This dissertation reports on the narrated experiences of nine adult ESL learners enrolled in an Intensive English Program (IEP) as they negotiated a sense of belonging to new linguistic communities of practice outside of their home countries. In this qualitative multiple-case study, I analyzed first-person accounts of the language socialization process by which the learners’ participation in new social communities resulted in shifts in their social positionings and changes in their self-concept. In my analysis, I drew upon theoretical frameworks that view learning as a situated social practice in which individuals form new identities as a result of their (non)participation in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). In order to investigate the research problem, I conducted ethnographic forms of data collection over a six-month period. I became a participant observer in an advanced level Listening and Speaking course during one semester and conducted regular formal classroom observations. In addition to observations, I conducted individual in-depth interviews with the learners, and they participated in a photo-narrative assignment in which they documented their experiences through photography. This camera project culminated in a formal, narrative presentation to the class, which was recorded and used for analysis. The five women and four men who became the focal participants of the study were diverse in age, academic and professional ambitions, and cultural and linguistic background. The findings of the study presented in this dissertation represent my interpretive analysis of the participants’ narratives of departing their home countries and negotiating a meaningful sense of self vis-à-vis the host community as well as the various transmigrant communities that were important to them. The findings show that, through the process of L2 learning and transmigration, the participants constructed migrant identities (Block, 2007), and these identities could be both expansive and restrictive. Additionally, the findings show the ways in which these language learners were agentic in accessing L2 communities and forging attachments within them, and how these moves were designed as “answers” to how they were discursively positioned within the worlds that were important to them. / text

The aim of this study is to investigate English teachers’ communication when teaching English in grade three in Swedish schools. The investigation seeks to find out what language is, and why it is, dominant and how the proportions in the teachers’ uses of English and Swedish in time are distributed. The study also describes what attitudes teachers have to the English language and if, if so how, two categories of strategies, namely body language and code switching are used. The study was performed in two steps with different methods for collection of qualitative empirical data. The collection of the empirical data was carried out in structured observations and in structured interviews with four English teachers of whom two work in so called free and independent schools and two work in public schools. To obtain a complete picture of teachers’ English teaching the observations were conducted first to be followed by an additional interview. The results show that two of four English teachers dominantly speak English. The teachers’ motives for using English as educational language are that students need to hear the second language early to learn it. The teachers also report that code switching between Swedish and English and teaching in pupils’ levels help pupils to understand are motives for using Swedish as educational language. Several English teachers find it difficult to teach in the target language and they are therefore feeling an uncertainty in teaching English. Body language is more widely used by English teachers teaching in their second language. The English teacher, who speaks more English when teaching, use body language most frequently and teachers who have Swedish as the dominant language of instruction use code switching more often. Teachers' reasoning about the use of body language and code switching are for some knowingly and some unknowingly and is used by all respondents to illustrate and clarify. The teachers believe that there are both pros and cons of using code switching. Results also show that teachers who have worked the shortest time as an English teacher and work at free schools use English in English teaching to a greater extent than teachers who have taught English some time and work at public schools. / Syftet med forskningsstudien är att undersöka engelsklärares kommunikation vid engelskundervisning i årskurs tre i Mellansverige och att svara på frågorna vilket undervisningsspråk som är dominerande, varför det språket är dominerande, hur fördelningen mellan engelska och svenska ser ut samt hur användningen av språken ser ut i tid. Studien avser också att svara på vad lärare har för attityder till det engelska språket samt om, och i så fall hur, strategierna kroppsspråk och kodväxling används. Studien utfördes i två steg med olika metoder för insamling av kvalitativ empiri. Insamlingen av empiri utfördes genom strukturerade observationer av, samt halvstrukturerade respondentintervjuer med, fyra engelsklärare varav två arbetar vid friskolor och två är kommunalt anställda. För att få en helhetsbild av lärares engelskundervisning genomfördes observationerna först för att sedan efterföljas av en kompletterande intervju. Resultatet visar att endast två av fyra engelsklärare använder engelska som dominerande undervisningsspråk vid engelskundervisning. Flera respondenters motiv till att använda engelska som undervisningsspråk var att elever behöver höra språket från tidig ålder. Flera respondenters motiv till att använda svenska som undervisningsspråk var att översätta för att eleverna ska förstå samt för att hålla undervisningen på elevernas nivå. Många engelsklärare tycker det är svårt att undervisa på målspråket och känner därför en osäkerhet i att undervisa i engelskämnet. Kroppsspråket används i större utsträckning av engelsklärare som undervisar på andraspråket. Den engelsklärare som talar mest engelska använder kroppsspråket flitigast och de lärare som har svenska som dominerande undervisningsspråk kodväxlar mer. Lärarnas resonemang om användandet av kroppsspråk skiljer sig åt då det för vissa används medvetet och för vissa omedvetet. Kroppsspråket används av alla respondenter för att illustrera och tydliggöra någonting för eleverna. Lärarna anser att det finns både för och nackdelar med att använda kodväxling. Resultaten visar också att lärare som arbetat kortast tid som engelsklärare och arbetar på friskolor använder engelska vid engelskundervisning i högre grad än lärare som undervisat i engelska längre tid och arbetar vid kommunala skolor.

