The overall aim of the thesis is to examine young people’s languaging, including literacy practices, and its relation to meaning-making and social positioning. Framed by sociocultural and dialogical perspectives, the thesis builds upon four studies that arise from (n)ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two different settings: an institutional educational setting where bilingualism and biculturalism are core values, and social media settings. In the empirical studies, micro-level interactions, practices mediated by languaging and literacies, social positionings and meso-level discourses as well as their intertwinedness have been explored and discussed. The data, analysed through adapted conversational and discourse analytical methods, include video and audio recordings, field notes, pedagogic materials, policy documents, photographs as well as (n)ethnographic data. Study I illuminates the doing of linguistic-cultural ideologies and policies in everyday pedagogical practices and focuses on situated and distributed social actions as nexuses of several practices where a number of locally and nationally relevant discourses circulate.  In Study II, the focus is on everyday communicative practices on the micro and meso levels and the interrelations of different linguistic varieties and modalities in the bilingual-bicultural educational setting. Study III highlights young people’s languaging, including literacies, in everyday learning practices that stretch across formal and informal learning spaces. Study IV examines social positioning and identity work in informal and heteroglossic literacy practices across the offline-online continuum. Consequently, the four studies map the kinds of languaging practices young people are engaged in both inside and outside of what are labelled as bilingual school settings. Furthermore, the studies highlight the kinds of social positions they perform and are oriented towards in the course of their everyday lives. Overall, the findings of the thesis highlight issues of bilingualism as pedagogy and practice, the (un)problematicity of multilingualism across space and time and multilingual-multimodal languaging as a premise for social positioning. Together, the studies and the thesis form a descriptive-analytical illustration of “multilingual” young people’s everyday lives in and out of school in late modern societies of the global North. Overall, the thesis provides insights concerning the education and lives of a large, yet sparsely documented minority group in Sweden, i.e. the Sweden Finns. / Denna avhandling fokuserar på ungdomars språkande, inklusive literacy-praktiker, och dess relation till deras meningsskapande och social positionering. Avhandlingen tar avstamp i sociokulturell och dialogisk teoribildning och bygger på fyra studier som blivit till genom (n)etnografiskt fältarbete i två olika sammanhang: inom en skola där tvåspråkighet och bikulturalitet är viktiga värderingar, och sociala medier. I de empiriska studierna undersöks hur interaktion, språkande och literacy-praktiker och sociala positioneringar görs på mikronivå. Dessa fenomen studeras vidare i anslutning till och som en del av diskurser som drivs på meso-nivå. Avhandlingens data har analyserats med tillämpade samtals- och diskursanalytiska metoder och inkluderar video- och audioinspelningar, fältanteckningar, pedagogiska material, policy-dokumentation, fotografier samt (n)etnografiskt skapad data. I Studie I undersöks hur lingvistisk-kulturella ideologier och policys görs i vardagliga pedagogiska praktiker. Den fokuserar på situerade och distribuerade sociala handlingar som praktiknexus där flera lokalt och nationellt relevanta diskurser cirkulerar. Studie II intresserar sig för vardagliga kommunikativa praktiker på mikro- och meso-nivåer samt för samspelet av språkliga varieteter och modaliteter i den tvåspråkiga-bikulturella skolan. I Studie III studeras ungdomars språkande, inklusive literacies, i vardagliga lärandepraktiker som sträcker sig över tid och rum i formella och informella lärandemiljöer. Studie IV fokuserar på social positionering och identitetsarbete i informella och heteroglossiska literacy-praktiker både offline och online. Tillsammans kartlägger de fyra studierna olika slags språkandepraktiker som ungdomarna deltar i och bidrar till både inom och utanför vad som kallas för tvåspråkiga skolsammanhang. Vidare illustrerar studierna vardagslivets görande av olika slags sociala positioneringar och identitetsperformanser. Resultaten visar på hur tvåspråkigheten i skolans värld kan ses som både pedagogik och praktik, att flerspråkigheten är (o)problematisk för ungdomarna och för skolan och att språkandets karaktär som flerspråkig och multimodal är central för social positionering. Studierna och avhandlingen bildar tillsammans en deskriptiv-analytisk illustration av ”flerspråkiga” ungdomars vardag i och utanför skolan i ett senmodernt nordiskt samhälle. Vidare bidrar avhandlingen till kunskapsbasen gällande utbildningsfrågor och vardag för en av Sveriges nationella minoriteter, sverigefinländare. / LIMCUL / DIMuL

