<p>During Apartheid, South African education policies were largely based on a system of&nbsp / racial segregation, resulting in unequal educational opportunities between black and white students.&nbsp / Current education policies centred on Access and Equity have been ratified to address the education issues of the past. However, there still remains a concern about the poor performance and&nbsp / consequently, the high drop out rate, particularly amongst black South African university students. The findings of various studies have shown that the factors that contribute to poor academic performance range from inadequate pre-university schooling and financial issues to poor language proficiency, inadequate social support and insufficient social integration. The present study employed a qualitative approach to explore first-year students&rsquo / perceptions of the influence of social integration on academic performance. Tinto&rsquo / s Student Integration Model provided the conceptual basis for the conduction of the study. Three focus groups were used to collect the data which were analysed according to thematic analysis procedures. The main finding of the study&nbsp / was that academic and social experiences were intrinsically linked in the first year of study. Moreover, the findings indicate that friends, belonging to nonacademic organisations and lecturer-student interaction (as three indicators of social integration) influenced first-year students&rsquo / academic performance. South African contextual factors such as socio-economic status and language&nbsp / were found to be a potential hindrance to good academic performance. The implications of these findings are discussed.</p>

<p>During Apartheid, South African education policies were largely based on a system of&nbsp / racial segregation, resulting in unequal educational opportunities between black and white students.&nbsp / Current education policies centred on Access and Equity have been ratified to address the education issues of the past. However, there still remains a concern about the poor performance and&nbsp / consequently, the high drop out rate, particularly amongst black South African university students. The findings of various studies have shown that the factors that contribute to poor academic performance range from inadequate pre-university schooling and financial issues to poor language proficiency, inadequate social support and insufficient social integration. The present study employed a qualitative approach to explore first-year students&rsquo / perceptions of the influence of social integration on academic performance. Tinto&rsquo / s Student Integration Model provided the conceptual basis for the conduction of the study. Three focus groups were used to collect the data which were analysed according to thematic analysis procedures. The main finding of the study&nbsp / was that academic and social experiences were intrinsically linked in the first year of study. Moreover, the findings indicate that friends, belonging to nonacademic organisations and lecturer-student interaction (as three indicators of social integration) influenced first-year students&rsquo / academic performance. South African contextual factors such as socio-economic status and language&nbsp / were found to be a potential hindrance to good academic performance. The implications of these findings are discussed.</p>

Det finns gott om skönlitteratur skriven för barn med en pedagogisk utgångspunkt vars avsikt är att utmana traditionella könsmönster. Det förekommer dock fåtal studier på hur barn faktiskt uppfattar denna normkritiska litteratur, vilket är av vikt för litteraturens användning som didaktiskt redskap i undervisning. Eftersom skönlitteratur utgör en stor del av arbetet i förskoleklass ämnar denna studie att undersöka hur elevers uppfattningar av genus kan synliggöras genom critical literacy-inspirerat sagoarbete i förskoleklass. Den normkritiska sagan Rödluvan (Jansson &amp; Jensfelt, 2018) är den skönlitteratur som utgör grunden för undersökningen och därav har följande frågeställningar formulerats: Hur benämner eleverna karaktärernas genus i Rödluvan (Jansson &amp; Jensfelt, 2018)? Hur skiljer sig elevernas sätt att benämna karaktärernas genus åt, beroende på om de deltagit i ett gemensamt samtal om texten eller inte? Studien är kvalitativ och datainsamlingen är gjord genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med 20 elever i förskoleklass. Analysen av materialet är baserad på genusteori samt begreppet didaktisk potential, i enlighet med Alkestrands (2017) definition. Slutsatserna som kan dras utifrån studiens resultat är att de deltagande eleverna haft svårt att uppfatta sagokaraktärernas genus så som det beskrivs i sagan om karaktären i fråga porträtterats på ett normkritiskt sätt. Det kan utifrån studiens resultat också konstateras att det förekommer en påtaglig skillnad vad gäller elevernas sätt att uppfatta de normkritiska karaktärernas genus beroende på om de deltagit i ett gemensamt samtal om texten eller inte. / There is plenty of fiction written for children with an educational starting point whose intention is to challenge traditional gender patterns. However, there are few studies on how children actually perceive this norm-critical fiction, which is important for the use of literature as a didactic tool in teaching. As fiction forms a large part of the work in preschool class, this study aims to explore how student perceptions of gender can be made visible through critical literacy-inspired preschool work. The norm-critical fairy tale Rödluvan (Jansson &amp; Jensfelt, 2018) is the fiction that forms the basis of the study and the following issues have been formulated: • How do the students name the characters' gender in Rödluvan (Jansson &amp; Jensfelt, 2018)? • How do the students' ways of naming the characters gender differ, depending on whether they participated in a joint conversation about the text or not? The study is qualitative and the data collection is done through semi-structured interviews with 20 students in preschool class. The analysis of the material is based on gender theory and the concept of didactic potential, in accordance with Alkestrand's (2017) definition. The conclusions that can be drawn from the results of the study are that the participating students had difficulty understanding the gender of the fairy characters as described in the story of the character in question, portrayed in a norm-critical manner. Based on the results of the study, it can also be stated that there is a marked difference in the students' ways of perceiving the gender of the norm-critical characters depending on whether they participated in a joint conversation about the text or not.

