<p> </p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>A textbook is a key component in the arsenal of a teacher of English. For this reason, it is of importance that textbooksused in Swedish schools are compliant with the fundamental values of equality, provided in the LPO 94. I will attempt to discover the extent to which English textbooks present males and females in non-stereotyped ways and as equal. I want to provide an overview to show how they deal with gender issues. In addition, I aim at establish whether there are any connection between learning and gender, and whether it hinders the pupil’s language learning.</p><p>My analysis will draw on previous research  and theories presented by prominent figures in the field, such as, Butler (1990), Mills (1995), Renner (1997), Ravitch (2004) and Jones, Kitetu & Jane Sunderland (1997)among others. Thereafter, these theories, and my own research will be compared, to and contrasted with the guidelines from the Swedish National Agency of Education.</p><p>This dissertation comprises a qualitative critical discourse analysis of two randomly selected textbooks that have been, or are being used, in Swedish secondary schools. For my study, I have chosen <em>Team 8</em> (1984) and <em>Wings 8</em> (2000).</p><p>In my analyses, a number of different aspects will be taken into consideration, such as the   gender distribution of narrators, main characters and sub characters, as well as the   description of gender/gender roles, and the representation of gender in illustrations. Further, I will study what kind of language is used: the extent to which it is gendered or de-gendered language.  These aspects will be collected quantitatively.</p><p>The findings from the analysis show that the language in <em>Wings 8</em> gives a broad and non-stereotypic view of gender roles, which is in accordance with the fundamental values of LPO 94. However, the illustrations tend to portray males and females in what can be considered as quite stereotypical.</p><p><em>Team 8</em>, on the other hand, contains gendered language and male dominance; women were placed in the background or left out completely.  Therefore, <em>Team 8 </em>would not be deemed to be compliant with<em> the </em>requirements set by the Swedish National Agency of Education today.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> Education, teaching material, Wings, Team 8, gender, critical discourse analysis.</p>

<p>In this essay the main aim is to consider Philip Pullman’s trilogy <em>His Dark Materials</em> with its female protagonist as a Bildungsroman. The principal source of the study is Jerome Buckley’s <em>Season of Youth – The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. </em>Buckely’s presentation of the significant characteristics of the Bildungsroman will be applied to Philip Pullman’s <em>His Dark Materials </em>in order to explore if these characteristics are present, modified or not, in the trilogy.<em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p>The second aim is to investigate how <em>His Dark Materials </em>relates to the patterns of the hero’s journey. In order to approach this question, Joseph Campbell’s work <em>The Hero with a Thousand Faces </em>is applied as a main source. </p><p> </p><p>Since most material concerning both the Bildungsroman and the hero’s journey are from a male point of view and concern males, the female perspective will be represented by Susan Fraiman and Linda Wagner who both write about females and the bildung narrative.</p><p> </p><p>In the section called <em>The Story of Lyra</em>, the trilogy is summarized briefly in order to give the reader a chance to understand what the trilogy is about. In the conclusion, Lyra’s development and (hero)-journey are discussed.  </p><p> </p><p>The final claim of the study is that <em>His Dark Materials</em> can be considered a Bildungsroman and the patterns of the hero journey are found in the story about Lyra, but with some differences from her male counterparts.</p>

<p>The teaching book is a very important device in schools and its potential impact can be considerable. This essay analyses how gender is established in one of the most common teaching books in upper secondary school,</p><p><em>Blueprint A. The study aims to find out if the teaching book is stereotypical concerning the issue of gender equality. The analysis is made with Halliday’s Functional Grammar Theory as theoretical approach and is compared to the guidelines of the Curriculum and the Educational Act. To fulfil the aim of this essay, three texts are analysed from a gender perspective. If the verbs are dynamic/stative, and if the subjects function as agents or not are the factors used to establish if there is a difference between how females and males are represented in the texts. The hypothesis is based on a previous study on the same teaching book but regarding another edition and course (Odén 2005). It is hypothesised that there are differences in how men and women are presented in the texts and that women are described as more stative while men are described in more dynamic terms. The conclusion of this essay is that females are established as more stative than males and therefore it can be argued that the teaching book does not satisfy the goals of the Curriculum or the Educational Act. </em></p>

No description available.