The purpose of this study is to find out how five-year-old children describe air and its properties from a sociocultural perspective. Semi-structured group interviews with children two and two were performed with artifacts to give the children something to discuss around. As artifacts were a plastic bag, balloon pump, balloon, scale, pinwheel and soap bubbles used. The children show ability to use air and other concepts related to air, an example being blow, to describe the activities connected to the artifacts. The children can describe the properties of air with the help of artifacts and each other and the properties described were air exists, take up space, can be captured, be moved, weigh, is invisible, can be used as a force and is everywhere. The children did not relate the contents of soap bubbles to air. / Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på hur femåringar beskriver luft och dess egenskaper utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer med barn två och två genomfördes där artefakter valdes för att barnen skulle ha något att diskutera kring. Som arte-fakter användes en påse, ballong, ballongpump, våg, vindsnurra och såpbubblor. Barnen visar att de kunde använda begreppet luft och andra begrepp kopplade till luft så som exempelvis blåsa, för att beskriva aktiviteterna kopplade till artefakterna. Barnen visade även att de kan förklara luftens egenskaper med hjälp av artefakterna samt varandra och egenskaperna som förklarades var: luft finns, tar plats, kan avgränsas, förflyttas, väger, är osynligt, kan verka med en kraft och finns överallt. Barnen visade ingen koppling att såpbubblor innehåller luft.

The aim of this research is to provide insight into how middle school learners experience an inclusive multicultural learning environment. Increasing diversity is challenging European educational systems, which have the arduous task to foster inclusion of learners with diverse educational needs. In order to explore the participants’ descriptions, a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with six learners was employed. Learners’ positions in the educational scenery are central and unique; they are the main experts on their own situations and therefore precious contributors to educational research. Results have been discussed according to a sociocultural perspective. The analysis of my data suggests that the learners perceive their inclusive environment as beneficial. Moreover, they perceive their cultural diversity as strength, reckon social interaction and teamwork with peers as favorable conditions for learning, feel competent in multicultural communication and believe that respect and acceptance towards others are necessary common values. Some implications of multiculturalism in special education are discussed according to the results of a recent European study, which shows that in all the participating European countries, Sweden included, there is a consistent discrepancy in the proportions of learners with immigrant background within special education. Assessment methods developed for mono-cultural learners appear to be a valid reason why multicultural learners are over-or under-represented in special education. Research also shows that inclusion of diversity in educational environment enables the development of social skills in all learners.

Play in the school setting is a highly contested issue in today's restrictive academic environment. Although many early childhood educators advocate the use of play in their classrooms and emphasize the importance of play for children's learning and development, children beyond the preschool and kindergarten years are not often afforded opportunities to learn through play in their classrooms. This eight-month study, conducted in a first grade classroom in the outskirts of the Phoenix Metropolitan area of Arizona, analyzed young children's playful responses to literature as they read various books together in the classroom context. The purpose of this study was to develop deep understandings about the affordances of play in response to text within a first grade classroom and to investigate the ways that children utilize play to respond to literature and to construct meaning. This dissertation is informed by these guiding research questions: What are the affordances of play for responding to text in a first grade classroom? 1. What are the sociocultural resources that children use to respond to text? 2. In what ways do first graders incorporate and utilize play to make meaning with texts and each other in the classroom? In order to answer these research questions, I utilized several theoretical frameworks including: sociocultural theories of learning and literacy, the role of play and imagination in development, funds of knowledge, and reader response theories. This study was also informed by recent research findings in the areas of play and culture and play and literacy. I implemented a classroom Reading Center wherein I studied children's cooperative reading transactions and play as reader response. I collected data through classroom observations and field notes, videotaped and transcribed transactions, audiotaped and transcribed conversations and interviews, artifact collection, teacher observations of responsive play, family home visits and interviews, and the use of family story backpacks. This data, analyzed through thematic analysis, the constant comparative method, and grounded theory, revealed rich information about the ways that children utilize play to respond to literature in the classroom setting. The findings of this study provide evidence to suggest that through their play as reader response, their responsive play, children create a social space in the classroom which connects official school literacy practices and academic instruction with their social play practices. In this new space, children's play and talk take central roles in their explorations and uses of literacy. Findings further suggest that play can be seen as a generative source of academic learning, that the notion of response in research and practice be reconceived in the field to include play as a valid and valued form of reader response, and suggest that further research be conducted on children's responsive play.

