Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förskolans pedagoger resonerar kring betydelsen och utvecklandet av modersmålet hos barn med annat modersmål än svenska. En kvalitativ forskningsansats valdes med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Åtta pedagoger som deltog i studien bestod av förskollärare och barnskötare. Studiens resultat analyserades utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Resultatet visar att metoder som förskolans pedagoger använder är att tala på barnens modersmål och att använda digitala verktyg för att utveckla modersmålet. Miljöns utformning bestod av material som tvillingböcker samt språkhörna med alfabet på barnens modersmål för att gynna barns läs- och skrivutveckling på sitt moderrsmål. Slutsatsen är att modersmål ses som tillgång. Varierande metoder och material används som till exempel digitala verktyg, tvillingböcker, TAKK och bildstöd, samtidigt finns det utmaningar vilket är bland annat begränsad ekonomi och tidsbrist.

This is a praxis-oriented case study of written language activities in Forms 1–5 in the nine-year Swedish compulsory school. The emphasis is on pupils at risk of de­veloping reading and writing disabilities. The aim of this study is to analyse the factors underlying successful reading and writing education and the pedagogical conditions promoting re­flective didactic skills, focusing on the students’ develop­ment of reading and writing abili­ties. The praxis-oriented approach is expressed by means of working with classroom ob­servat­ions and reflective communication with the teachers. Four classes at the junior and intermedi­ate levels of the nine-year compulsory Swedish school have been studied for two years. Both the schools and the teachers have been chosen strategically. Quantita­tive and qualitative data indicate that the selected schools have special qualifications. The teachers were chosen because they have proved particu­larly successful in devel­oping reading and wri­ting abilities of their pupils, including those with docu­mented reading and writing disabilities. Reports from the National Swedish Agency for Education, as well as large inter­na­t­ional surveys, indicate that the consensus concerning reading and writing edu­cation achieved by science during the past decade has had very little impact on everyday class­room activities. One of the underlying questions is how research re­sults are suc­cessfully implemented in everyday school work. The results show that the teachers use a wide variety of methods in response to the wide variety of students´ requirements. The lessons are characterized by in­tense activity on the part of both teacher and pupils, and of a high level of interac­tivity in communi­cation, reading, writing and counting. A surprising pattern is that the teach­ers very consciously work with oral presentation in various topics and genres. This gives students with reading and writing difficulties an op­portunity to succeed. The instruction is notable for being well-structured, with a balance between form and function, a high level of challenging tasks and visibilization of individual pro­gress. The special needs education aspect of the instruction appears in the te­achers’ abilities to arrange pedagogical situations in which a wide variety of abilities can be expressed and developed. The teachers show a positive belief in their stu­dents and strive to make them successful in a social context. This study indicates the importance of a solid theoretical background, enabling the te­acher to identify the developmental stage the student is at and to adapt the instruction accordingly. Another important factor is the ability of the teacher to in­stantly see and grasp pedagogical opportunities and to interpret and utilize the diag­nostic signals in the classroom. One im­portant conclusion is that reading and writing education, in order to be successful, must be viewed in a context of lan­guage development as a whole, involving both its oral and its writ­ten aspects. This study also demonstrates that research results are perceived as more acces­si­ble and relevant by the teachers when the researchers’ focus is on applied peda­gog­ics, al­lowing theory and practical applications to interact. This opens up the possi­bility of es­tablishing and incor­porating scientific theories on learning in every­day, practical school work. / Detta är en longitudinell studie som tar sin utgångpunkt i Tjernbergs magisterstudie (Tjernberg, 2007). Detta innebär att vissa avsnitt från denna återfinns i licentiatavhandlingen, främst i de teoretiska utgångspunkterna och metodavsnittet. (Denna not tillfogades 20121201.)

