This essay aims to explore how Swedish teachers of English view the shift from a Native Speaker ideal to English as a Global Language in connection to pronunciation teaching. The essay also aims to explore how the teachers teach this in practice. By interviewing five professional teachers, the results of the study showed that most of the teachers did not teach pronunciation explicitly and believed that pronunciation teaching should be integrated into other parts of language learning. None of the teachers claimed to expect their students to be able to speak with a native accent but believed that the previous views on pronunciation teaching, to some extent, still lingers on. Furthermore, all teachers did use American English or British English when teaching pronunciation but did not expect their students to use these dialects when speaking English. The teachers believed that their students mainly spoke with a dialect influenced by American English since this dialect is what the students mostly hear outside the classroom.This essay is primarily relevant to Swedish EFL teachers and students who are becoming teachers of English, but this study may also contribute to global research within pronunciation teaching. Because of the lack of guidelines regarding pronunciation teaching in the syllabus, the insight in the views and teaching methods of pronunciation teaching can function as a guideline and inspiration for how to teach pronunciation in a continuously globalized world where the views on the English language continually changes.

Syftet med denna studie är att belysa om, varför och hur några lärare i årskurserna 1-3 anser sig arbeta med matematikläxor. Syftet är även att undersöka dessa lärares definition av läxa samt att utifrån det samlade resultatet identifiera möjligheter och hinder med matematikläxa. För att samla in data till studien användes semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta lärare.  Studiens resultat visar att även om matematikläxan är inkluderad i undervisningen hos alla respondenter, skiljer sig syfte och definition åt. Vissa såg till exempel möjligheten till kommunikation med hemmen medan andra såg ett tillfälle för repetition. Resultatet visar även variation i hur matematikläxan används samt att den i sig själv kan utgöra möjligheter såväl som hinder för lärande. Vår slutsats är att matematikläxa som pedagogiskt verktyg används men är ett oreglerat område samt att en officiell riktlinje inom verksamheterna saknas. / The aim of this study is to identify if, why and how certain teachers of grade 1-3 consider to work with mathematics homework. Further the aim is to investigate the definition of homework and to identify opportunities and obstacles with including it as part of the teaching practised. To collect data for the study, semi-structured interviews have been performed with eight teachers. A presented results show that all respondents includes mathematics homework in their teaching but its purpose and definition varies. For example, some teachers sees it as a possibility of communication with the home while others sees it as an opportunity for repetition. The result also shows variations of how mathematics homework is used and that it can in itself constitute opportunities as well as obstacles to learning. The main conclusion of the study is that mathematics homework as an educational tool is an unregulated area with no official guideline in place.