This systematic literature review investigates peer feedback in EFL education. Findings on practices, effects and teacher- and student perceptions of peer feedback are drawn together and thereby a multifaceted understanding of the phenomenon in EFL-related research is offered. The purpose of the study is to review and systematize previous research in order to enhance the understanding of peer feedback practices, effects and perceptions. Ten articles of practices, effects and perceptions were selected for this systematic literature review. The findings indicate that peer feedback is effective as it contributes to students’ written and oral L2 development. Organized feedback from teachers is more effectful as it gives learners clear instructions of what to focus on. Therefore, the teacher has an important role in peer feedback practices in order to make it as efficient as possible. Teacher- and student perceptions were both positive and negative. Teachers reported learners’ ability to identify errors in peer’s performance as a benefit. Yet, lack of knowledge, incompatibility with the educational system and learners’ low proficiency level were reported motives for not using peer feedback in their EFL classroom. Students perceived peer feedback as useful as it improved their L2 learning. Organized peer feedback was particularly highlighted. Lack of confidence due to limited proficiency level, interpersonal relationships, motivation and time were reported as difficulties in peer feedback practices. Further research in the field of the teacher role in peer feedback is requested.

This systematic literature review investigates translanguaging in ELT.Previous findings on effects, teachers’ perceptions and students’ perceptionsare investigated and reported in this review, as well as systemized in order toenhance the understanding of translanguaging, its use in the ELT classroomand perceptions of the concept. Ten articles from varying countries wereselected for this systematic literature review. The studies included wereconducted using different research methods and with varying approaches tothe term translanguaging. The observed effects of translanguaging weregenerally positive and the findings indicate that translanguaging is beneficialto students’ communicative skills and comprehension, increasingparticipation and confidence, as well as providing additional support forlower proficiency students. However, the findings also show translanguagingto have negligible effects when it comes to the actual language skills of thestudents. Furthermore, both teacher and student perceptions oftranslanguaging presented mixed opinions. While several teachers seetranslanguaging as a resource, many see languages as mutually exclusive andopt not to include the use of any languages other than the target languages.Students are shown to consider their linguistic resources important, but theyare hesitant to use translanguaging out of fear that it will be an obstacle totheir target language learning opportunities. Lacking professional trainingand institutional support for translanguaging is clearly visible in the findingsof both teacher and student perceptions. Further research is necessary inorder to generalize results and obtain findings applicable to ELT in aSwedish upper secondary school context.

Den här studien har som syfte att bidra med kunskap om elevers förståelse av likhetstecknet. Studien besvarar två frågeställningar: På vilka kvalitativt olika sätt uppfattar elever likhetstecknet? Vilka nyanser av statisk och dynamisk uppfattning av likhetstecknet framträder av elevernas uppfattningar? Datan består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med 14 elever som har genomförts i par. Studien är begränsad till årskurs 1–3. Studien visar att elever kan ha olika uppfattningar av likhetstecknet både en statisk och dynamisk. Däremot visar studien också att ”statiskt” och ”dynamiskt” inte är tillräckligt för att beskriva hur elever uppfattar likhetstecknet. De nyanser av den statiska och dynamiska uppfattningen som presenteras i resultatet är: likhetstecknet indikerar ett svar, likhetstecknet som ett ”stopp”, likhetstecknet indikerarar att det måste finnas en uträkning och likhetstecknet indikerarar att det måste vara jämvikt. / The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about students' understanding of mathematical similarities. Two questions are answered: In what qualitative different ways do students perceive the equal sign? What nuances of static and dynamic perception of the equal sign emerge from students´ perceptions? Data are based on, semi-structured interviews with students 14 students. The interviews have been conducted in pairs. The study is limited to grades 1-3.  The study show that students have different perceptions of the equal sign both static and dynamic. The results also show that “static” and “dynamic” are not sufficient to describe details in students perception of the equal sign The nuances of the static and dynamic perception presented in the result are: the equal sign indicates an answer, the equal sign as a "stop", the equal sign indicates that there must be a calculation, and the equal sign indicates that they must be equilibrium.

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Syftet med föreliggande studie är att belysa elevers uppfattningar om kreativt skrivande inom svenskämnet. Frågeställningarna ämnar undersöka hur kreativt skrivande påverkar elevens skrivutveckling samt om kreativt skrivande kan leda till ökad motivation hos eleven. För att besvara frågeställningarna och uppfylla syftet används tidigare forskning samt fenomenografi som ramverk för att analysera skriftliga reflektioner om kreativt skrivande där 33 elever i årkurs nio valt att delta. Resultatet visar att kreativt skrivande är en viktig del i elevernas skrivprocess och bidrar till kunskapsutveckling. Det framkommer att kreativt skrivande skapar motivation och bidrar till ett lustfyllt lärande. Kreativt skrivande bidrar även till personlig utveckling då det bland annat ger eleverna möjlighet att bearbeta och få utlopp för tankar och känslor. / The purpose of the present study is to illustrate students’ perceptions of creative writing within the subject of Swedish. The research questions aim to investigate how creative writing affects students’ writing development and whether it can lead to increased motivation. To address these questions and fulfill the purpose, prior research is used as well as phenomenography used as framework to analyse written reflections on creative wrtiting from 33 ninth-grade students who chose to participate. The results indicate that creative writing is an important part of students’ writing process and contributes to their writing development. It is revealed that creative writing fosters motivation and contributes to joyful learning. Additionally, creative writing contributes to personal development by providing students with opportunities to process and express thoughts and emotions.