Given the explicit focus of compulsory schooling in Sweden on providing pupils with opportunities to develop their communicative abilities, all available resources should be utilised to their fullest potential - one of these resources being the way a teacher talks to and with their pupils, i.e., their teacher talk. Previous research in the field has had its focus on non-Swedish classroom contexts and has primarily considered the impacts of teacher talk on learners in secondary school or above. This study therefore set out to contribute to the field by observing Swedish EFL lessons for grades 4-6 and interviewing the teachers of these lessons. The observations show that different teacher-talk categories were employed at varied frequencies, some noticeably more widely represented than others. Additionally, valuable insight was gained from the interviews into teachers’ reflections on their didactic choices made regarding teacher talk. Some of the teachers’ choices correlated with those found in previous research, such as the rationale for direct translations from L2 to L1. On the other hand, it emerged that teachers perceived that some teacher-talk categories were utilised more in the higher grades, in contrast with the results noted in the observations of this study. This could suggest that teachers were not utilising all available resources effectively and possibly could benefit from further support and/or training in how to use their teacher talk consciously. To comprehensively evaluate which, to what extent, and why different teacher-talk categories are represented, further research should focus on a prolonged engagement in longitudinal studies of Swedish EFL classrooms representing a greater variety and number of schools as well as participating teachers.

This paper provides an investigation of recent empirical research from the EFL literature on the advantages and possible problems that may occur when using films in Swedish upper secondary schools to increase student interaction and oral production during English lessons. Also examined is what specific film-based teaching strategies educators can utilize to increase the level of speaking and interacting in the English classrooms for Swedish secondary-school students. The investigation shows that although a number of researchers agree on the many benefits of using films was large, some problems can also be identified. These advantages and problems are discussed in the study in light of different teaching theories, for example, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and the Swedish curriculum. Overall, films were found to be a valid tool to be used for teachers to increase the production of speaking and interacting in Swedish upper secondary schools.

Under de senaste decennierna har translanguaging fått mycket intresse inom SLA-sfären (SecondLanguage Learning). Samtida migration och den ständigt ökandeglobaliseringen har lett till en omvärdering av tvåspråkighet och flerspråkighet. Medan forskningavsett de lätt observerbara metoderna hos lärare och studenter har fått mycket uppmärksamhet, har det material som valts av lärare inte. Således är målet med denna studie att undersöka omoch hur translanguaging-metoder främjas inom ett urval av vanliga engelska läroböcker. För att uppnå detta använde studien innehållsanalys för att identifiera möjliga översättningsmetoder inom läroböckernas uppgifter. Resultaten av studien visar att översättningsmetoder kunde identifieras i alla utvalda läroböcker. Den vanligast identifierade transspråkliga uppgiften var översättning, både när det gäller översättning av ord samt meningar och fraser. Det analyserade materialet indikerade dock en trend att användningen av svenska som undervisningsspråk helt enkelt var ett pragmatiskt verktyg som användes för att kompensera för elevernas bristande språkkunskaper. Detta gjorde det svårt att bedöma om identifierade uppgifter faktiskt kunde karakteriseras som pedagogiskt translanguaging material (PTM). För framtida forskning skulle nästa logiska steg vara att observera om de identifierade typerna oftasks faktiskt leder till translanguaging praxis i klassrummet samt genomföra forskning om mer varierat klassrumsmaterial.

Fake news is nowadays part of our everyday lives, especially for those who are exposed to social media. As 8 out of 10 Swedish teenagers mainly read news on social media, this study was conducted to investigate to what extent students are taught to deal with fake news. This was done by examining exercises in English workbooks currently used at the upper secondary level. Skolverket (2021) clearly states that it is part of Swedish teachers’ mission to educate students so that they can orientate and act in a complex reality with a large flow of information, increased digitization and a rapid pace of change. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine how and to what extent workbooks in the Swedish EFL classroom provide students with tasks which can be said to further skills related to source criticism and critical thinking. It also aims to address the possible prevalence of insufficient skills of the above-mentioned kind and its potentially harmful consequences. This was done by investigating how exercises in workbooks can be said to promote an improvement of source criticism and critical thinking. The method of the presented study emanates from the theoretical framework of critical literacy from a pragmatic perspective. The study is qualitative as the examined material is limited. The results show that the workbooks vary in how they enable the ability to detect bias and critical thinking and that the workbooks rely on teachers to elaborate instructions. This indicates that the exercises in the workbooks may not be sufficient to fulfil the mission stated by Skolverket (2021).

This study aims to explore the potential benefits and disadvantages of utilizing video game narratives in Swedish EFL teaching. The subject is approached through a qualitative literature review of previous research on the use of video games in the process of L2 acquisition. The results are then discussed from a sociocultural perspective, in relation to the frameworks introduced in the background and to the Swedish steering documents. The results indicate that video games are likely to be part of many students’ out-of-school experiences of the English language and that playing video games can be seen as an example of extramural language learning. The results also highlight how engaging in multiplayer video game narratives can aid L2 acquisition by for example increasing motivation, expanding learner vocabulary and by providing learners with strategies for discourse management such as politeness, humor and small talk. The collaborative and interactive nature of the video game narrative and of video game communities is also shown to align well with the Swedish steering documents that promote social interaction and the development of communicative competence. However, direct classroom implementation of video games is problematized by the fact that not all students have previous experience or tools for interacting with the video game format of storytelling and that gender discrepancies in video game consumption could lead to boys benefiting more than girls from language learning through video game narratives.

