Today's classrooms have a significant diversity of learners who are expected to engage in similar academic activities and meet common standards of academic competency irrespective of their individual differences. As a result, for many students, school is a challenging endeavor that elicits emotional responses ranging from low self-efficacy to frustration, stress and anxiety. Research has shown that factors such as students' motivation and teachers' beliefs are important influencers of classroom achievement. These factors determine students' persistence towards their academic goals as well as the standards teachers set. This report reviews the literature on major constructs of motivation and teacher beliefs specifically with different learners, that is second language learners and students with learning disabilities. A proposal of a synthesis model is offered, with the primary objective of depicting the influence of teacher beliefs and student motivation on learning process and performance outcomes among different learners. / text

English is an international and global language that students, regardless of mother tongue, encounter in their everyday lives. In Sweden, students are introduced to English teaching in year 1, 2 or 3, and in some cases, year 4. English teaching can sometimes be problematic when the language of instruction often consists of Swedish, which for second language students becomes a challenge to acquire new skills in a week language. The study aims to examine, with a qualitative study, how pedagogues plan and implements English teaching in first grade with students whose mother tongue are other than Swedish. Further, the aim was to examine how pedagogues say they relate to the fact that second language pupils participating in English lessons and if they think it affects their English teaching. The conclusions is that the pedagogues has probably not been problematized the phenomenon examined and say they do not adapt their teaching. In the interviews reveals information about the teaching method which, in my opinion, indicates that, unconsciously, adapting their teaching when they have second language students. Furthermore, the study points out the importance of English as language of instruction when there is a more equal situation for all students regardless of language. Second langue students do not need to go through the Swedish language to be taught in English.

In language revitalisation movements the main impetus and passion is often provided by adults who, as second language speakers, have gained fluency in their heritage language. As parents and teachers these adults often have vital roles in the ongoing transmission of the heritage language. This study is based on interviews with thirty-two Māori adults who have each made a strong commitment to becoming a fluent speaker of Māori. The study posited that the informants would have a strongly-held worldview which enabled them to engage with and maintain a relationship with the Māori language. This worldview is expressed through a range of metaphors, the four most frequent being: LANGUAGE IS A PATH, LANGUAGE IS A CANOE, LANGUAGE IS FOOD, LANGUAGE LEARNER IS A PLANT. The worldview articulated by these metaphors has a quasi-religious nature and draws on elements of New Age humanism, a connection with Māori culture and ancestors as well as kaupapa Māori (Māori-orientated and controlled initiatives). The source domains for these metaphors are traced through a study of various Māori sources from the 19th century through to the present day. This study shows how exploitation of these metaphors has changed throughout this time period leading to their current exploitation by the newly-fluent informants. The metaphors preferred by the informants were contrasted with the prominent metaphor LANGUAGE IS A TREASURE, the entailments of which were found to be more relevant to the experience of native speakers. The informants' experience also contrasts with the focus of language planners in that the informants are more focussed on how the Māori language is important for them personally than how they contribute to the revitalisation of the Māori language. These findings have implications for the revitalisation of the Māori language and have relevance for other endangered languages.

Teachers work in complex and demanding times with an increasing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLD) in classrooms. These students are over represented in statistics of under achievement. All teachers are teachers of academic language, and while no child is born with school language as a first language, for some students the match between home and school is more closely aligned than for other students. Teachers are expected to be culturally responsive, ensuring the languages and culture of students is visible in the classroom environment and the classroom curriculum. Despite the increasing knowledge about the specific strategies and approaches that will most effectively support CLD students in classrooms, the teaching of CLD students within mainstream contexts remains far from ideal. Teachers need support to access the principles of effective teaching of CLD learners that are available, and importantly to transfer the knowledge into classroom practice. Professional development and learning is linked to improved teacher practice and student learning outcomes. When teachers have opportunities to be engaged in successful elements of in-depth professional learning such as in-class modelling, observation and feedback, and co-construction of teaching and planning they are able to demonstrate improved pedagogical content knowledge. Their beliefs may also need to be challenged. The study was conducted in two schools in a large city in New Zealand where I am employed as an ESOL and literacy adviser. Using an action research method I was able to examine how a professional development and learning process shaped my own knowledge and practice as well as teacher knowledge and practice. The study fills a research space to gain insights into the effective professional learning processes that impact on teacher strategies and approaches with their CLD learners A central tenet of this research is that teachers can improve their practice of teaching CLD students and they can specifically learn strategies and approaches that are considered effective for them.

