I en skola för alla är det viktigt att lärare har kunskaper om elevers behov och kan ge elever det stöd de behöver. Kunskaper i sitt ämne men även kunskaper om vilka problem som kan uppstå vid andraspråksinlärning är av betydelse. Vidare är det av vikt att ha specifika kunskaper om eventuella svårigheter såsom dyslexi. Ungefär 4–10 % av världsbefolkningen har observerad dyslexi (Castle, McLean & McArthur, 2010 s. 426), således kan även tänkas att 4–10% av eleverna i klassrummet har dyslexi. Syftet med detta examensarbete som är en pilotstudie är att undersöka vilka kännetecken på dyslexi hos andraspråksinlärare som andraspråkslärare känner till. Hypotesen som testas lyder att andraspråkslärare känner till få kännetecken på dyslexi hos andraspråksinlärare. Pilotstudien har en kvantitativ ansats och utfallet beräknas med hjälp av ett chi2-test. Resultaten visar överraskande att de undersökta andraspråkslärarna i denna pilotstudie känner till fler kännetecken på dyslexi hos andraspråksinlärare än förväntat. Detta innebär att hypotesen kan förkastas. Slutsatsen är att majoriteten av andraspråkslärare i denna pilotstudie känner till specifika kännetecken på dyslexi hos andraspråksinlärare. Dock var antalet respondenter få vilket påverkar resultatet. Således är slutsatsen varken generaliserbar eller tillförlitlig. För att uppnå generaliserbara, slutgiltiga och tillförlitliga slutsatser är en studie med större mängd data nödvändig.

Sverige eftersträvar en skola för alla. En skola där alla får finnas oavsett kultur, bakgrund eller svårigheter. Att kunna läsa och skriva är viktigt i vårt samhälle, att inte kunna det eller att enbart svagt kunna det genererar problem med att fungera i samhället. Detta innebär att vi som är verksamma inom skolan ska stödja, utbilda och uppfostra eleverna till goda medborgare som klarar av att arbeta och bidra till framtidens samhälle. Det finns elever med särskilda behov som behöver extra stödinsatser. Det kan handla om elever med ett annat modersmål än svenska som har specifika läs – och skrivsvårigheter. Syftet med detta examensarbete blir således att ta reda på vad forskning säger om dyslexins roll i andraspråksinlärning samt vad forskning säger om lärarens felbedömningar av dyslexi hos andraspråkselever. Resultaten visar att forskningen inte verkar vara entydig i hur dyslexi yttrar sig i ett andraspråk samt att lärare antingen över - eller underidentifierar andraspråkselever med dyslexi eftersom lärarna inte besitter kunskaper om hur andraspråk och dyslexi förhåller sig.

Magister Artium - MA / This research used diary studies and interviews with five Japanese learners of English to investigate the different affective, cognitive and social factors that affected their learning of English in Cape Town between 2004 and 2005. The findings of this study corroborate arguments put forward by Gardner that factors such as learning goals, learning strategy, attitude, motivation, anxiety, self-confidence and cultural beliefs about communication affect the acquisition of a second language and correlate with one another. / South Africa

Syftet med studien är att med hjälp av förskollärararnas berättelser beskriva vilka arbetssätt som förskollärarna upplever som framgångsrika och hur de skapar förutsättningar för lärande när det gäller barns lärande av det svenska språket. Två frågeställningar besvaras:   Vilka metoder beskriver förskollärarna att de använder när de skapar förutsättningar i lärandet av svenska till barn som inte har svenska som modersmål?   Vilka utmaningar beskriver förskollärarna att de stöter på när de skapar förutsättningar i lärandet av svenska till barn som inte har svenska som modersmål?   Studien är kvalitativ och den metod som används för att besvara frågeställningen är intervjuer. Urvalet av respondenter består av sex utbildade förskollärare som arbetar på sex olika förskolor. För att analysera empirin har vi utgått från Vygotskijs kulturhistoriska teori i hur lärande sker i samspel samt Säljös tolkning av Vygotskijs teorier om fysiska och språkliga redskap i lärandet av ett nytt språk. Vi har även analyserat resultatet med Piagets utvecklingsteori. Studiens resultat visar att samtliga förskollärare använder sig av flera arbetssätt och de lyfter fram olika argument för att motivera sina val av metoder för lärande av det svenska språket. Förskollärarna anser att de arbetssätt de använder är betydelsefulla för barns lärande och att metoderna kan användas på olika sätt för att främja barns lärande.

The syllabus for English 5 through 7 in Sweden states that students should learn to understand and write different types of text, one being academic papers. Therefore, teachers are required to guide students in their academic writing process as they transition to formal written English.  Through this study, we aim to investigate the best practices of formative feedback from instructors on L2 academic writing and see the attitudes of students and teachers when it comes to given and received feedback. Moreover, we also aim to connect the results that are found through research to the Swedish national curriculum. This will be done through educational databases such as the Malmö university library database and ERIC. We have found a total of ten empirical studies that touch upon the two aforementioned aims. Research in the field of formative feedback displays how students have a healthier attitude towards oral communication as they may directly communicate with the instructor at the cost of time. In contrast, instructors disagree by claiming that it is not as efficient as written feedback where they may take on a larger number of students in a shorter amount of time whilst providing more accurate responses. Teachers ought to be aware that while efficiency is important, it is not as vital as student progression in academic writing. Also, it would be interesting to examine the attitudes and levels of comfort of students in regards to peer reviewing and self-feedback with a focus on L2 learners.

