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The aim of this study is to investigate three English as a second language (ESL) textbooks used for English 6 in Swedish upper secondary school from a postcolonial perspective, answering the following research question: Who is the implied reader, based on assumptions of the expected experiences and culture, and what and who is constructed as deviant or Other? To examine these questions, the study employs critical discourse analysis and implements strategies from multimodal analysis. The analysis is concerned with matters such as what is constructed as familiar or unfamiliar to the student, what images are chosen, and what those images convey. The study shows that the implied reader is expected to align with Western culture and experiences in two of the textbooks. In the third, the implied reader has no ethnic markers at all. Further findings show several cases where non-Western cultures are depicted as deviant, both in texts and images. Therefore, I emphasize that it is important that teachers are aware of how different cultures are depicted in the materials they choose to use in their classroom to be able to prevent reproduction of harmful stereotypes and portrayals of non- Western cultures that do not align with the fundamental values of the Swedish school.

This diploma thesis deals with the conceptual knowledge of primary school pupils about field ecosystems. In the analyzed textbooks, ecological relations are represented only to a limited extent. They are not sufficiently explained or practiced during lessons. Test questions focus on a complex understanding of field ecosystem matters; they test the extent of understanding of relationships between organisms and their environment, between different organisms, and the extent to which field ecosystems are affected by human activity. Analysis results reflect the level of the pupils' knowledge regarding field ecosystem interrelations. Test questions designed by the author of the thesis examine fourth grade primary school pupils and their understanding of relationships between organisms and their environment, as well as relationships between different organisms. Results show that pupils understand relationships between organisms and their environment better than relationships between different organisms and the effects of human activity on field ecosystems. These differences are, however, not significant. In general, the research shows that fourth grade pupils do not understand field ecosystem relationships in an entirely correct way.

I föreliggande studie söker vi, i form av en läromedelsanalys, kunskap kring hur uppgifter i åtta svenska läroböcker inom matematik för årskurs 3 karaktäriserar programmering utifrån dess kognitiva kravnivå och centrala begrepp. Den insamlade empirin analyserades kvantitativt med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. I studien tog vi hjälp utav två teoretiska ramverk – Mathematical Task Framework och Level of Demands – samt centrala begrepp inom programmering. Studiens resultat indikerar att; 1. Majoriteten av uppgifterna i läroböckerna som fokuserar på programmering ligger på en låg kognitiv kravnivå; 2. Samtliga begrepp som studien tar sin utgångspunkt i bearbetas i uppgifterna men endast åtta av 14 nämns. Studiens slutsats är att de svenska läroböcker som utgjorde underlaget för analysen håller en för låg nivå, både när det gäller begrepp och kognitiv kravnivå på uppgifterna, för att eleverna ska få möjlighet att kunna utveckla den abstrakta förståelsen som krävs för området programmering. / The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about which concepts and on which cognitive level of demand tasks in Swedish mathematical textbooks for grade 3 addresses the subject matter of programming. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a textbook analysis of eight Swedish mathematical textbooks. The collected empirical data was then quantitatively analyzed by means of a content analysis. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the Mathematical Task Framework and Level of Demands, as well as central concepts regarding programming. The results of the study indicate that; 1. The majority of tasks in the mathematical textbooks pertain to the subject matter and are on a low level of cognitive demand; 2. All central concepts regarding programming are processed in the mathematical textbooks but only eight out of 14 are mentioned. The study’s conclusion is that the tasks in Swedish mathematical textbooks that formed the basis of the analysis are deficient, both in terms of their level of cognitive demand and the prevalence of concepts pertaining to programming. We find that this is insufficient in order for students to obtain the opportunity to develop the abstract thinking necessary for understanding programming.

