In the framework of second language learning, developed in Canada in the early 2000s, identity texts were a part of a bilingual or multilingual artefacts where students produced many variants. They presented texts as written, spoken, signed,visual, musical, dramatic or multimodal forms. As a result of students’ investment in their own identities, identity texts were considered as a meaningful way to validate multilingualism by inviting students to bring their home languages into the classroom. This thesis aims to investigate the use of verbal and multimodal forms while working with identity texts in a course of Swedish for immigrants, during a monthlong project “New beginning in Sweden”, which took place in a school in the centralof Sweden. Furthermore, this thesis aims to provide students' points of view on the whole process. Combining the method of semi-structured interviews along with observational research in the Swedish for immigrants’ classroom which has identit texts in focus, the thesis tries to answer the following questions:• How was the work with both verbal and multimodal forms of identity texts carried out with the students?• What do students think about working with multimodal forms of identity texts as the second phase of working with verbal texts?• How do students feel that different ways of working with identity texts contributed to their learning of Swedish as a second language? Results of the thesis show that the whole project would have given even better outcome if students were given more time while working with multimodal identity texts. Furthermore, which the students mentioned, they would have liked to have had more freedom in the creativity process, although they do not consider working with identity texts as empowering for their language skills. On the other hand, they describe it as an interesting pause from regular lessons. Last but not least, students were not in favour of working with verbal forms of identity texts because they were not used to be allowed to use their first language while learning their second language. This might complicate their upcoming learning process.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if teachers use fiction to promote students’ empathy- and identity development. Furthermore, it investigates how much time is spent reading and to what extent teachers let their students discuss their reading experience. To answer the study’s research questions a quantitative questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was based on preconstructed questions with standardized answers. The results show that the teachers in the study often read aloud to their students and they frequently use fiction in their teaching. Discussions connected to the reading is not as common, especially after reading aloud. This corresponds well to previous research. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om lärare använder skönlitteratur för att främja elevers empati- och identitetsutveckling. Vidare undersöker den hur mycket tid som spenderas åt läsning och hur mycket lärare låter sina elever samtala om läsupplevelser. För att finna svar på studiens frågeställningar har en kvantitativ enkät använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Enkäten baserades på redan konstruerade frågeställningar med fasta svarsalternativ. Resultaten visar att lärarna i studien ofta läser högt för sina elever och ofta använder skönlitteratur i undervisningen. Samtal som kopplas till läsningen är inte lika vanligt och speciellt högläsningen verkar vara fri från efterföljande samtal vilket stämmer väl överens med vad tidigare forskning visar.

Sammandrag Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka om en implementerad språkpolicy påverkar lärares arbetssätt och bidrar till förändrade resultat på gruppnivå, vilket genomfördes i form av en fallstudie med hjälp av en kombination av strukturerade och semistrukturerade intervjufrågor. Detta kompletterades med en webbaserad enkät som gav ett bredare underlag, och stärkte studiens validitet. Studiens resultat tyder på att lärarnas arbetssätt har förändrats i takt med implementeringen av språkpolicyn och att den bidragit till en ökad måluppfyllelse på gruppnivå.