learners in a monolingual environment. This study also summarises some of the teacher practices that are effective for teaching mathematics in English to second language learners.

In support of educational equity, the White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001) states that every learner in South Africa has the right to pursue their learning potential to the best of their ability. The South African Schools Act of 1996 states that a school’s language policy may not exclude learners from different backgrounds. As a result, many English second language (L2) learners struggle to understand the learning material and perform poorly academically. Poor literacy and reading skills have been identified in the literature (for example Pretorius, 2005) as a significant cause for poor academic performance. In an endeavour to work within the Outcomes Based Education (OBE) system, teachers are increasingly seeking ways to improve group learning. These factors motivated the present study and a paired reading intervention was selected and administered to Grade 9 English second language learners. Volunteer participants consisted of an Experimental Group (n 53) and a Comparison Group (n 53). Each group was divided into strong (mentor) and weak (mentee) readers. Pre-tests and post-tests were conducted regarding the Experimental and Comparison Group’s scores on the Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests of the Stanford Reading Diagnostic Test (SDRT): Brown Level and the Academic Performance of both groups were recorded at pre and post-test phases. After an 11 week intervention programme a statistical analysis of the results was conducted. The overall means for the groups were analysed using t-tests to establish any significant differences between the pre-test and post-test results. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was also conducted to determine whether any significant differences existed between the Experimental and Comparison Group. A null hypothesis was supported. It would appear that the whole-hearted commitment and participation of all role-players is essential for the effective implementation of a peer reading intervention at a school.

I den svenska skola är idag cirka 20 % andraspråkselever, det vill säga att de har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Då elevernas lärande är avhängigt av förmågan till interaktion med lärare samt klasskamrater, spelar den kommunikativa förmågan spelar en central roll i skolan samt ställer specifika krav på lärarens utformning av undervisningen. Detta är en angelägen aspekt även för matematikundervisningen, då läroplanen betonar att eleverna utveckla språkliga färdigheter så som kommunikativ-, resonemang- samt begreppslig förmåga. Ur ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv utgör detta tillika ett viktigt incitament då skolans kompensatoriska uppdrag medför utbildningen skall göras likvärdig för alla elever genom individuella behov beaktas i undervisningen. Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie är att skapa förståelse för på vilket sätt, samt med vilka utbildningsteoretiska perspektiv på lärande, som vetenskapliga studier belyser matematikundervisningen med fokus på språkutveckling för andraspråkselever. Studiens resultat är baserat på internationella artiklar samt avhandlingar. Resultaten visar på framgångsfaktorer för andraspråkselevers matematiska språkutveckling bygger på faktorer som tillgång studiehandledning på modersmål, anpassade kommunikativa strukturer i undervisningen samt adekvat stöd och förväntningar från både skolan samt omgivningen. / In Swedish schools there is today approximately 20% second language learners, by that meaning they have a different native language than Swedish. Since the student’s acquisition is dependent on the ability to interact with teachers and classmates, the communicative ability plays a central role in the learning process, and places thereby specific demands on the teachers design of educational activity. This is also an important aspect for mathematics teaching, since the curriculum emphasizes that students develop linguistic skills such as communication-, reasoning- and conceptual ability. From a special pedagogical perspective, this also constitutes an important incentive, as the school's compensatory assignment entails that education must be made equal for all students through individual needs being considered in the teaching process. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to create an understanding of how, and with which educational theoretical perspectives on learning, scientific studies sheds light on mathematics teaching with a focus on language development for second language learners. The study's results are based on international articles and dissertations. The results show that successful aspects for mathematical language development of second language learners are based on factors such as access to study guidance in native language, adapted communicative structures in the teaching, as well as adequate support and expectations from both the school and the surrounding community.