xi, 89 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / One of the fastest growing populations of students in American schools today is that of Spanish speaking English language learners. Many of these students are taught in classrooms in which Spanish is the language of instruction for the development of early literacy skills. There is a need for valid and reliable progress monitoring measures for Spanish speakers in these classrooms, as many of the current measures in use were designed for and normed on English speaking populations of students. Phonological awareness is one of the strongest predictors of success in learning to read. Therefore, the purpose of this replication study was to determine the efficacy of five independent variables: (a) Letter Sounds, (b) Syllable Sounds, (c) Phonemic Segmentation, (d) Syllable Segmentation, and (e) Grade Level to predict scores on Spanish Word Reading and Sentence Reading Fluency assessments for 41 first-grade and 41 second-grade native Spanish speaking students whose early literacy instruction was in Spanish. Correlational and multiple regression analysis showed that, of these variables, performance on a test of Syllable Sounds was the best predictor of performance on both the Word Reading Fluency and Sentence Reading Fluency tests. Results show that, for students receiving early literacy instruction in Spanish, tests of syllable sounds demonstrated the most efficacy in accounting for the variance in predicting future reading success in Spanish. / Adviser: Gerald Tindal

The purpose of this essay was to investigate how films and TV-series were used in a Swedish lower secondary school, but also the pupils’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using television media. A questionnaire was handed out to 49 pupils asking them, for example, if they thought they learned grammar from watching films. In addition two teachers were interviewed and asked questions about what they thought about using television media in their teaching and how often they used it in their teaching. The results showed that both teachers and pupils were positive towards television media. The pupils thought they learned grammar, pronunciation, improved their listening comprehension and learned new vocabulary. They also stated that a lesson based on television media was more fun than a usual lesson and something they would like to see more of . However, the pupils were doubtful whether they learned more during such a lesson than a lesson based on the textbook. Copyright problems were an issue for the two teacher and they also stated that it requires more time to plan a meaningful activity involving television media compared to the traditional teaching. However, they felt that when they took the time to plan such an activity, it was worth it and the pupils reacted in a positive way.