The purpose of this study is to examine, from a gender perspective, Utbildningsradions TV-program Hej Litteraturen! in the light of feminist literature studies conducted during the last twenty years. I want to examine if the feminist literature studies have had any impact on contemporary teaching material regarding the question of how much space in time is given to men versus women and which female authors are included in the literary canon. Hej Litteraturen! is a TV program produced in 2010 intended for high school teaching of literature history.    By conducting a content analysis in which I divide the study in a quantitative and a qualitative component, I have investigated how much space and time is given to female writers and how they are presented. My analysis draws on use Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of the gender system.    The result shows that the female authors get 37 percent of the total reference space and 42 percent of the time-space. The program has sought to describe male and female authors equally and gives them weight and relevance to the sections in a similar manner.     In conclusion, Hej Litteraturen! is a tutorial which embraces parts of the criticisms that have existed in historical literature review papers in general and literary history textbooks in particular. Hej Litteraturen! has worked on gender aspects of the program and by picking up contemporary authors as reference points for literary history in the present, the program contributes not only not only in renewing the literary canon, but also in balancing out the dominance of male writers in the history of literature. / Syftet med denna studie är att ur ett genusperspektiv granska Utbildningsradions programserie Hej Litteraturen! mot bakgrund av den feministiska litteraturforskning som bedrivits under de tjugo senaste åren.  Jag vill undersöka om forskningen har haft någon inverkan på ett nutida läromedel i frågan om hur mycket utrymme som ges till män respektive kvinnor och vilka kvinnor som ingår i kanon. Hej Litteraturen! är ett TV-program avsett för gymnasieskolans litteraturhistoriska undervisning och är producerat 2010. Genom att göra en innehållsanalys där jag delar upp undersökningen i en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ del, har jag undersökt vilket faktiskt utrymme i tid och omnämnanden som ges de kvinnliga författarna och hur de presenteras. I denna analys har jag använt Hirdmans teori om genussystemets två principer som utgångspunkt. Resultatet visar att de kvinnliga författarna får 37 procent av det totala omnämnandeutrymmet och 42 procent av tidsutrymmet. I programmet har man försökt beskriva manliga och kvinnliga författare likvärdigt och ger dem tyngd och relevans i avsnitten på ett likvärdigt sätt. Slutsatsen blir att Hej Litteraturen! är ett läromedel som tagit till sig delar av den kritik som funnits mot litteraturhistoriska översiktsverk i allmänhet och litteraturhistoriska läromedel i synnerhet. Man har arbetat med genusaspekter i programmet och genom att låta nutida författare medverka som referenspunkter för litteraturhistorien i samtiden, bidrar man inte bara till att förnya kanon, utan väger också upp den dominans av manliga författare som finns i litteraturhistorien.

This essay aims to examine if five high school textbooks represent Judaism as homogeneous or diverse. The purpose is to see if textbooks add a diverse or homogeneous view on Judaism. The methods for this essay are a qualitative content analysis and an image analysis. The results tells us that both homogeneous and heterogeneous tendencies can be found in the textbooks to a certain extent. The homogeneous tendencies can be explained as an aftereffect of the textbooks’ authors becoming limited by their schedule, amount of pages and so on. This results in a second-rate construction of how Judaism is represented and how it affects a person’s life. This homogeneity can also be explained as that the reader has to be able to get an understandable view of Judaism’s importance and uniqueness. These heterogeneous tendencies can be explained as an aftereffect of the ongoing debate on textbooks and a careful usage of the language in the books. The author has to be more thoughtful regarding where to compromise. In the end, it is the teacher that creates the diversity and it is up to him/her to evaluate the material to see what it actually says and how it affects the pupil’s view on religion. / Denna uppsats undersöker om fem läroböcker för gymnasiet porträtterar judendomen som homogen eller nyanserad. Syftet är för att se om läromedel bidrar till en nyanserad alternativt homogen syn på religionen. Vald metod för undersökningen är kvalitativ textanalys samt en bildanalys. Resultatet visar på såväl heterogena som homogena tendenser i alla läromedel, dock i mer eller mindre utsträckning. De homogena tendenserna kan bero på läroboksförfattarens begränsningar i skrivandet av ett läromedel, i form av tidsbegränsning, sidbegränsning med mera. Detta skapar en begränsad andrahandskonstruktion av hur judendomen representeras och påverkar en persons liv. Homogeniteten kan även bero på att läsaren måste få en greppbar syn på vad som ger religionen dess betydelse och särart. De heterogena tendenserna kan bero på exempelvis den pågående debatten kring läromedel samt ett mer eftertänksamt språkbruk. Författaren måste vara eftertänksam i sina kompromisser kring valet av text. Dock är det i slutändan alltid läraren som skapar nyansering och det är upp till denne att se till sitt material, hur det påverkar synen på religion hos eleven och vad materialet verkligen säger.