Syftet med föreliggande kvalitativa studie är att belysa flerspråkiga gymnasieelevers perspektiv på läsning av skönlitteratur i skolan. Detta görs mot bakgrund av forskning kring ungdomars läsvanor, läsmotivationsforskning, aktuella styrdokument samt utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. För att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar genomfördes fem elevintervjuer i årskurs tre på ett studieförberedande gymnasieprogram. Samtliga elever läser svenska som andraspråk. Intervjuerna är inspirerade av livsberättelseansatsen och har fokus på elevernas läsarhistorier. Resultatet av intervjuerna visar att elevernas erfarenheter av att läsa skönlitteratur i skolan varierar. Den undersökta elevgruppen har av sina föräldrar hört fiktiva berättelser som barn. Studien visar att eleverna uppfattar att det har påverkat dem på olika sätt, bland annat genom deras läsarliv. Elevernas erfarenhet av att läsa skönlitteratur i gymnasieskolan styrs av både plikt och tid, till skillnad från att läsa böcker under tidigare skolår. Studien visar också att lärarens engagerade ledarskap och ett positivt samspel är av betydelse för läsandet och deras personliga utveckling. Sett ur lärarperspektivet bör tid för läsning av skönlitteratur omvärderas, då forskningen har visat att läsning av skönlitteratur gynnar studier i andra ämnen men även individers sociala utveckling och delaktighet i samhället. / The aim of this qualitative study is to examine multilingual upper secondary school pupils’ perspectives on fiction reading at school. This is done with the background of research on young peoples’ reading habits, reading motivation research, current control documents, and from a socio-cultural perspective. To answer the aim of the study and the questions at issue five interviews with pupils in their third year of university preparatory program were carried out. All the pupils study Swedish as a second language. The interviews are inspired by their lifestories and are focused on the pupils’ reading experiences. The result of the interviews shows that the experiences of fiction reading at school vary. The tested group has heard real stories but also fictitious ones from their parents as children. The study has shown that the pupils apprehend that it has affected them in different ways i. e. by their reading life. The pupils’ experiences of reading fiction in school is governed by both duty and time, compared to reading books during earlier years. The study also shows that teacher’s commited leadership and a positive interaction are important for their reading and personal development. From a teacher’s perspective, time for reading of fiction should be revalued, since research has shown that the reading of fiction promotes studies in other subjects but also an individual’s social development and participation in society.

Sammandrag Agneta Nylund Guhrén Varför har många tvåspråkiga elever svårt att nå målen skolan ställer på dem? En studie av situationen i en internationell gymnasieklass. Why Do Many Bilingual Students Have Difficulties in Achieving School Targets? A study of an International Class at a Swedish Upper Secondary School. VT 2011 Antal sidor: 55 En lägre andel av andraspråkseleverna når målen för grundskolan än de som är födda i landet.Forskning och kunskap finns inom området om hur framgångsrik andraspråksinlärning skabedrivas. Varför består och till och med ökar andelen andraspråkselever som inte når målen?För att uppnå syftet att urskilja faktorer som avviker från dem som enligt forskningen leder tillgoda studieresultat har styrdokument och forskningsrön studerats, en kvalitativ intervjuundersökningbland elever och lärare genomförts samt observationer gjorts i en internationell klassvid en gymnasieskola i Mellansverige.Resultatet visar att vissa andraspråkselever kommunicerar i lägre grad än vad som är nödvändigtför att utveckla språket. I textproduktionen finns krav på elevernas abstraktionsförmågamen i muntliga situationer utmanas inte språknivån. De sent anlända andraspråkelevernasordförråd räcker inte till för ämnestexter med krav på lingvistisk förståelse.Elever med tidigare skolgång har verktyg för att överbrygga språksvårigheterna och ta till sigett mer abstrakt kunskapsrelaterat språk medan elever utan skolgång behöver utveckla förmågan.Elevernas få tillfällen att utveckla sin additativa tvåspråkighet påverkar deras möjlighetatt nå kunskapsmålen. Samarbete mellan sva-, ämnes- och modersmålslärarna för att förbättraandraspråkelevernas måluppfyllelse är nödvändig.