Este estudo investiga o sucesso no processo de bilinguismo português/japonês de seis jovens retornados do Japão. Como sucesso no bilinguismo, entendemos pelo caso em que o indivíduo, mesmo após uma longa permanência no Japão e vivência no sistema escolar japonês, tenha conseguido após o seu retorno no Brasil, manter o domínio na lingua japonesa e possuir uma proficiência linguísitica em português suficiente para seu ingresso no ensino superior brasileiro. O referencial teórico sobre bilinguismo foi baseado nos estudos de Skutnabb-Kangas (2008); Cummins (1984); Baker (1993); Nakajima (2010). Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas presenciais e online, sendo analisados os seguintes três domínios na trajetória de vida desses colaboradores que, baseados em uma auto-avaliação, foram divididos em 2 grupos bilíngues dominantes em português e bilingues dominantes em japonês : (1) ambiente linguístico no Japão (2) atitudes dos colaboradores com os estudos da L1 e L2 e (3) ambiente linguístico no Brasil. O estudo comprovou que o apoio de familiares e de terceiros constitui um fator importante na motivação dos estudos, bem como na superação de desafios surgidos na adaptação linguística e cultural. Foi também observado que os colaboradores de ambos os grupos tiveram que investir na aprendizagem da língua por um longo período para o desenvolvimento da proficiência linguística acadêmica ALP (Cummins, 2001; 2011) até o ingresso na faculdade. Em relação à rede de apoio formal, foram verificadas as seguintes ações para minimizar os problemas relacionados ao não domínio da língua japonesa no contexto de imigração no Japão: ingresso em escola pública de região com alta concentração de brasileiros, ingresso em faculdade japonesa por programa especial para retornados e ingresso em escola brasileira ações essas realizadas pelos colaboradores do grupo dominantes em português. Por outro lado, os do grupo dominantes em japonês utilizaram as seguintes medidas para facilitar a adaptação linguística e escolar no Brasil: ingresso em escola privada com curso curricular de japonês, ingresso em escola técnica e ingresso em escola pública estadual. Em ambos os grupos foi observada a frequência em cursos preparatórios pré-vestibular. Concluiu-se que o uso dessas redes de apoio formais infuenciou positivamente no desenvolvimento da ALP dos colaboradores. / The study herein aims to investigate success in the process of Portuguese/Japanese bilingualism of six youngsters returned from Japan. In our view, successful bilingualism happens in those cases in which even after a long stay in Japan along with an experience with the Japanese school system, the individual has managed to keep his mastery of the Japanese language after returning to Brazil, and be proficient enough in Portuguese so as to be admitted to Brazilian higher education. The theoretical framework on bilingualism was based on studies of Skutnabb-Kangas (2008); Cummins (1984); Baker (1993); Nakajima (2010). Both in-person and online semi-structured interviews have been conducted focusing on three aspects in the life trajectory of interviewees who, based on self-evaluation, have been divided into two groups: Portuguese-dominant bilinguals, and Japanese-dominant bilinguals: (1) linguistic environment in Japan (2) attitude of interviewees with the study of both L1 and L2; and (3) linguistic environment in Brazil. The study has proved that support both from family and others is key to generate motivation for studies, as well as to foment the overcoming of problems arising from both linguistic and cultural adaptation. It has also been observed that interviewees in both groups had to invest on language learning for a long period of time to develop academic linguistic proficiency ALP (CUMMINS, 2001; 2011) until they were admitted to college. As for the formal support network, the following actions aiming at alleviating problems concerning nonmastering of Japanese language in the context of Japanese immigration in Japan have been taken: admission to a public school in an area with a high concentration of Brazilian people; admission to a Japanese college by means of a program specially designed for returned, and admission to a Brazilian school, being all those actions taken by interviewees in the Portuguese-dominant group. On the other hand, those in the Japanese-dominant group have taken the following measures to facilitate linguistic and school adaptation in Brazil: admission to a private school with Japanese language in the syllabus, admission to a technical school, and admission to a state public school. Attendance to college entrance examination prep courses has been observed in both groups. it has been concluded that the use of those formal support networks has had a positive impact on the development of ALP of interviewees.

This dissertation is a qualitative study exploring the sociocultural influences on adult migrants’ second language learning and the communicative interaction through which they use the language. Guided by a theoretical perspective based on the concepts of life-world, habitus, social capital, symbolic honor, game, and the idea of the interrelatedness of learning and using a second language, this study aims to understand how migrants’ everyday life context, attachments to the home country, and ethnic affiliations affect the motivation for and attitude towards learning and using Swedish as a second language. Furthermore, the study explores in what way the context within which the language is taught and learned might affect the language development of adult migrants. The research questions of the study focus on both the institutional context, that is to say, what happened in a particular classroom where the study observations took place, and a migrant perspective based on the participants’ experiences of living in Sweden, learning the language and using it. Semi-structured interviews, informal conversational interviews, and classroom observations have been used as strategies to obtain qualitative data. The findings suggest that most of the participants experience feelings of non-belonging and otherness both in the classroom context and outside the classroom when they use the language. These feelings of non-belonging make the ties to other ethnic establishments stronger and lead to isolation from the majority society. The feelings of otherness, per se, are not only related to a pedagogical context that advocates monoculturalism but are also rooted in the migrants' life-world, embedded in dreams of going back to the home country, while forging a constant relation to ethnic networks, and in the practice of not using the Swedish language as frequently in the everyday life context as would be needed for their language development. / <p>ISBN 978-91-7104-591-1 (Malmö) ISBN:978-91-7519-271-0 (Linköping)</p>

