A growing concern in educational institutions is the lack of a unified collegial effort to address issues pertaining to discrimination. The Swedish National Agency of Education (SNAE) has released several reports and articles this past decade (2009, 2010, 2016), in which no significant improvement has been observed in schools with regard to discrimination pertaining to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability. An important finding illustrated in all reports is that norms are the cardinal reason behind all discriminating conduct. Consequently, to address this problem, SNAE suggests that a norm-critical perspective should be implemented in order to hamper and change such behaviours (101). A core problem, however, is that not all syllabi provide specific examples of how teachers can work with norms in the classroom. Significantly, however, literature has shown to be a valuable gateway to norm-criticism as it provides students with the opportunity to critically assess problems presented in novels with a certain detachment; promoting a more objective attitude and thus a deeper understanding of their own real-life situations (Rosenblatt 47). Thus, the aim of this thesis is to provide English teachers with a more concrete point of departure in the discussion of norms by the use of literature, namely Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847). More specifically, this essay critically examines the notions of heteronormativity, gender and ableism to illustrate how hetero-norms, gender-norms and disability-norms are both subverted and challenged in Jane Eyre, often in unexpected ways. The concepts of the ‘male gaze’ and the ‘Other’ are introduced, to demonstrate how this novel may be approached norm-critically in the ambition to avert discriminatory behaviour. To exemplify how the reading of each concept may have positive implications in teaching, I demonstrate how a fusion of norm-critical pedagogy, critical literacy pedagogy and reader-response theory can be fruitful to foster critical thinking.

This thesis examines the translation of cultural-specific elements known as realia from Swedish to Italian based on the theoretical framework of translation studies. Realia, often without correspondence in the target language and sometimes difficult to even distinguish in a text, are known to cause challenges for translators.   The thesis focuses on the realia in the book Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann, written by Jonas Jonasson in 2009. It examines which translation strategies the translator has used for the cultural-specific elements and the question is raised whether the translation is orientated towards the source culture (“adequacy”) or towards the target culture (“acceptability”). The initial hypothesis was that the translation of the book would be orientated towards the target culture (acceptability) and that in the Italian version the geographic-cultural element would be dominant to the plot, which would be a subdominant.   The analysis is based on parallell reading of the original Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann and the Italian translation Il centenario che saltò dalla finestra e scomparve, translated by Margherita Podestà Heir in 2011. Whilst reading the books, realia were collected, listed and organised in groups according to categories of realia as described by Osimo (2011) and the translation strategy used, again as described by Osimo. The analysis confirmed that the translation was orientated towards the target culture with an “acceptable” translation, rather than “adequate”. It was equally found that the plot was as important to the translator of the Italian version and hence a dominant also in the latter.   The thesis highlights the importance of insight in the “language-culture” of the source language as the inadequacy thereof could contribute to failed translations of both realia and other words and phrases.

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<p>Godkännandedatum 2019-02-01</p>

Denna studie utgår ifrån fyra lärares bedömning av elevtexter i svenska som andraspråk. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur likvärdigheten i bedömning och betygssättning påverkas av lärarens värdering av texterna utifrån aspekterna kommunikationsstrategier och språk och stil. Bedömningen av dessa aspekter skiljer sig i ämnet svenska och svenska som andraspråk. I studien ingår två elevtexter i svenska som andraspråk från det nationella provet i åk 9, samt tillhörande bedömningsmatris. Analysen sker med utgångspunkt i ett fokusgruppssamtal där lärarna, utifrån texterna och bedömningsmatrisen, samtalar om aspekterna kommunikationsstrategier och språk och stil samt bedömningen av dem. Det framkommer av studien att aspekten kommunikationsstrategier är svåra att både identifiera och bedöma i en skriven text. Resultatet visar dessutom att bedömningen inte är samstämmig bland de fyra lärarna.

For a westerner or any other person who comes from a language background where the alphabet is used to form words and sentences, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages for second language learners. Especially the mastering of the Chinese written language is deemed by a majority of Chinese language students as the most difficult part of learning Chinese. This study investigates how a pedagogic teaching method called meaningful interpretation and chunking can assist students in acquiring the skills of reading and writing Chinese characters. To facilitate the transfer of new knowledge, it is important to bring meaning and sense to what the students are asked to learn. For the novice, Chinese characters may seem like randomly assembled strokes which are hard to comprehend. With this thesis I have wanted to highlight the value of using a teaching method that thoroughly analyzes and explains the different radicals and components of the Chinese characters, such a method, will not only increase students’ understanding of the characters, it will also work towards ensuring that the characters’ form and meaning stay in the students’ memory so they can be reproduced at a later point in time.

The purpose of this study is to broaden our understanding of the attitudes Swedish university students hold towards RP and GA. Although several studies have been conducted on the topic, none have sought to describe the three components traditionally assumed in the mentalist approach to language attitudes. The present study aims to bridge this gap. This was done by investigating students at Stockholm university using the verbal guise method. The present study found that students of Stockholm university with English as their L2 think that RP sounds more arrogant and boring, but also more responsible, gentle and intelligent than GA. The investigated population also felt more irritation while listening to RP than GA. They also felt more trust and liking for speakers of GA than of RP. Lastly, there were also differences regarding the accent the investigated population perceives it uses. GA was heavily favored in this respect. The findings of the present study could help to solve educational issues such as finding which English accents are suitable or most suitable for teaching.