Syftet med denna kunskapsöversikt är att undersöka språkets betydelse i de samhällsorienterande ämnena. För att åstadkomma detta tar vi hjälp av hur forskning belyser och hur de förmedlar ett språkutvecklande arbetssätt i so-ämnen, men även hur det förstärker elevernas språk- och kunskapsutveckling. Anledningen till att vi valde att fördjupa oss i elevers språkutveckling är främst att vi anser frågan vara relevant, då det ställs höga krav på elevers språkliga förmåga i de samhällsorienterande ämnena. Vår kunskapsöversikt kommer därmed ha fokus på hur man som lärare kan gå tillväga för att utveckla elevernas lärande inom språk och kunskapsutveckling. Med hjälp av olika databaser blev vår kunskapsöversikt komplett, vilket hjälpt oss hitta forskning med hjälp av olika vetenskapliga artiklar och referensgranskade bokkapitel. Resultatet av kunskapsöversikten visar att både språk- och kunskapsutveckling inom samhällsorienterande ämnena förstärks när eleverna får arbeta med olika modeller och metoder i undervisningen. För att en sådan utveckling ska uppnås behövs en del reflektion och en genomtänkt didaktisk planering från läraren. Forskningen har synliggjort att språkutveckling gynnar både första- och andraspråkselever.

This study's aim is to create awareness of different strategies and speaking skills used asinteraction in primary school by teachers. The study includes comparisons of previousresearchers and relative theoretical perspectives. Semi-structured interviews with threeprimary school teachers from Sweden were conducted for this study. The results revealnumerous factors such as, differences in how teachers´ experiences play a primary rolein the classroom and the time invested in the subject. An additional factor expressed byall the interviewed teachers is the involvement of Lev Vygotsky's theory integrated intheir classrooms. All three teachers were positive to the idea of working in pairs orgroups, as this develops students’ interaction with other students. However, theconclusion demonstrates the lack of previous research concerning interaction in primaryschool.

AbstractThis paper investigates the benefits of using different teaching strategies to develop EFL learners’ vocabulary and speaking skills. Undeniably, there are some learners in grades 4-6 who have difficulties to speak and to learn new vocabulary in English classroom, due to many reasons. To examine the impact of different teaching strategies, an electronic research in educational databases ERIC via EBSCO was conducted. The materials used were peer-reviewed journal articles and literature. By examining and analyzing the different articles found, its evident that English teachers often focus on writing and reading activities instead of communicative activities. Some teachers often use the first language in the classroom and learners will do as their teachers. Factors such as large classroom sizes and limitation of communication tasks can motivated learners and make them less confident in speaking and practicing English. These can be the reasons why some EFL learners do not speak and use vocabulary during the communicative activities in the classroom. Thus, this paper clarifies teaching methods and strategies that teachers can use to increase vocabulary learning and speaking in the EFL classroom. Results have shown that the theory of Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning was beneficial to include all learner in authentic communicative activities, which also created an environment that was both communicative and supportive. The communication-based learning activities, such as songs, games, stories, pair work and project work, are useful for learners, since it establishes a communicative environment. Moreover, these activities increase the EFL learners’ motivation towards speaking.

AbstractEven though developing speaking skills is the essential key to achieving proficiency in a target language, there are some pupils (grades 4-6) who do not participate in communication tasks in English classroom. Thus, the purpose of this literature overview is to investigate the reasons for the unwillingness of some young learners to speak and interact in English. In addition, a variety of effective teaching strategies will be observed and analyzed. The used methods were different electronic databases, such as ERC, ERIC and Google Scholar, to access relevant peer-reviewed journal articles to our research questions. The observed and analyzed articles showed that there are some pupils who do not interact because English teachers often focus too much on reading and writing skills rather than on speaking skills. The limitation of communication tasks and large classroom sizes are other mitigating factors. In addition, teachers often using the first language in class resulted in pupils doing the same. This contributes to a lack of motivation and confidence in speaking English for some learners. This study identifies teaching strategies and activities that can be used by the teacher to raise motivation and confidence in speaking English. Results have indicated that the use of Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory was very useful to involve every pupil in authentic communication tasks, which also provided a supportive communicative environment. Task-based and theme-based learning, such as stories, songs, games, project work and pair work is shown to be beneficial to increase pupils’ motivation towards speaking.