A useful medium when teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners is authentic children’s literature. Previous research in the area has provided insight into benefits and challenges in something that could be described as ‘fiction-based teaching’. There is however little to none that is set in a Swedish classroom context.  The aim of the current study was to find how teachers in Sweden utilize children’s literature in teaching English as a foreign language in grades 1–3. The study was performed using semi structured interviews with five teachers in the central east coast of Sweden. The participants gave insight into how they use English fiction as a teaching tool, which follows the structure of the didactic questions what, how and why. The teachers’ experienced challenges in using such a medium as a teaching tool were also processed in the study. To understand and analyse the gathered data, Aidan Chambers and Lev Vygotsky’s theories about young learners were used. The main findings of the study show that processing literature via discussions between teachers and students is beneficial for language acquisition, such as vocabulary gain and comprehension. At the same time, the teachers mention challenges in using such a method, for example a lack of time and how to differentiate the teaching of EFL. The conclusion was that these findings were in line with the previous research that has been made in the area.

Considering the vital role teachers play in language teaching, the frequency of, and motivation behind L1 usage in L2 teaching is a very interesting and current area of research. Despite this, there does not seem to be a lot of research done in this area in the context of the Swedish EFL classroom for young learners. The aim of the current study was therefore to contribute to this area of research first, by investigating teachers’ use of Swedish when talking during their English teaching and their rationale for using Swedish instead of English, and second, by determining if there is a difference in the teachers’ use of Swedish depending on the learning objective of the lesson. This was done by using a mixed-method approach, where four English teachers in Sweden, all teaching grades 4-6, were observed in two lessons each, followed by semi-structured interviews. The results showed that Instructions, Asking questions, Praise and Translation were the most used L1 functions, while Evaluation, Classroom equipment and Humor were not employed by any of the teachers. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that the factors for L1 usage were the students’ age, support for the students’ understanding, efficiency and making the students feel comfortable in the learning environment, corresponding with previous research to a great extent. Additionally, it was also found that there was indeed a difference depending on the learning objective. Based on the findings in the study, it is suggested that teachers should be encouraged to assume a mindful approach to their L1 usage.

It is generally assumed that in order to learn a language, learners need to master reading, writing, listening and speaking. However, merely possessing the skills and abilities to communicate is not sufficient; one must have the will to use the language. In order to formulate a model that can accurately describe the willingness to communicate, Mac-Intyre et al. (1998) formulated a model that attempts to do just this. The goal of this study is to verify the veracity of the Willingness to Communicate (WTC) model in terms of to what extent students’ self-reported WTC correlate with their actual WTC in the class-room. To accomplish this, this study utilized interviews with Swedish EFL students in southern Sweden, based on the WTC framework, and classroom observation in order to collect data on said connection. The results of this study showed that self-reported WTC and actual WTC do not necessarily correlate with one another; for some students, they spoke English more than they reported, some spoke less, and others’ WTC reflected their self-assessed WTC. Although the WTC model could account for the students’ actual WTC, it could not account for this discrepancy. However, this discrepancy may not be due to the model itself, but rather to the situational factors that, to a certain degree, influenced the outcome of this study. Based on this study, teachers are recommended to consistently speak English, as this raises the students’ own WTC, and to encourage English usage among students themselves. For future research, it is therefore recom-mended that non-linguistic factors be taken into account, possibly through factor analysis, in order to produce more nuanced data, as well as conducting a longitudinal study.

Writing is one of the four skills that students learning a foreign language are supposed to acquire, and writing often has an important role in the language classroom. Furthermore, in the field of cultural and arts education, a process-oriented approach is considered essential for learning. However, even though we see an increased interest in emphasizing the writing process, in reality, what is often commented, discussed and graded is the final outcome - the product. Consequently, features of the writing process, like fluency, revisions, and pauses, are not considered. This thesis explores what information about the writing process might add to the picture. In this manner, the current study investigates the writing process of advanced Swedish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners through keystroke logging programme. With the increased use of word processing tools, and not least with the development of keystroke logging tools, we now have the possibility to take also the details of the writing process into account. As Spelman Miller and Sullivan (2006:1) point out, “[a]s an observational tool, keystroke logging offers the opportunity to capture details of the activity of writing, not only for the purposes of the linguistic, textual and cognitive study of writing, but also for the broader applications concerning the development of language learning, literacy, and language pedagogy”. In the present study, a keystroke logging programme named Inputlog has been used, which allows researchers to get a better understanding of writing processes as well as cognitive processes during writing (Lindgren & Sullivan, 2002).

Globalization has led to English being the leading language of communication providing opportunities for pupils to develop their English proficiency in different contexts. In this study, teachers’ language choices in the EFL classroom are being observed and the reasons behind them are being discussed during the following interviews. The study aims to increase our understanding of what role the English language as the primary teaching language should have in the EFL classroom at Swedish lower secondary schools to benefit pupils’ language learning in the best way possible. Four teachers, that are teaching at two different lower-secondary schools in southern Sweden participated in the study. In total four classroom observations were conducted followed by four semi-structured teacher interviews. The results found during observations and interviews were then connected to the theories of Language Mode, Translanguaging and Codeswitching. The results of the observations showed a slight difference in the use of English and Swedish during teaching. This study concludes that there is a slight variation in what role the English language has in the four observed classrooms. However, the contexts in which it was used were all coherent. Furthermore, the use of Swedish also showed a slight variation but was explained to be used as a tool for explaining, clarifying and ensuring understanding. Finally, the use of translanguaging practices was believed to have a positive effect on pupils’ learning outcomes although a slight difference was shown here as well.