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of migrant children attending Swedish preschool highlights the necessity to effectively meet the needs of all students. This paper outlines the findings of Second Language Learners (SLL) children related to engagement, interaction, and collaboration between teachers and parents. Bioecological system theory was applied as a mean to understand how those aspects interact.  AIM: The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether there are differences between children's average engagement in classes with a low and high proportion of SLL (unit level). Another aim is to investigate differences in engagement and in the interaction between children that are SLL and children that are not (child level). Finally, this thesis provides an insight into teacher’s perceptions regarding collaboration with parents when groups of children with and without SLL support are compared.  METHODS: A quantitative method was established based on existing data from the Early Detection Early Intervention Project [TUTI]. Using a cross-sectional design, this study draws upon data from Swedish preschools that teachers respond to instruments, CEQ and Interaction Questionnaire, as well as Questions informing Characteristics and Questions about Collaboration with Parents. RESULTS: The results showed that there are no differences in engagement when groups are compared at unit level, however, at the child level, children who have SLL support on average had lower engagement than children without a need for SLL support. Regarding to interactions, the four types analyzed showed significant differences when the two groups were compared, the SLL children demonstrated less interaction. Furthermore, the results showed low parent collaboration with preschool for parents of SLL when compared to non-SLL. LIMITATION: lacks of data from other perspectives, in addition to the teachers' perspectives, are missing from this study. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Children´s particular characteristic, and educational environmental aspects are discussed. More efforts are need in order to provide to all children adequately of opportunities, equality of wellbeing and acceptance.

Education is a fundamental precondition for progress and growth in South Africa (Spaull, 2011, p. 1). Literacy opens the doors to better livelihoods, improved health and expanded opportunity (UNESCO, 2011). Illiteracy is a serious constraint to improving education standards in South Africa. Prominent research studies stress the low levels of reading ability across the country. At the onset of Grade One, pre-reading skills are taught. Pre-reading skills are foundational skills and essential for later reading success. Teachers in English Second Language environments face the daunting challenge of teaching learners to read in a foreign language. This qualitative research study, which was conducted at a low-fee private school in Pretoria Central Business district, aimed to explore the methods that educators were using to teach second language English Learners (ESL) pre-reading skills. Data collected from semi-structured interviews, lesson observations and document analysis revealed that educators had a limited theoretical knowledge of pre-reading skills due to a lack of tertiary education and curriculum training. Numerous methods of teaching pre-reading skills were identified during pre-reading lesson observations. The synthetic phonics approach, multisensory teaching, using dramatization and subtractive bilingualism were methods of instruction used to develop phonemic awareness and English oral language competency. The study highlighted the numerous challenges faced by ESL teaching working in a low-socioeconomic environment and the ways in which the teachers overcame these challenges. Based on this study’s results, recommendations are provided to enhance the teaching of pre-reading skills to ESL learners. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

English language learners (ELLs) at a public elementary school in the southeastern United States had not been passing state tests on literacy. Researchers have found that teachers must be adequately prepared to use instructional practices in mainstream classrooms to help ELLs increase language acquisition and pass state tests in literacy. The purpose of this case study was to examine the experiences of Grade 3 literacy teachers teaching ELLs in a mainstream classroom at the study elementary school in order to understand their instructional challenges. The conceptual framework was based on Bandura's social cognitive theory in order to understand how these teachers might improve their instructional practices. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify potential participants. Data were collected through individual semistructured interviews with 4 Grade 3 literacy teachers teaching ELLs. Data were analyzed using open coding and thematic analysis to identify emergent themes. The themes identified were inadequate professional development, lack of support at school, and lack of parental support impacting language acquisition of ELLs. Findings of this study can be used by school administrators, curriculum planning educators, and area superintendents to make decisions regarding the training of literacy teachers who teach ELLs. Based on findings from the study, a professional development program was developed for literacy teachers who teach ELLs to help them prepare students to graduate from high school. Implications for positive social change include providing strategies for literacy teachers at the study site to help ELLs pass standardized tests.