Syftet med studien är att belysa och diskutera hur vila och återhämtning betraktas och ges utrymme i förskolan. Detta genomförs genom att undersöka verksamma förskollärares syn på vila och återhämtning i förskolans vardag. Metoden som används är kvalitativa intervjuer med fem stycken förskollärare. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna i studien betraktar vila och återhämtning som en viktig del av förskolans uppdrag. Det framkommer att vilan ses som en del av helheten i förskolans uppdrag och integreras i den dagliga verksamheten. Förskollärarnas förhållningssätt och förmåga till såväl flexibilitet som individanpassning framstår som viktiga delar för att tillgodose barns behov av vila och återhämtning. / The purpose of this study is to illuminate and discuss how rest and recovery are considered and given space in preschool. This is done by examining active preschool teachers views of rest and recovery in the everyday life of preschools. The method which is used are qualitative interviews with five preschool teachers. The result shows that preschool teachers in the study consider the rest and recovery as an important part of preschool assignments. It appears that rest and recovery is seen as a part of the whole of preschool assignments and integrated into daily operations. The preschool teachers approach and ability for both flexibility and personalization appears as important parts to meet the childrens need for rest and recuperation.

This thesis examines what roles linguistic, stylistic and sociocultural factors play in the popularity of contemporary Chinese-English bilingual codeswitching songs released between the years of 2004 and 2010, making a case study of the urban youth audience of Shanghai. It is significant as it is the first large scale study into Chinese-English songs that has looked at all of these three factors: linguistic, stylistic and sociocultural, but also because it compares the findings in these three areas from corpus analysis with an audience study. A corpus of 150 songs from popular codeswitching performers was collected, and was analysed individually in relation to the linguistic, stylistic and sociocultural factors with regard to features that may enhance the popularity of these songs. To this was added an audience study based on fieldwork in Shanghai which included participant observation and data collection from online surveys and individual interviews. First a linguistic analysis was done on syntactic grounds based on the Myers-Scotton 1993 Classic MLF (Matrix Language Frame) model, and this was followed by an analysis of the metaphorical functions of these songs following general pragmatic theories of Gumperz (1982). A stylistic analysis was then done on the corpus, using theories of literary stylistics from Leech (1969) and the stylistic findings of recent codeswitching researchers. This stylistic section also examined modes of language use after Hymes. The sociocultural aspects within the songs were examined using a social anthropological framework, and used research in the East Asian setting by Gao Liwei (2007) and Yang Mei-hui (1997) on identity formation, as well as the Accommodation Theory of Giles and Smith (1979), and other research relevant to codeswitching in the East Asian pop culture context, such as J. Lee (2004, 2006). Data collection was also carried out based on Hymes’ (1971) ethnographical techniques, and Blom and Gumperz’s (1972) participant observation. The findings from each of the factors were discussed in relation to the audience study and the results show that: 1) These codeswitching songs are both a reflection of the singers’ and audiences’ need to present a particular identity, negotiated within the particular expectations of music, genre and location. 2) Chinese-English codeswitching songs are a reflection of the high levels of English codeswitching in Shanghai, Chinese, and also wider East Asian popular culture, and reflect a growing bilingual or multilingual identity in wider East Asia. 3) The English within the Chinese-English codeswitching songs is localised to a Southern Chinese, almost a Shanghai context. 4) The uses to which codeswitching is put, or how codeswitching appears in songs, depends on many factors, and so it is difficult to clearly define the functions, stylistic techniques, or sociocultural purposes of codeswitching in songs consistently across different genres, chronological periods (due to changes in language use over time), or between cultures. Despite this, it is hoped that the number of unique findings from the corpus analysis and the discussion in this study could enlighten or stimulate future studies examining codeswitching in songs.

