The Swedish curriculum emphasizes the importance of pupils’ active learning, influence over the education and communicative skills in language learning. The Storyline approach has since its entry in the educational context in the 1960s, influenced teaching all over the world. The approach emphasizes pupils’ interest, meaning-making processes and creativity and thus agrees well with the content of the Swedish curriculum. This research overview aims to offer insight into how the Storyline approach can affect pupils in an English as a second language context, in different ways. It focuses primarily on how the Storyline approach can promote pupils’ second language acquisition, what impact the story and its characters have on pupils’ motivation and what effects the aesthetics in Storyline have on pupils. It also gives an overview of challenges that pupils and teachers might encounter while working with a Storyline project. The findings of the study indicate that the Storyline approach, through group work and communicative, meaningful tasks, promote pupils’ learning of English. Moreover, the context of the story and the characters seem to enhance pupils’ intrinsic motivation to learn the English language and the aesthetics can make pupil active agents in their learning process and mediate their knowledge. However, the Storyline approach also involves different challenges for both pupils and teachers, such as trying to find a balance between the teacher’s and the pupils’ control, keeping the story and the characters alive throughout the whole project, dealing with lack of time, group work issues and presenting the work in front of other pupils.

Collaboration between the parents and the school has a powerful influence on a child’s literacy development. However, home-school partnerships to support young learners’ emergent literacy development are weak in South Africa. Research into family literacy in South Africa is particularly important due to many socio-economic factors impacting negatively on family life and on children’s literacy development. The South African education system lacks a dedicated policy for the promotion of family literacy. Against this background the present study investigated the role of family literacy programmes in supporting emergent literacy among young children. A literature study on family literacy and family-school-community partnerships to support literacy framed an empirical inquiry following an interpretivist approach, using an action research design and qualitative techniques of data collection. The Wordworks Home-School Partnerships programme was selected for implementation and the programme was modified through the design and inclusion of a children’s component. A multicultural independent primary school situated in Pretoria, South Africa was selected through a combination of purposeful and convenience sampling. The school principal, four Foundation Phase teachers and seven families including nine children participated in the study. Criteria for family inclusion were that the participating families should have at least one child enrolled in Grade R and at least one parent should agree to attend the full six-week duration of the modified Wordworks School-Family Partnerships programme. Data was gathered during parallel sessions from parents, children and teacher-facilitators through multiple techniques: observation, interviews, feedback sessions, artefacts and journals. Data was analysed according to qualitative principles and the findings were presented in a narrative format substantiated by verbatim quotations. Key findings indicated a greater sense of community among the families and the teachers, improved quality of parent-child interactions, parents’ improved knowledge of emergent literacy skills and improved confidence in supporting their children with early literacy development. The medium term impact of the programme includes benefits for the whole school, the teaching staff, parent body and children. Based on the findings of the literature study and the implementation of the family literacy programme through action research, recommendations were made to improve school-family partnerships with a view to supporting emergent literacy development among young learners. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