Denna kunskapsöversikt är skriven för att redogöra för vad forskning säger angående hur elevers matematiska språkutveckling påverkas av metoden kooperativt lärande. Den syftar också till redogörelse för hur den kooperativa undervisningsmetoden skiljer sig från den traditionella, det vill säga metoden som innebär att elever arbetar individuellt med uppgifter i en lärobok eller motsvarande.Arbetet är utfört med hjälp av publicerad forskning som behandlar ämnet. Resultatet beskriver den kooperativa lärandemetoden och jämför den med det traditionella sättet att lära sig på. Forskning redogör också för hur matematiken undervisas i klassrummet med hjälp avkommunikation och kooperativt lärande, samt hur användningen av det matematiska språketsker.Med hjälp av denna forskning har slutsatsen dragits att den kooperativa lärandemetoden harpositiv inverkan på den matematiska språkutvecklingen och att språkutvecklingen kan ske på ett enklare sätt med hjälp av kommunikation med de andra eleverna. Det matematiska språket kan utvecklas med hjälp av metoden kooperativt lärande då eleverna får större möjlighet att kommunicera och interagera med varandra på ett utvecklande sätt.

Learning rubrics are adapted to the students’ understanding, and contain a clear focus of what they are supposed to learn. Teachers’ knowledge about them seems to be limited, and assessment rubrics are a more common tool for teachers’ assessment practices (Alm, 2015).Even though the Swedish school curriculum encourages teachers to use formative assessment as an active part of their teaching, due to its beneficial factors for students learning development, studies have shown that summative assessment is a preferred practice among teachers.This paper analyzes the teachers use of learning rubrics in English as a foreign language classroom in the Swedish primary schools. The focus lays on finding out teachers experiences and beliefs about using learning rubrics as a formative assessment tool. According to theories and findings within formative assessment a certain set of criteria must be met, something which learning rubrics do. In order to fulfill this papers purpose, we combined a quantitative study that was carried out on 55 teachers, and a qualitative study that was centered around interviewing 5 teachers. Our results showed that 38 % of the 4-6 EFL teachers used a continuous formative assessment, which occurred during lessons or over a longer span of time. In regards to the use of learning rubrics only 3% used learning rubrics for a formative purpose. Results also revealed that a combination of learning rubrics, and assessment rubrics are more commonly used rather than only the use of learning rubrics in the language classroom. Through the combination of these two types of rubrics it helped in clarifying what was assessed and in what way it was assessed. It would also be used to make teachers’ arguments visible both for the students and the caretakers at home. However, if teachers do not apply the necessary adaptations to the formative process, the benefits are not obtained.

Throughout our teacher education, we have seen and felt the need for suitable literature in the English courses for upper secondary education in Sweden. Our purpose was to investigate which literature teachers in the field are using in their different courses, and with that constitute a list that can be used by teachers. Furthermore, we also investigated, among other things, which qualities the teachers are looking for when choosing suitable literature for their students and courses. Previous research has shown the significance of using literature for language and cultural development, and therefore a list as ours can contribute to aiding upper secondary teachers. To execute this research, we have chosen to use both a qualitative and quantitative method, in the form of a survey and interviews. Our results showed that all teachers are using some sort of literature for language development, and the vast majority are having difficulties finding suitable literature for their students. Moreover, the vast majority of our interviewees took a negative stand towards having an official canon, however they were open for using an unofficial canon as inspiration.

This study investigates teachers’ perceptions about the value of peer and self-assessment as tools for enhancing EFL writing in the context of upper-secondary education in Sweden. In addition, this study examines the relationship between teachers’ beliefs, knowledge of the methods, and their reported teaching practices. Based on teachers’ comments, this paper identifies the ways in which peer and self-assessment can be effectively implemented in EFL classrooms. A mixed-methods approach was used in the study. Three qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were complemented with a questionnaire survey in order to check the generality of the interview findings. Through a process of triangulation, the datasets obtained from the questionnaires and interviews were analysed and interpreted in light of theory and recent research on peer and self-assessment. Results show that these teaching and learning tools are appreciated by teachers as a way to enhance learning in relation to EFL writing. However, the investigation showed significant inconsistencies regarding teachers’ usage of the method. The results obtained showed that, in order for these practices to be effective, careful training is needed. Moreover, in order to provide proper training for their students, teachers themselves need to understand the value of the tools, and to be trained in how to effectively implement them. Therefore, the study concluded that information about peer and self-assessment should be included in teacher education and in-service training in Sweden.