This study analyses the effects of an intervention using Wendickmodellens Intensivläsning to practice word decoding. The focus was to study if this intervention could help adult L2 learners in their decoding progress. The study also investigated whether the students´ phonological knowledge increased during the intervention. Two adult students with word decoding difficulties in Swedish were identified and selected to participate in this study. One student took part in the intervention as the intervention group, and the other one participated in ordinary classroom activities, as a control group. The intervention group received decoding practice, five days a week, 20-30 minutes each time, for a total of 20 sessions during a five week period. Both students were tested before and after the intervention. The results showed that the student participating in the intervention made progress in decoding ability in each test compared to the control student. Both students increased their phonological awareness. The conclusion of this study is that decoding practice with Wendickmodellens Intensivläsning increases decoding ability.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a difference between Swedish learners of English in an at-home environment compared to Swedish learners of English who studied English abroad for a year, in their ability to distinguish between certain English phoneme. The method used to investigate was through a questionnaire where the informants had to identify words containing the sounds /z/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ and /w/. The results showed that the informants who had been abroad were more familiar with the sounds than the informants who had studied in a Swedish senior high school over the same period of time. It was found that the sound /z/ was the hardest sound to identify, followed by /ʒ/, for both groups of informants. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det är någon skillnad mellan svenska elever som lär sig engelska under ett år i klassrummet eller under ett år genom utbytesstudier, när det gäller deras förmåga att skilja mellan vissa engelska fonem. Metoden som användes var genom en enkät där informanterna fick identifiera ord som innehöll ljuden /z/, /θ/, /d/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ och /v/. Resultaten visade att informanterna som hade varit utomlands var mer bekanta med ljuden än informanterna som hade studerat vid ett svenskt gymnasium under samma tid. Det visade sig att ljudet /z/ var den svåraste ljudet att identifiera, följt av /ʒ/ för båda informantgrupperna.

The Internet has become a natural element in society and is constantly gaining ground in schools. The aim of this paper is to find out whether upper secondary school students in Sweden estimate that their Internet use affects their second language learning positively. The study was operationalized by means of a self-completion questionnaire which was distributed to 80 students from the same school. The results show that most of the informants estimated that they spend much time on the Internet in general, most often reading the news, and that they use Swedish and English to almost the same extent doing so.  The students' English use in school is estimated to be voluntary and controlled while the Internet is mostly used voluntarily for English homework. Besides engaging in information search both in school and at home, a considerable number of students estimate that translation is an activity exclusively for homework. Most students also find that they are receptive Internet users and that their general Internet use is in line with the comprehensive aims of the English subject listed in the curriculum. / Internet har blivit en naturlig del av samhället och är på ständig frammarsch i skolorna. Syftet med denna uppsats är att ta reda på om gymnasieelever i Sverige anser att användningen av internet påverkar deras andraspråksinlärning positivt. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en enkät som delades ut till 80 elever från samma skola. Resultaten visar att de flesta av de tillfrågade ansåg att de tillbringar mycket tid på Internet, främst för nyhetssökningar, och att de använder både svenska och engelska. Elevernas användning av internet på engelsklektionerna i skolan tros vara både frivillig och kontrollerad medan internet används mest frivilligt för engelskläxor. Förutom att genomföra informationssökningar både i skolan och hemma, anser ett relativt stort antal elever att översättning utförs nästan uteslutande för läxor. De flesta elever anser dessutom att de är receptiva internetanvändare och att deras allmänna internetanvändning påverkar de förmågor som de ska tillägna sig i engelska enligt läroplanen positivt.

In this paper integration and inclusion were analysed in both theory and practice to see what they mean for pupils who reqire special support or pupils who have Swedish as a second language in compulsory school. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether inclusion is the best way of reaching the goal of a school for all children. A literary study, was conducted to test this hypothesis. The literature used for this purpose includes non-fiction books, handbooks, newspaper articles, declarations, conventions, and learning and course plans. Qualitative interwiews were held whit a remedial teacher, a Swedish-as-a-second-language teacher, and a class teacher who contributed greatly to this work thoough their experiences and vast knowledge. The result showed that there is not only one solution to the problem; sevral ways of going about reaching the goal of a school for all children exist. To get even closer to presupposed goal, a school for alla children, teachers must remove obstacles in their approach so that all children feel that they are in meaningsful situations. / En analys gjordes för att ta reda på vad de tre begreppen; integrering, segregering och inkludering i teorin och i praktiken kan innebära för enskilda elever i behov av särskilt stöd och/eller elever som har svenska som andraspråk i grundskolan. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka om inkludering är den bästa vägen att gå för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn? Hypotesen prövades genom att en litteraturstudie gjordes som dessutom kompletterades med en kvalitativ undersökning bland utvalda pedagogiska specialister. Litteraturen som användes för ändamålet var, faktaböcker, handböcker, tidningsartiklar, deklaration, konvention, samt läro - och kursplaner. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med en speciallärare/specialpedagog, en svenska som andraspråkslärare och en klasslärare som genom sina erfarenheter och sitt stora kunnande bidrog stort till detta arbete. Resultatet visade att det inte finns en enda väg att gå, det finns flera vägar att gå, för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn. För att komma närmare det förutsatta målet, en skola för alla barn, måste lärare själva röja hindren i sitt förhållningssätt så att alla barn känner att de befinner sig i meningsfulla sammanhang.