This research investigates drama teaching practice in New Zealand primary and secondary schools, through a case-based qualitative inquiry into the practice of six experienced drama teachers. The study reveals that whilst drama education is couched within the Arts learning area of the national curriculum, the educational philosophy enacted by participants encompasses a broad vision for drama education, which extends learning beyond a technical knowledge of theatre and theatre-making towards the domains of social and personal meaning-making and emancipatory knowledge. Explored through the lenses of Artist and Co-artist, the study identifies the socio-cultural nature of the practice of these teachers. Teachers’ artistry is revealed through creative use of drama tools and processes to create aesthetically-rich learning experiences. The significance of relational pedagogy to teaching and learning in these drama classrooms is also examined within the study. Teachers’ accounts reveal the ways they seek to develop interpersonal relationships with and between students, and establish ensemble-based approaches to learning in drama. As co-artists, participants employ pedagogies that empower students to actively participate in a community of drama practice, intentionally developing students’ capacities for collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, while discovering and developing their artistic-aesthetic capabilities. These teachers share power with students through acts of negotiation, creating dialogic learning opportunities in order to develop student agency as artists and citizens. Attempts to navigate tensions that arise due to increased performativity pressures on teachers and to avoid prescriptive and technocratic delivery of drama curriculum are also explored. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants to discover the complexities of their teaching practice, the philosophy of drama education they hold, and the decisions they make in curriculum content and pedagogy. Observations of classroom practice were also undertaken, along with an analysis of planning documents and an interview with their students. The study provides six rich case studies of drama practice in New Zealand schools, contributing to local and international understandings of enacted drama education within school settings. Implications for educational policy, curriculum design, classroom practice and teacher education arise from this investigation.

The goal of this dissertation is to discuss relationships between the sociocultural environment and nutritional status outcomes in an urban industrialized city with high rates of poverty. The purpose is to highlight the complex web of factors shaping nutritional status outcomes and move beyond cause and effect approaches to nutrition in an environment where obesity is a central nutritional concern. To accomplish this goal, I examine a range of factors that relate to adolescent nutritional practices and nutritional status outcomes in a sample population of adolescents living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I discuss connections between social locations such as age, gender, geographic area, and socioeconomic status. I also highlight the range of nutritional status outcomes observed in the sample population, while examining broader social, political, and economic aspects of the lives of adolescents that differentially shape nutrition-related experiences in the city. Finally, I demonstrate that adolescents occupy a complex social location in which autonomy, advice, and influence from sociocultural and political-economic factors shape their diet and exercise practices and nutritional status outcomes in multi-faceted, and at times unexpected, ways. In doing so, I emphasize the benefits of a localized, rather than a globalized approach to nutritional concerns such as obesity.