<p>Predmet ove doktorske disertacije bio je da se<br />ispitaju te&scaron;koće u čitanju na engleskom kao stranom<br />jeziku kod učenika mlađeg uzrasta u osnovnim<br />&scaron;kolama u Srbiji. Od 2003. godine, kada je engleski<br />jezik uveden kao obavezni predmet od prvog razreda<br />osnovne &scaron;kole, nije bilo nacionalnih istraživanja u<br />vezi sa ranim razvojem ve&scaron;tine čitanja. Po&scaron;to<br />te&scaron;koće u čitanju mogu negativno uticati na<br />samopouzdanje učenika, njihovu motivaciju i<br />stavove, kao i na akademska i profesionalna<br />dostignuća, neophodno je efikasno delovanje u cilju<br />sprečavanja te&scaron;koća u čitanju. Prvi korak u tom<br />pravcu predstavlja ispitivanje faktora koji mogu<br />imati nepovoljan uticaj na razvoj ve&scaron;tine čitanja.<br />U istraživanju je učestvovalo 502 ispitanika<br />uzrasta od 11 godina, koji su pohađali &scaron;est osnovnih<br />&scaron;kola u pet geografski udaljenih gradova Srbije.<br />Primenjena je kombinovana metoda upotrebom<br />osam instrumenata za prikupljanje kvantitativnih i<br />kvalitativnih podataka. Kvantitativni podaci su<br />dobijeni kori&scaron;ćenjem testa čitanja, upitnika o<br />individualnim faktorima, upitnika o kontekstualnim<br />faktorima, upitnika o strategijama, upitnika o<br />te&scaron;koćama u čitanju, i intervjua, dok su kvalitativni<br />podaci dobijeni na osnovu pisanih refleksija učenika<br />i upotrebom intervjua. Rezultati su pokazali da<br />postoji statistički značajna razlika u rezultatima testa<br />čitanja u zavisnosti od individualnih i kontekstualnih<br />faktora, kao i da te&scaron;koće u ranom čitanju na<br />engleskom kao stranom jeziku mogu biti posledica<br />negativnog uticaja nekih individualnih i<br />kontekstualnih faktora, kao &scaron;to su nerazvijene<br />lingvističke i strate&scaron;ke kompetencije učenika,<br />negativan transfer ve&scaron;tine čitanja na maternjem<br />jeziku, neadekvatan pristup razvoju ve&scaron;tine čitanja u<br />nastavi, i nedovoljno čitanje na stranom jeziku van<br />časova. Na osnovu rezultata sastavljena je<br />taksonomija od 25 te&scaron;koća u čitanju na engleskom<br />kao stranom jeziku. Ovi rezultati imaju značajne<br />implikacije za dizajniranje programa ranog čitanja i<br />programa prevencije te&scaron;koća u čitanju, za nastavu<br />ranog čitanja, kao i za obrazovanje i stručno<br />usavr&scaron;avanje nastavnika engleskog jezika.</p> / <p>The primary focus of the present research study<br />was to investigate reading difficulties of young<br />6<br />learners learning English as a foreign language<br />(EFL) in formal school settings in Serbia. Since the<br />introduction of English as a compulsory school<br />subject from primary Grade One in 2003, there have<br />been no research studies in Serbia to verify what can<br />realistically be achieved in early reading skill<br />development. As reading difficulties can negatively<br />affect learners&rsquo; self-esteem, motivation, attitude,<br />confidence, and academic and career prospects, the<br />prevention of reading difficulties has emerged as an<br />issue requiring effective action. The first step<br />towards successful teaching of early reading is<br />exploration of factors that may have an adverse<br />effect on learners&rsquo; reading skill development.<br />The present research study involved 502<br />learners, aged 11, drawn from six state primary<br />schools located in five geographically distant regions<br />of the country. A mixed-method approach was<br />applied in the study, and eight instruments were used<br />to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.<br />Quantitative data was obtained with reading research<br />tool, individual factors questionnaire, contextual<br />factors questionnaire, reading strategies<br />questionnaire, reading difficulties questionnaire,<br />teacher questionnaire and prompted think-aloud<br />protocols, while qualitative data was collected with<br />post-reading reflection protocols and prompted<br />think-aloud protocols. The results showed that there<br />was a considerable difference in reading results in<br />relation to both individual and contextual factors,<br />and that reading difficulties in early EFL reading<br />may have been the result of adverse effects of some<br />individual and contextual factors, like poor linguistic<br />and strategic competences of young learners,<br />negative transfer of L1 literacy, inappropriate<br />teaching approach, and insufficient exposure to L2<br />texts. A taxonomy of reading difficulties was<br />complied, comprising 25 L2 reading difficulties.<br />These results have significant implications for<br />designing EFL reading and prevention programmes,<br />for teaching beginning reading, and for pre-service<br />and in-service EFL teacher education and training.</p>