The purpose of this study was two fold: (1) to examine how the distribution of resources within and outside an Enhanced Language Training Program (ELT) affected a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development; and (2) to discuss ensuing pedagogical and curricular implications for the ELT Program. The relationship between the distribution of resources and a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development was studied through a hybrid of two frameworks: van Dijk’s (2005) digital divide and Warschauer’s (2004) social inclusion. The key findings were that the distribution of resources affected access four ways: (1) resources affected multiple types of access, (2) the effect of resource distribution on access was both cumulative and successive, (3) distribution of resources could either facilitate or impede access, and (4) Internet literacy development could potentially increase or decrease the resources. The findings resulted in implications for the ELT program and teaching.

The aim of this study is to investigate, from a didactic perspective, how teachers pursue their writing instruction. A certain focus is directed towards discursive writing and the way the teachers support second language learners. The purpose is to compare the teachers’ writing instruction regarding the aspects above. The lack of research when it comes to the practice of discursive writing and writing instruction, in Swedish primary schools, in general form the basis of this study. The following questions provide the framework of this study:What are the teachers’ perspectives and reflections on discursive writing and writing instruction in general? In what ways is the teaching in writing designed and how does the teachers’ reflect on their teaching? Is there a difference between how the teachers conduct their writing instruction, with regard to a second language perspective, and how does the teachers reflect upon that? The study is based on observations and interviews with two teachers regarding these matters. The theoretical approaches of this study are Ivanic’s (2004) discourses of Writing and Learning to write and the theoretical concept scaffolding (Wood, Bruner, Ross 1976, s. 89-90, 97-99). The results show, in conclusion, that the teachers’ writing instruction includes the majority part of Ivanic’s discourses but these are variously practiced. The major part of the teaching was, in both teachers’ classrooms, performed in accordance with the narrative genre but discursive writing was also practiced. The teachers showed an awareness of the importance of supporting second language students, but a difference in the way they conducted their writing lessons from this aspect was evident.

The present study aimed to find out which compliment response types Saudi learners of English would use in particular situations within an academic context and to identify possible cultural and gender differences in the compliment responses between Saudi learners of English and native speakers of American English. In order to examine the two main variables of the present study, which were cultural and gender differences, the study used a Multiple Choice Discourse Completion Task (MDCT). The instrument included four imaginary written situations related to an academic context. Specifically, the first two scenarios involved a compliment on student achievement by a male and a female professor. In the third and fourth scenarios, the compliment was offered by a male and a female classmate, respectively. The compliment response types were based on Herbert's (1990) taxonomy. The participants included 104 American native speakers and 71 Saudi English speakers, all of them enrolled at a US university. The analysis of the data involved calculating descriptive statistics and multiple chi-square tests to elicit possible differences between native and non-native in each situation. Descriptive statistics were used to provide a detailed description of the results in terms of percentages. In addition, the value of Phi was calculated for each chi-square test in order to provide further evidence about the effect size of the observed differences. Overall, the results for the comparisons of cultural differences revealed that there were more similarities than differences between the American and Saudi participants in their compliment responses in all four situations. Furthermore, the results of the gender comparisons showed that there were more gender differences within the American sample than within the Saudi one. The lack of or very small number of cultural and gender differences was attributed to the fact that the majority of the Saudi participants had spent a substantial amount of time in the US and were all enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at a US university. Another speculation that emerges based on the results of this study is that the similarities between the Saudi and American students, and the male and female participants, could be attributed to the changing definition of culture in the present day globalized world. Particularly, it appears that cultural differences may be fading away, especially among the younger generations, under the influence of globalization, advanced technology, and the Internet.