IKEA Industry Älmhult AB erbjuder en rad förmåner. De arbetar med olika former av friskvård, dels företagshälsovård och arbetsmiljö men även friskvårdsbidrag, massage och olika hälsoundersökningar samt tester. Företagets vision är att ovanstående satsningar ska främja personalens hälsa men menar att de används i liten utsträckning. Syftet med studien var att utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv undersöka de anställdas användande av friskvårdsförmåner vid sin arbetsplats för att synliggöra betydelsen av hälsolitteracitet. Studien genomfördes genom intervjuer med en strukturerad och en semistrukturerad del. Våra data analyserades både kvantitativt och kvalitativt. Resultatet av vår studie visade att 59 % namngav friskvårdsbidrag som en förmån, men endast 28 % använder sig av det. Resultatet visade även att det krävs ytterligare information från företaget och mer lättillgänglig information kring utbud och tillvägagångssätt för att främja användandet av friskvårdsförmåner. Resultatet visade också att eget intresse, kunskap om förmåner samt behov påverkar användandet av förmåner. Vidare såg vi att möjligheten att vara delaktig i beslut gällande förmåner kan motivera anställda att använda dessa. De anställda utbyter information och kunskap genom socialt samspel. De hjälper och stödjer varandra i tolkning av information om friskvårdsförmåner och tillvägagångssätt. De anställda upplever inte att informationen om friskvårdsförmåner är lättillgänglig men vet var de ska söka information om de behöver den, vilket tyder på att de är tillräckligt hälsolitterata. De befinner sig i en arbetskultur som är öppen för lärande genom socialt samspel vilket bidrar till att mycket av informationen och kunskapen sprids kollegor emellan.Våra slutsatser är att bristfällig information, bristande kunskap om förmåner och tillvägagångssätt samt avsaknaden av intresse och behov upplevs som hinder för att använda förmånerna. Vårt förslag till företaget gällande åtgärder rekommenderar vi att sammanställa förmåner i en broschyr, involvera personalen i beslut om förmåner och vara öppna gällande anställdas möjlighet att ställa frågor till kollegor och chefer. I framtida forskning önskar vi studier kring hälsolitteracitet och dess användbarhet i andra kontexter än sjukvården. Vidare önskar vi studier av hur företag kan motivera och inspirera anställda att nyttja friskvårdsförmåner genom att uppmuntra anställda att vara delaktiga i beslut. / IKEA Industry Älmhult AB offer their employees different kind of health promotion privileges, like occupational, massage and health surveys. The company’s vision is that these privileges should work as a health promotion strategy. However, these privileges are used to a low extent. The aim of this study was to examine the use of health privileges by the employees of IKEA Industry in order to highlight the importance of health literacy.  To examine this we used the sociocultural theory. We conducted this study through interviews with structured and semi-structured items. We analysed our data quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that it required increased information from the company, more accessible information about the privileges and their approaches. The result also showed that interest, knowledge about health promotion privilege and needs affected the extent use of the privileges. Further, involvement in decisions about the health privilege shared to motivate employees to use them. The employees exchanged information and knowledge by social interaction. They helped and supported each other in the interpretation of the information about the privilege and the approach. The employees did not believe that the information about the health promotion privilege were easily accessible but know where they could search information if they needed it. The knowledge about how to search information indicates that they are health literate. The employees work at the company where the culture encourages learning by social interaction. This means that information and knowledge mediates by colleagues. Our conclusions are that information, lack of knowledge about the privileges and how to use it, absence of interest and needs of the privileges are barriers to use them. Our recommendation to the company is to put together a brochure inclosing all the privileges and how to use them. In addition, we recommend the company to involve the employees in decision-making and encourage them to ask questions to colleagues and managers regarding health promotion privileges. Future research should examine health literacy and it’s usefulness in other contexts then health services. Further, we require studies that focus on how company’s can motivate and inspire employees to use health promotion privilege by letting them be a part of decision-making.

Ungdomar lever inom en social kontext vilken direkt samt indirekt påverkar deras ställningstaganden gentemot cannabis. För att motverka att bruket ska öka i framtiden bör man se över vilka risk- samt skyddsfaktorer som påverkar deras attityder samt bruk av drogen. Idag råder en oro över att legaliseringsdebatten runt om i världen kan resultera i en negativ följd i form av allt mer liberala attityder bland den yngre generationen. Syftet med denna studie är därav att undersöka relationen mellan ungdomars attityder, eventuella bruk och de risk- samt skyddsfaktorer vilka finns i deras sociala omvärld. Resultatet från föreliggande studie visar att ungdomarna i den berörda kommunen har en restriktiv inställning gentemot cannabis dock visas en liberalare attityd bland de som testat substansen. Tillgången bör däremot ses som ett existerande problem då en stor del av respondenterna idag kan få tag på cannabis och problematiken kan ligga i den höga frekvensen av vänner som testat. Respondenternas alkohol- och tobaksbruk bör även ses som en betydande riskfaktor.