Collaboration between the parents and the school has a powerful influence on a child’s literacy development. However, home-school partnerships to support young learners’ emergent literacy development are weak in South Africa. Research into family literacy in South Africa is particularly important due to many socio-economic factors impacting negatively on family life and on children’s literacy development. The South African education system lacks a dedicated policy for the promotion of family literacy. Against this background the present study investigated the role of family literacy programmes in supporting emergent literacy among young children. A literature study on family literacy and family-school-community partnerships to support literacy framed an empirical inquiry following an interpretivist approach, using an action research design and qualitative techniques of data collection. The Wordworks Home-School Partnerships programme was selected for implementation and the programme was modified through the design and inclusion of a children’s component. A multicultural independent primary school situated in Pretoria, South Africa was selected through a combination of purposeful and convenience sampling. The school principal, four Foundation Phase teachers and seven families including nine children participated in the study. Criteria for family inclusion were that the participating families should have at least one child enrolled in Grade R and at least one parent should agree to attend the full six-week duration of the modified Wordworks School-Family Partnerships programme. Data was gathered during parallel sessions from parents, children and teacher-facilitators through multiple techniques: observation, interviews, feedback sessions, artefacts and journals. Data was analysed according to qualitative principles and the findings were presented in a narrative format substantiated by verbatim quotations. Key findings indicated a greater sense of community among the families and the teachers, improved quality of parent-child interactions, parents’ improved knowledge of emergent literacy skills and improved confidence in supporting their children with early literacy development. The medium term impact of the programme includes benefits for the whole school, the teaching staff, parent body and children. Based on the findings of the literature study and the implementation of the family literacy programme through action research, recommendations were made to improve school-family partnerships with a view to supporting emergent literacy development among young learners. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

This diploma thesis deals with the theme of testing young learners in English. The thesis consists of two main parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part deals with testing as one form of assessment. Language skills and subskills are studied and Cambridge Young Learners English Tests are described there in detail. This part also tries to find out the answers to essential questions concerning testing. The practical part investigates how the preparation before CYLET tests and their taking influenced the existing level of pupil´s language skills. The second part also asks whether these tests motivate the students for their further development in English. The case study is based on a one-year observation, the results from questionnaires, and an interview with the teacher who prepared pupils for the exam. The thesis is finished by short essay titled: Why are CYLET tests so motivating?

In spite of a monolingual norm in foreign language teaching during the last decades studies throughout the world show that teachers’ target language use varies significantly. This study sets out to examine to what extent the target language (TL) is used with young language learners and how this use correlates to teachers’ beliefs about foreign language teaching and first language (L1) inclusion. Moreover the paper discusses functions for L1 use and strategies used by teachers to support comprehension in the TL. Lesson observations and qualitative interviews were performed with four Swedish primary school class teachers. Despite the prevailing idea of exclusive TL use three of the four teachers do not subscribe to this approach and find L1 inclusion necessary. An emerging theme is the impact of teachers’ beliefs and how these are shaped by personal experience and/or education. L1 is legitimized in order to support comprehension and prevent pupils’ frustration. To varying degrees the L1 is used, mostly to facilitate learning but also for classroom management. The data suggests that teachers are well aware of their language use although they lack awareness and professional language to describe and be articulate about strategies they employ. / Trots att det under de senaste decennierna varit norm att inom språkundervisningen uteslutande använda målspråket i klassrummet, visar studier från hela världen att lärares målspråksanvändning varierar avsevärt. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka i vilken utsträckning målspråket används med yngre språkelever och hur denna överensstämmer med lärarnas föreställningar om språkundervisning och användning av förstaspråket. Dessutom diskuteras funktioner för förstaspråksanvändning och strategier som lärare använder för att underlätta förståelse på målspråket. Lektionsobservationer och kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med fyra svenska klasslärare i grundskolans tidigare år. Trots den rådande rekommendationen att undvika användning av förstaspråket och uteslutande använda målspråket, ansluter sig tre av fyra lärare inte till denna didaktiska modell, utan finner det nödvändigt att inkludera förstaspråket i undervisningen. Ett tema som framträder är påverkan av lärares uppfattningar och hur dessa har formats av personliga erfarenheter och/eller utbildning. Förstaspråksanvändning motiveras för att stötta förståelse och undvika frustration hos eleverna. Förstaspråket används i olika utsträckning, framförallt för att underlätta inlärning men också för att leda arbetet i klassrummet. Resultaten tyder på att lärare är väl medvetna om sin språkanvändning, men att de delvis saknar insikt om och ett professionellt språk för att beskriva och formulera sig kring de strategier de använder.