This essay looks at the discourses on lgbtq topics in English language teaching aimed at upper secondary schools in Sweden. The purpose is to find out how the discourses are created by analyzing a set of textbooks as well as interviewing teachers. The method employed in this study is critical discourse analysis supported by queer theoretical perspectives. Together these frameworks help to show how the social relationships that affect lgbtq people are affecting the educational setting in English. The study finds that a separate set of discourses appear to affect textbooks and teachers. The textbooks in this study appear to be affected by discourses that favor non-lgbtq people while the teachers in this study appear to be affected by discourses that favor lgbtq people.

The aim of this study is to compare two Swedish and two Maltese textbook series in mathematics in the Swedish grade 4 from a mathematical didactic perspective, focusing on how fractions is presented, such as for instance as a number, part of a whole, part of a number, division as a metaphor or a scale, and visualized. The study is based on a comparative approach in which the teaching materials analysed represents their respective countries and schools. Four questions are addressed in this study. These are: 1. What share of the problems in the analysed books covers fractions? 2. How is the subject of fractions presented in the analysed books from Sweden and Malta respectively, for instance as a number, part of a whole, part of a number, with division as metaphor or as a scale? And which is the most common? 3. How is the subject of fractions visualized and how many times does this occur in the analysed pages? 4. What similarities and differences is there regarding the presentation and visualization of the field of fractions between the textbooks analysed from Sweden and Malta? The chosen textbooks from Sweden are Koll på matematik 4A and B and Matte Eldorado 4A and B. The ones from Malta are the textbook serie Abacus for Malta Number 6, Textbook 1 and 2 and the textbook series Busy Ant Maths 6A, B and C. The theoretical framework consists of Karlsson and Kilborn`s definition of the theory ‘konkretisering’, visualizing, and the different way fractions can be presented in. The results show that the analyzed books from Sweden mainly present fractions with division as a metaphor and the visualizing was mainly through everyday connection and through both the inductive and deductive method. The textbook from Malta mainly presents fractions as a number and the visualizing was in wording through the deductive method.