Verb-particle constructions are one of the most complex components of the English language. Understanding and producing such difficult constructs in a second language (L2) is a challenge for L2 learners of English. This research was based on the study by Blais and Gonnerman (2013). The purpose of the current study was to measure American and Saudi participants' sensitivity to the degree of semantic similarity between verb/verb-particle constructions. The survey of similarity ratings was administered to 107 American native English speakers and 67 Saudi English learners. The participants were asked to rate 78 items based on their knowledge of the semantic similarity between verb/verb-particle pairs. Results revealed two major findings; American native speakers and Saudi English learners did not behave consistently with the similarity rating task, and the results did not support the previous categorizations of 78 items that established by Blais and Gonnerman. Extrapolating from these findings, it appears that similarity judgments of verb/verb-particle pairs may be sample-specific, even among native speakers. Therefore, it is questionable whether Blais and Gonnerman's instrument can be used to reliably compare the judgments of different samples of native and non-native speakers.

Sverige är ett mångkulturellt samhälle med många flerspråkiga klassrum. Eleverna i dessa klassrum har olika förhållanden till och erfarenheter av det språk som undervisningen, inklusive matematikundervisningen, sker på. Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie är att synliggöra och sammanställa tidigare forskningsresultat om huruvida språket påverkar andraspråkselevers lärande i matematik. Elever i grundskolan (6-16 år) är av intresse för denna studie. Frågan som undersöks är Vad säger forskning om språkets påverkan för andraspråkselevers lärande i matematik? I resultatet synliggörs även vilka språkliga faktorer som gynnar, respektive missgynnar andraspråkselevers lärande i matematik. Studiens resultat är baserat på internationella artiklar. Resultatet visar på att språket påverkar andraspråkselevers lärande i matematik. De språkliga faktorerna som påverkar lärandet ligger hos eleven eller i undervisningen. / Sweden is a multicultural society with many multilingual classrooms. The pupils in these classrooms have different relationships with and experiences of the language of instruction, including mathematics teaching. The aim of this systematic literature study is to visualize and compile previous research findings about whether the language affects second language learners, learning in mathematics. Students in elementary school (6-16 years) are of interested in this study. The question under investigation is What does research say about the influence of language on language learning in mathematics? The result also shows which linguistic factors are beneficial and disadvantageous to the second language learners learning in mathematics. The results of the study are based on international articles. The result shows that language affect second language learners learning in mathematic. The linguistic factors that affect pupils learning exists either within the pupil or within the teaching.

Den här studien syftar till att undersöka på vilka sätt lärare arbetar med litteratursamtal där det både finns elever med svenska som förstaspråk och som andraspråk. Studiens fokus är på lärares planering av litteratursamtalet och tankar om vad som är mer eller mindre framgångsrikt för andraspråkselever. I studien deltog tre mellanstadielärare och det empiriska materialet samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som transkriberades och sedan analyserades genom en innehållsanalys. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten som studien vilar mot är den sociokulturella, då den precis som litteratursamtalet har som teori att kunskap uppnås genom social interaktion. Genom studien har vi kommit fram till att lärare lyfter fram olika typer av sätt att arbeta med litteratursamtal. Alla lärare inkluderar andraspråkselever med förstaspråkselever i grupper och betonar stöttning som en viktig del. Resultatet visar att förutom stöttning är val av böcker, förförståelse och val av böcker som viktiga delar för andraspråkselever vid ett litteratursamtal. Hur läraren agerar och ställer frågor under samtalet spelar också en stor roll för lärandet. Svårigheterna som kan uppstå med litteratursamtalet är att den språkliga nivån kan bli för svår för andraspråkselever vid tillfällen, att valet av bok spelar roll för läsförståelsen och när eleverna får arbeta för självständigt utan stöttning.