<p>Because of the many similarities between the life of George Eliot and the lives of Maggie and Tom Tulliver in <em>The Mill on The Floss,</em> Eliot’s novel has been understood as an autobiographical novel. The aim of the essay is to, by using a psychoanalytical perspective, examine if the fictional characters could be said to be engaged in an incestuous relationship even though they do not engage in a sexual relationship. Though their relationship never becomes sexual, there are factors which could support a claim that brother and sister are engaged in an non-sexual incestuous relationship.</p>

<p>Is it possible to trace differences in the syntax used in various newspapers and how these differences influence the readability? Earlier studies confirm this and show that it is possible to make a wider distinction between the languages used in for example a broadsheet compared to the language used in a tabloid. In this study, both sentence length and sentence complexity of a broadsheet and a tabloid with a similar political stance were examined in order to find out if it is possible to show differences in readability between the two newspapers.</p><p>The articles used in this study are on-line articles and have thus been taken from a search on the internet. In order to obtain adequate research material, ten articles from each newspaper have been used. Five articles from each newspaper website are news articles whereas the remaining five were taken from the culture pages. Regarding sentence length, the average of each article has been calculated. When it comes to sentence complexity, ratios of simple, complex, and compound sentences have been investigated.</p><p>The analysis revealed that it is possible to show that there are not any substantial differences in sentence length and sentence complexity between the examined newspapers. However, in contrast to the hypothesis of this study, the examined articles in the tabloid consisted of longer sentences and more complex sentence constructions which, according to earlier research, would be an indication of a more formal language which probably has an effect on readability. Since both examined newspapers are supposed to support the Conservative party, it is, with the result of this study, possible to claim that both newspapers have the same targeted audience.</p>

<p>This essay analysed how gender is established in students’ texts. The aim of the study was to find out if the students in a class in an upper secondary school were able to produce texts where female and male subjects were not influenced by prevailing gender roles. The analysis was based on Halliday’s Functional Grammar Theory. Furthermore, the results are interpreted in the light of the guidelines of the Curriculum and the Education Act. To fulfil the aim of this essay 32 texts were analysed from the extra linguistic factor of gender.</p><p>                      The linguistic factors examined were verbs (dynamic/stative, transitive/intransitive), if the subjects function as actors or not were the factors used to establish if there is a difference between how females and males are represented in the texts. Furthermore the use of adjectives, nouns and predicatives modifying the grammatical subjects were also taken in consideration in the analysis. The hypothesis was based on a previous study made on the teaching book <em>Blueprint A </em>and the results from this current study were compared to the results from that study. The study finds that in the texts examined females are established as more stative than males and because of that it is possible to draw conclusions that the teaching book can influence the student in their writing but also that school not always uphold the goals of the Curriculum and the Education Act in the issue regarding gender equality.  </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p>

<p>This essay investigated Swedish teenagers' attitudes towards Australian and British English accents. The respondents were exposed to four different accents as part of a modified version of the Matched Guise Technique. They were then asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing the accents in terms of psychological qualities, social evaluation, job suitability and likability. The results show that previous research on attitudes to accents in other countries is applicable on Swedish teenagers' and that stereotyping is an influence as well.</p>

<p>This essay is about how to achieve the course goals of English A, at upper secondary school, by using literature. The novel Go Ask Alice is targeted and a number of exercises are presented as different examples of how to achieve course goals.</p>

<p>A juxtaposition of Jane Austen's <em>Pride & Prejudice</em> and <em>Persuasion</em>. The two novels are analyzed from a Marxist theoretical perspective.</p>