The aim of the study is to analyse and compare two textbooks of Swedish in grade 4 withthe focus on how the teaching of writing is arranged in the textbooks. The comparison ismade on the basis of the analytical categories text chains, text conversations and texttypologies, which are the categories that make up a writing process. The analysis of thetext chains in the textbooks reveals which activities occur and their order in the writingprocess. Text conversations are analysed on the basis of the different focuses, anchorage,function and model, which concern the purpose and direction of the conversation. Thetext typologies are likewise analysed in terms of different direction, since a text can eitherbe text-oriented, writer-oriented or reader-oriented. The analysis shows that the writingprocess in the textbooks has many similarities. The greatest similarity is that a specifictype of text is the central field of work in every writing process. All writing processesbegin with an activity where the pupils read a model text. Both textbooks also attach greatimportance to different types of language-developing activities such as teachinggrammar, selected for its relevance in the writing of the specific type of text. All writingprocesses give the pupils knowledge in both the form and linguistic features of theparticular text type through oral text conversations and written activities. The writingprocess in both textbooks ends with an individual writing activity where the pupilsthemselves produce and revise a text in the particular text type. For the concluding activitythe textbooks differ in the suggested preparations, for instance in the arrangement of theactivity immediately connected to the concluding activity. / Studiens syfte är att analysera och jämföra två läromedel i årskurs 4 för ämnet svenska med fokus på hur skrivundervisningen är upplagd i läromedlen. Jämförelsen sker utifrån analyskategorierna textkedjor, textsamtal och texttypologier vilka är de kategorier som utgör ett skrivförlopp. Analysen av läromedlens textkedjor synliggör vilka aktiviteter som förekommer samt deras inbördes ordning i skrivförloppet. Textsamtal analyseras utifrån de olika fokusen förankring, funktion och förebild som avser samtalets syfte och inriktning. Texttypologierna analyseras även de utifrån olika inriktningar eftersom en text antingen kan vara textorienterad, skribentorienterad eller läsorienterad. Analysen visar att läromedlens skrivförlopp har många likheter. Den största likheten är att en specifik texttyp är det centrala arbetsområdet i varje skrivförlopp. Alla skrivförlopp inleds med en aktivitet där eleverna får läsa en modelltext. Båda läromedlen lägger också stor vikt vid olika typer av språkutvecklande aktiviteter så som grammatikundervisning som är utvald för sin relevans i skrivandet av den specifika texttypen. Alla skrivförlopp ger eleverna kunskaper inom både form och språkliga drag för den aktuella texttypen genom muntliga textsamtal och skriftliga aktiviteter. Skrivförloppen i båda läromedlen avslutas med en individuell skrivaktivitet där eleverna själva producerar och bearbetar en text inom den aktuella texttypen. Inför den avslutande aktiviteten skiljer sig förberedelserna åt mellan de båda läromedlen, bland annat i upplägget av den aktivitet som ligger i direkt anslutning till den avslutande aktiviteten.

The aim of the study was to compare the wording of assignments in two textbooks in Swedish with the focus on their level of linguistic difficulty. The textbooks are intended for grade 3 and grade 4 respectively. The comparison considers factors that affect the difficulty of a text, and the study is based on the following analytical categories: parts of speech, word length, compound words, sentence length, noun quota, and readability index. The results of the study indicate that the assignment descriptions in grade 4 are at a textually higher level of difficulty in five of six analytical categories, since the assignment descriptions in grade 3 can be perceived as more colloquial, with a lower readability index and a lower density of information than the textbook for grade 4. However, the analysis of compound words shows that the assignment descriptions for grade 3 contain a larger proportion of compounds; unlike the other factors, this does not suggest a textual progression from grade 3 to grade 4. Despite this discrepant result, one can observe a linguistic progression between the assignment descriptions in the textbooks based on the other categories, and from the factors that have been studied it may be assumed that the assignment descriptions in the textbook for grade 4 are at a higher level of linguistic difficulty. / Studiens syfte är att jämföra uppgiftsformuleringar i två läroböcker i svenska med fokus på deras språkliga svårighetsnivå. Läroböckerna är avsedda för årskurs 3 respektive årskurs 4. Jämförelsen sker utifrån faktorer som påverkar en texts svårighetsgrad och de analyskategorier som studien baseras på är ordklasser, ordlängd, sammansatta ord, meningslängd, nominalkvot och läsbarhetsindex. Studiens resultat tyder på att uppgiftsformuleringarna i årskurs 4 har en textuellt högre svårighetsnivå i fem av sex analyskategorier eftersom uppgiftsformuleringarna i årskurs 3 kan upplevas mer talspråkliga, har ett lägre läsbarhetsindex samt har en lägre informationstäthet jämfört med läroboken för årskurs 4. Dock visar analysen av sammansatta ord att uppgiftsformuleringarna för årskurs 3 innehåller en större andel sammansatta ord, vilket till skillnad från de övriga faktorerna inte talar för en textuell progression från årskurs 3 till årskurs 4. Trots det avvikande resultatet kan en språklig progression mellan uppgiftsformuleringarna i läroböckerna konstateras utifrån de övriga kategorierna och det kan, utifrån de faktorer som undersökts, antas att uppgiftsformuleringarna i läroboken för årskurs 4 har en högre språklig svårighetsnivå.