I ett alltmer globaliserat samhälle har den svenska skolan utvecklats till en plats där människor med olika bakgrunder och språkliga erfarenheter möts. I den svenska skolan talas enligt Skolverket (2012) mellan 150–200 språk. Statistik från Skolverket (2022a) visar att 26 % av alla elever i grundskolan har utländsk bakgrund. Den svenska skolan har därav ett viktigt uppdrag att ge utrymme för flerspråkighet. Det är ett uppdrag som lärare i den svenska skolan kan uppfatta som svårt då de anser att de i flertal fall saknar kunskap och resurser (Fredriksson & Lindgren Eneflos, 2019). Studiens syfte är att studera hur lärare beskriver sina erfarenheter och arbetssätt i främjandet av flerspråkiga elevers språkutveckling i svenska. Studiens syfte besvaras utifrån följande forskningsfrågor:-Hur beskriver lärare sina erfarenheter av att undervisa flerspråkiga elever?-Vilka arbetssätt upplever lärare fungerar bäst för att främja flerspråkiga elevers utveckling i svenska språket? Datainsamlingen utgår ifrån en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den insamlade datan baseras på fem intervjuer. Studiens teori utgår från det sociokulturella perspektivet, med utgångspunkt i hur kunskap uppstår i interaktion med andra. Resultatet i studien visar att lärarna har positiva erfarenheter av att undervisa flerspråkiga elever. Lärarna nämner även att det finns eventuella hinder i undervisningen med flerspråkiga elever. Dessutom visar resultaten att lärare använder sig av arbetssätt som möjliggör att eleverna får lära av varandra samt använda samtliga av sina språktillgångar. Det beskrivs att lärarna lägger stor vikt vid att skapa en förförståelse hos flerspråkiga elever samt att det ser ett behov av ett ökat samarbete med studiehandledare och modersmålslärare. / In an increasingly globalized society, the Swedish school has become a melting pot of individuals with diverse backgrounds and linguistic experiences. According to Skolverket (2012) there are today between 150–200 languages spoken in the Swedish schools. Statistics from Skolverket (2022a) indicate that 26% of primary students have a foreign background. Therefore, promoting multilingualism is an essential mission for the Swedish school. However, teachers may perceive this task as challenging due to the lack of knowledge and resources necessary to support multilingual students (Fredriksson & Lindgren Eneflos, 2009). The purpose of this study is to investigate how teachers describe their experiences of teaching multilingual students in Swedish and which working methods they perceive work best to support their linguistic development. The study is answered based on the following research questions: - How do teachers describe their experiences of teaching multilingual students? - Which methods do teachers feel work best to promote multilingual students’ development in the Swedish language? The data collection is based on a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews. The collected data is based on five interviews. The sociocultural theory serves as the theoretical framework for this study. It emphasizes how knowledge is best acquired through interaction with others. The results of the study demonstrate that the teachers have positive experiences of teaching multilingual students. However, they also cite possible obstacles in teaching multilingual students. Furthermore, the results show that teachers use working methods that enable students to learn from each other and use all their language resources. It is described that the teachers attach great importance to creating an understanding among multilingual students and that there is a need for greater cooperation with study tutors and native language teachers.

The aim of this essay is to find out how well Swedish adolescents understand concrete and abstract English proverbs, if concrete proverbs are easier to understand than abstracts ones, if there are differences between boys’ and girls’ and between monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ understanding of these. In a multiple-choice questionnaire, Swedish 7th to 9th graders read 15 short stories followed by three choices. They were then asked to mark the alternative they thought best described the proverb in each sentence. The results in this study show that, generally, concrete proverbs are easier to understand than abstract ones and that proverb understanding steadily increases in adolescence. Furthermore, the difference between boys and girls as a whole was not significant, nor between monolinguals and bilinguals. However, differences between different language groups were immense.

<p>Godkännandedatum: 2016-01-10</p>

The aim with this study was to explore how English as a second language can be taught in order to reach all type of students and levels. The study was carried out in a third grade class in a specific school from Sweden that works towards inclusive education and language development. The result is based on the analysis of seven observations of English lessons, two interviews and an inquiry that the students answered. Policy documents and previous research were also analyzed. Variation of the language input was a fundamental issue of all of the research results for language learning. Student activity by language use like the pupils were active by using the language: dramatizing, singing, doing rhymes, repeating, dancing, listening, guessing, reading, writing… was observed during the study. The results showed that this way of teaching leads to an activation of all students interests and motivation. Feedback and a positive environment where the student feels welcome to speak in the second language accompanied with positive response from the teacher affects the student self-confidence, which is crucial in young language learners. In conclusion, the findings of the study showed that a positive and active teaching where the students are showered with the language is the key for a level appropriate and inclusive education.