Denna studie bygger på andraspråksinlärares skriftliga kompetens kopplad till syntaktiska och kommunikativa nivåer. I synnerhet är syftet att studera språkliga syntaktiska nivåer i texter skrivna av andraspråksinlärare som har behörighet att studera vid universitet. Ytterligare ett syfte är att studera om innehållet i texter kan förmedlas på ett kommunikativt och idiomatisk sätt. Den teoretiska ramen för att mäta syntaktiska nivåer som informanter i denna studie har uppnått bygger på processbarhetsteorin (Pienneman, 1998/ Pienneman & Håkansson, 1999). Studien visar att godkända texter i Svenska som andraspråk B och Tisustest uppnår nivå 4 och 5 på syntaktisk nivå.   Studien visar också på variation av kommunikativ kompetens utifrån förmågan att förmedla ett central innehåll. Informanterna uppnår delvis målspråksnormen och delvis avviker från målspråksnormen i varierad grad vilket påverkar den kommunikativa kompetensen. Det mesta av resultatet pekar på individuella skillnader. Vad som kan förklara skillnader mellan informanterna kan delvis kopplas till varierad kognitiv svårighetsgrad i texterna. Studien visar att processbarhetsteorin kan vara ett fördelaktigt verktyg för att mäta syntaktiska nivåer i texter. Dock pekar studien på att det är av vikt att också genomföra en mer omfattande bedömning av kommunikativa språkkunskaper för att kunna göra en helhetsbedömning av skriftlig språkkompetens av andraspråksinlärare. / The present study concerns second language learners' syntactic and communicative competence in writing. The aim is to study syntactic performances in texts written by learners of Swedish as a second language permitted to study at university. Another aim is to discuss the communicative and idiomatic performances of the informants.   The theoretical framework used for assessment of achieved syntactic levels is the Processability Theory (Pienneman, 1998/Pienneman & Håkansson, 1999). The results reveal that the students who´s texts in Svenska som andraspråk B[1]and the Tisustest[2]have passed the exam have achieved either syntactic level 4 or 5 according to Processability Theory.    The study also reveals the variety of communicative and idiomatic competence based on the ability to convey a core content. The informants partly achieve and partly do not achieve the Swedish language norms, in various degrees, which effects the level of communicative competence which they are able to express. The results point to more or less individual differences. There are small differences between the group of informants in Svenska som andraspråk B and in the Tisustest. Possible causes for these differences may partly be connected to the varying degree of cognitive difficulty in producing the different texts.   The study shows that the use of Processability Theory may be a beneficial tool to measure levels of syntactic proficiency levels in second language learner texts. However, it appears that it also is important to establish a comprehensive assessment of communicative language skills in order to make an overall assessment of written language skills of second language learners. [1]Swedish as a second language, level B [2]Tisus - Test in Swedish for university studies.

Sammanfattning Att kunna identifiera och förstå olika varieteter av målspråket är en grundläggande förutsättning för att andraspråksinlärare av svenska ska kunna bli fullständig deltagare i dagens flerspråkiga svenska samhälle. Den här studien har till syfte att explorativt undersöka vuxna andraspråksinlärares tillägnande av kunskaper i språklig variation vad gäller modersmålssvenska och andraspråkssvenska, samt deras sociolingvistiska medvetenhet. Detta testas och analyseras genom olika moment i ett lyssnarexperiment, dvs. hur L2-lyssnare bedömer olika talare, hur de förklarar sin bedömning och hur de uppfattar sig själva jämfört med olika talare. En bakgrundsenkät används för att samla in information om språklig erfarenhet och koppla den till L2-lyssnarnas bedömningar. Resultaten pekar mot att studiens L2-lyssnare varierar väldigt mycket vad gäller kunskaper i variation, och vissa lyssnare verkar även ha helt identiska bedömningar med modersmålskontrollgruppen. Studien har däremot inte kunnat påvisa någon korrelation mellan språklig erfarenhet och L2-lyssnarnas bedömningar. Det presenteras möjliga tolkningar av och förklaringar till vad som kan ha påverkan på L2-lyssnares kunskaper. / Abstract Being able to identify and understand different varieties of the target language is a fundamental condition for learners of Swedish as a second language in order to gain full language proficiency and become a participant in today’s multilingual Swedish society. The present study is an explorative investigation of how adult second language learners acquire knowledge of native and non-native variation in Swedish and of sociolinguistic awareness. A listening experiment is used to collect and analyse data in three steps, i.e. how L2 listeners judge different speakers, how they explain their judgements, and how they perceive their own Swedish compared to different speakers. A questionnaire is used to collect information about language experience and to find correlations between this and L2 listeners’ judgements. The results indicate that L2 listeners’ knowledge of variation varies to a great extent, and that some of them seem to have identical judgements to the native control group. The data in this study does not support that there are any correlations between L2 listeners’ language experience and judgements. Possible interpretations and explanations of what can affect L2 listeners’ knowledge are presented as well.