Reading is regarded as one of the most important, but also most complex skills utilised to attain fluency (Snyman, 2016). In this study I argue that Namibians have not yet adopted reading as part of their culture, and this is believed to have contributed immensely to the high failure rate of learners and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution that reading can make towards ESL learning at Ordinary Level (OL) in Namibian Senior Secondary Schools. The research focused on the challenges pertaining to reading by contemplating the nature of the reading culture of OL learners, how the curriculum and textbooks model reading for OL learners, and how ESL teachers expose OL learners to reading in the classroom. This research was informed by the principles of the multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group (NLG) (1999), the work on social constructivism of Lev Vygotsky (1978), Stephen Krashen’s (1985) Input Hypothesis, as well as Jim Cummins’ (1984) distinction between BICS and CALP. Following a qualitative approach, a descriptive case study design was employed to explore why OL learners lack analytical and critical reading skills that would enable them to learn English from their engagement with the texts they read. Four purposively selected ESL teachers and eight stratified randomly selected learners from four Secondary Schools in the Khomas education region, Windhoek, participated in the study. Data were collected using open-ended surveys, non-participant classroom observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Using qualitative content analysis, five themes on the role of reading in ESL emerged from the raw data: reading experience, access to reading materials, inadequate curriculum, inadequate infrastructure, and the use of textbooks to enhance reading. The findings indicate that reading is not developed as a culture for the majority of OL learners, as OL learners indicated that they only read for school purposes, as opposed to reading for fun. The OL curriculum was found not to support reading, because reading is not part of the OL syllabus. As opposed to the Higher Level (HL), there are no prescribed reading materials for OL and the OL syllabus lacks proper guidance regarding integration of reading in ESL lessons. The study concludes that a great deal needs to be done to instil the love of reading in OL learners for them to reach the same level as HL learners. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Magister Educationis - MEd / Literacy development in South African higher education is increasingly challenged by several issues in dialogue and language of tuition. Despite the widening of access to South African universities, research shows that a large majority of entry-level university students are still failing in their chosen programme of studies. Almost all universities in the democratic South Africa incorporate academic development programs in first-year modules as an awareness raising attempt to scaffold novice students into the vocabulary of their various disciplines. However, these development programs sometimes fail to address the language needs of some of the students who have had more than seven years of schooling in their first languages (IsiXhosa and Afrikaans). My study seeks to explore how additional language IsiXhosa and Afrikaans students understand and construct written knowledge in one literacy development course using English medium of instruction. I further explore lecturers’ and tutors’ perspectives of the demand of sounding a scholarly voice in academic writing by entry-level students in their new roles as scholars in the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Literature indicated gaps when it comes to students’ and lectures’ perceptions on the construction of voice in academic writing in a language that the students are not comfortable in. My choice to use an interpretive frame made my study a qualitative one. I used a case study approach in which qualitative data was collected from one-on-one in-depth interviews with fourteen participants, documents analysis and field notes collected during interview process. A constructivist view of knowledge further guided my study to support the view of knowledge being socially constructed in the process of enquiry. My findings were categorised according to the research questions and themes that emerged from my analysis. The four themes from my presentation guided the findings. The findings of this study indicated that, IsiXhosa and Afrikaans students in the study used their first languages as resource to understand, formal English in essay of assignments. The lecturers’ perspectives of voice showed differences in the students’ perceptions who were mostly overwhelmed with the proactive life of academia and the language they are required to write in. In this context, the lectures’ views of competence mismatched with students’ views who felt their views were stranded in the language of discomfort (English). / 2021-04-30

Swedish learners of English have problems in managing the subject-verb agreement rule (Källqvist and Petersson 2006, Estling Vannestål 2015). Studies show that extramural activities in English improve language acquisition and language production (Sundqvist 2009). The aim of the essay is to investigate whether extramural activities affect students’ ability to correctly apply the subject-verb agreement rule. A google questionnaire was handed out to 64 students in the course of English 5 in upper secondary school. The students were asked to answer questions about their extramural habits and to do a test on subject-verb agreement. The results indicate that students have knowledge of the subject-verb agreement rule to some extent and that extramural activities in English may possibly have some impact on the ability to correctly apply the subject-verb agreement rule. The results could also be due to the academic motivation. The results show that the difference across gender is negligible but that there is a slightly larger difference across preparatory programs and vocational programs.

There are three different strategies for language learning, translation, code switching and translanguaging. In this systematic review we have investigated how important translanguaging is for students language- and knowledge development. The aim of the review is to acknowledge which support there is for teachers when using translanguaging in the classroom. We have analyzed eight different studies focusing on students and teachers development when using translanguaging, to find a conclusion to if it is important. The results show that translanguaging is presented positively both in general but mostly in classrooms and that translanguaging is a helping tool for students to show their full knowledge.

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