The purpose of this work is to show howcome ACC (Augmentative and alternative communication) would be used in preschool with all the children and not just with the children who are in need of it. This study therefore has the task of comparing two different preschools, one municipal and one private, to get knowledge of educators perceptions and expectations of its work with ACC in verbal communication with the children. To conduct the survey, questionnaires were sent to the respondents. One group of informants was working at a municipal preschool, the other group is working at a Swedish church's preschool. The questionnaires were compiled to show any similarities or differences among the preschools and what these may be depended on. The results show that educators in the municipal preschool are familiar with the work of ACC and welcomes the method. The replies from the respondents in the Swedish church's preschool are however show a certain resignation because respondents say they want to use ACC but they don’t really manage to create time and opportunities. The study also shows that the work of ACC in preschool represents a solid support to all children's language development and vocabulary building, regardless of difficulties. Thus it can be concluded that ACC contributes to children are treated in an equal way in linguistic communication with adults.

The goal of the study is to examine how five preschool teachers were working with children's language development, both in their native language and in the Swedish language. The study will also examine how preschool teachers can perform their work in this area with the same quality no matter what level of knowledge they have of the different languages they encounter in their work. The study is a qualitative study and is based on the empirical of the interviews and observations of five preschool teachers in three preschools in Stockholm, Sweden. The analysis is divided into three themes; The significance of conversation, Communication with several ways of expressions and Individual way of working. In these themes we have described the different ways of work ing with language development that we encountered. The results of the study show that there are many ways, with similarities and differences, to work with children's language development. The results of the study also show that whatever knowledge the preschool teachers had in the different languages, they found ways to teach the children their language, both the Swedish language and their native language. The results also indicate that the size of the group of children could affect how the preschool teachers worked with language development.

From the point of departure of a literacy perspective the aim of this study is to, examine how preschool teachers form and stage a learning environment that facilitates the language development of preschool children. The focus of our study is to explore how preschool teachers stress the importance of the learning environment when it comes to furthering language development and to examine the literacy events staged by preschool teachers. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with four preschool teachers working in different areas of Stockholm. One of the preschools participate in a language project. The other preschools are without alignment. We have also carried out observations in preschool environments, in order to examine the possibilities for preschool children to develop their language skills. To analyse our results we have used a literacy perspective where literacyevent is a central concept. The result of our study demonstrates that preschool teachers create possibilities for preschool children to become familiar with language in many different ways. Specifically prominent is bookreading, narrative, signs and symbols. The preschool which took part in a language projekt differed from the other as this preschool worked more consciously with books and narrative to support childrens literacy competense. The environment of this preschool also stands out from the other preschools whereby the promotion of language can be observed in all parts of the environment. It was shown both in the placement of the books and in how the preschool teachers talked about the importance of the books. The result of our study shows that all preschool teachers are very conscious of how childrens language can be promoted. However, the results also brings to light that not all teachers are as conscious of this when it comes to how to promote writing in the youngest children in the preschool. The results of our interviews reveal that preschool teachers consciously work in many different ways to promote language development for preschoolers from a literacy perspective. They are, however, not aware of the term literacy in relation to written language.

The purpose of this study was to survey the significant characteristics of language development programs in selected kindergartens. These findings were then compared to the recommendations of authorities in the field.

This critical case study examines elementary school principals' perceptions of language and how those perceptions influence educational opportunities (i.e. curriculum and instruction) provided for English language learners in Southern Arizona elementary schools in two school districts. These schools have an above state average population of second language learners, high levels of student achievement according to the state letter grade and the four-hour English Language Development (ELD) block. This study draws heavily on the notion of language orientations as a conceptual model as proposed by Richard Ruiz (1984, 1994) to better comprehend the complexity of the bilingual education debate, however in this study, the focus is the four-hour ELD block from Arizona’s law ARS 15-752—English Language Education Law. Implications from the research indicate that there is limited principal mediation and inconsistent curriculum and instruction for English Language Learners in the four-hour ELD block. Recommendations for school leadership call for continued professional development on effective second language acquisition practices that are research based and not district initiated, resistance to the alternative language program and advocacy for ELLs.

Responsive parenting is characteristically child-centered and creates a climate where children's needs are met. While responsive parenting has been studies less than harsh parenting, initial evidence supports a negative relationship between responsive parenting and children's externalizing problems. The current study sought to identify mechanism by which responsive parenting reduces risk for externalizing problems in the preschool years. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate the extent to which children's language development and children's emotion regulation skills mediate the expected negative relationship between responsive parenting and children's externalizing problems. While responsive parenting was found to be negatively related to children's externalizing problems, support for mediation was not found. Results are discussed in terms of what may account for the lack of support for study hypotheses