Hösten 2016 genomförde vi en studie i en svensk grundskola i en årskurs 2 med syfte att kartlägga några elevers inställning till att lära sig det engelska språket och hur den inställningen påverkades av högläsning av engelsk barnlitteratur. Syftet var också att kartlägga om högläsning påverkade elevernas passiva ordförråd samt om eleverna använde någon form av språklig strategi vid mötet av okända ord under högläsningen.    De datainsamlingsmetoder som användes i studien var 71 strukturerade elevintervjuer, enkla observationer av tre undervisningstillfällen med högläsning av en ny engelskspråkig skönlitterär text vid varje och ett ordtest som genomfördes före och efter de tre undervisningstillfällena.   Studiens resultat antyder att högläsning av engelsk barnlitteratur inte har påverkat elevernas inställning till att lära sig engelska markant, men att eleverna var positiva till högläsning i engelskundervisningen. Resultatet visar även att elevernas passiva ordförråd verkar ha ökat efter de tre undervisningstillfällena, samt att cirka hälften av eleverna kunde rapportera att de använt någon språklig strategi i mötet med de engelska texterna, till exempel att använda bilderna eller likheter med det svenska språket.    Vår slutsats är att högläsning av engelsk barnlitteratur i undervisningen kan bidra till att upprätthålla elevers språkliga nyfikenhet och positiva inställning till att lära sig engelska samt att de utökar sitt passiva ordförråd. En annan slutsats är att alla elever bör ges möjlighet i undervisningen att utveckla förmågan att använda språkliga strategier i enlighet med Skolverket (2011b). / The autumn of 2016, we conducted a study in a Swedish grade 2 class with the aim to identify some pupils´ attitudes to learning the English language and how those attitudes were influenced by the reading aloud of English children´s literature. The aim was also to see whether reading aloud influenced the pupils´ passive vocabulary and whether they used some form of linguistic strategies when encountering unknown words during the listening.    The data collection methods used in the study were 71 structured interviews with the pupils, simple observations of three lessons with reading aloud of English children´s literature and word tests conducted before and after the three lessons.    The study´s results suggest that the reading aloud of English children´s literature did not affect the pupils´ attitudes towards learning English significantly, but that the pupils were positive towards reading aloud during English classes. The results further indicate that the pupils´ passive vocabulary increased after the three lessons, and that about half of them used a linguistic strategy when encountering unknown words during the reading, for example use of pictures and of the similarity to the Swedish language.    A conclusion of this study is that reading aloud of English children´s literature in teaching can help to maintain pupils´ linguistic curiosity and positive attitudes to learning English, as well as expand their passive vocabulary. Another conclusion is that all pupils should be given the opportunity in class to develop the ability to use linguistic strategies according to Skolverket (2011b).

This paper aims at investigating how upper secondary school teachers of English in Malmö, Sweden abide by the curriculum criteria of having their learners develop correctness in speech, as well as what support English teachers receive with regard to pronunciation teaching from official steering documents. Furthermore, this paper attempts to critically evaluate and discuss potential options for pronunciation models or standards in education which hold sway in contemporary research. Through qualitative interviews with four upper secondary school teachers of English, the findings of this study indicate a discrepancy between the participants’ views on how ‘correctness’ should be interpreted as well as their methods for teaching and assessing pronunciation. In addition, none of the participants explicitly expressed a subscription to any particular pronunciation model or standard, but rather that they focused on intelligibility over native speaker accent accuracy. Through personal communications with the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) and a university professor of English at a teacher education programme, tendencies are observable of attempts at shifting responsibility for interpreting, understanding, and applying the syllabi, ultimately leaving individual teachers to uphold the demand of an equitable education through subjective interpretations of pronunciation teaching.  The implications of this study suggest that the field of pronunciation teaching in both Swedish and international context is still underdeveloped and in desperate need of further research. Whilst this study may have limited reach or impact on the field as such, it may serve as an indicator for the problem at large for teachers, researchers and educational agencies as well as promoting an awareness of issues in the equitability of pronunciation teaching. This paper may also serve as a basis for discussion in teacher teams or other educational opportunities for teachers on the development of coherent pronunciation constructs.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to compare the English syllabus for secondary school in Sweden and the English syllabus for (the age equivalent) junior high school level in Japan, with a focus on communicative competence as it is defined by Canale and Swain (1980). Moreover, the results of the syllabus analysis are compared with qualitative data gathered from in depth, semi-structured interviews with three active English teachers from secondary school in each of the respective countries. The qualitative data is discussed on its own and the teachers’ views, their teaching practices and their interpretations of the syllabus are contrasted with the directives and teaching guidelines described in the two formal syllabi.   The objective of this thesis is to shed light on similarities and differences between what the English language syllabus for secondary school in Sweden and Japan suggest about communicative competence, and compare the findings with teachers’ interpretation and implementation of the syllabus.   The findings of the study reveal significant differences in the way the syllabi treat communicative competence and this is corroborated by the teacher interviews. Though both syllabi have set developing communication skills as an outcome, the analysis highlights key distinctions between the documents. Qualitative data gathered from respondents further distinguishes the way CLT has been implemented in Sweden and Japan.