This Diploma Thesis examines how beginning teachers first grade of primary school work with textbook materials intended for educational area Man and his world. The thesis is divided into two main parts. On the theoretical part which discusses the typology of teachers, defines novice teacher and the problems that are faced by beginning teachers. Supporting the theory part consists of knowledge regarding textbook materials and textbooks, its functions, structure, roles, styles, use of teacher and teacher's level of dependence on the textbook. Work also maps the process of granting the approval clause. The practical part is based on the results of the survey, whose main objective is to see how beginning teachers to primary school used textbook materials in the planning and preparation of lessons, how often textbook materials used in the classroom and if they creates its own teaching materials. Keywords: novice teacher, textbook, textbook materials,

This thesis is concerned with the analysis of sets of German language textbooks intended for the second grade of elementary school dating from the nineties until now from the point of view of the historical development of the mediation of language culture and background. The theoretical part clarifies the terms substantial for the issue in question, it describes the historical development of language culture and background teaching, individual approaches to the mediation of language culture and background and while doing so, it follows the fundamental publications concerning the didactics of language culture and background and also crucial works regarding the analysis of textbook sets. The practical part describes the design of the research, its division to stages, the sample of the textbooks analysed and the establishing of the criteria according to which the textbooks will be analysed. On the basis of thus established criteria, nine textbook sets have been analysed. The method utilised was content and comparative analysis. The fundamental part of this thesis presents the results and the final evaluation. The objective of this thesis was to grasp the development of the mediation of language culture and background in the chosen sample of German language textbooks intended for the second grade of...

<p></p><p>This paper focuses on listening materials used in English language teaching in Sweden, especially in respect to the concept of global English. Global English could briefly be described as the linguistic, cultural, politic, and economic influence of English in the world. This influence concerns two aspects of English, namely the usage of English as a lingua franca in international communications, as well as the great range of English varieties that are used today. The purpose of this research is to study how varied listening materials are and how, when and why they are used in the classrooms. I conducted a two-part investigation to study these matters. The first part of the investigation focuses on teachers’ usage of listening materials and is based on a questionnaire handed out to five teachers. I found that the teachers varied much in their usage of listening materials. In the second part of the investigation I compare the listening materials provided by two Swedish textbooks on English, one from 1994 and one from 2003. Here I focus on the speakers’ varieties, rate of delivery, and instructions given for listening exercises. I found that both books featured a majority of speakers from the British Isles and America, and very few non-native speakers. The more recent book featured a larger degree of varieties outside the areas of Britain and the USA, as well as a larger degree of American English when dividing the varieties by the time these were spoken. RP (Received Pronunciation) and GA (General American) were also less dominating in the textbook from 2003. The rate of delivery was generally slower in the older textbook. The results from this investigation suggest that some changes seem to have occurred between the publishing of the two books. However, a focus on English as a lingua franca, where the aim is proficiency in efficient cross cultural communication rather than in the English spoken by native speakers,  does not seem to have influenced the textbooks studied here. It is difficult to appreciate whether or not changes like these have taken hold in Swedish classrooms, as teachers use many different listening materials and in many different ways.</p><p> </p>

This paper focuses on listening materials used in English language teaching in Sweden, especially in respect to the concept of global English. Global English could briefly be described as the linguistic, cultural, politic, and economic influence of English in the world. This influence concerns two aspects of English, namely the usage of English as a lingua franca in international communications, as well as the great range of English varieties that are used today. The purpose of this research is to study how varied listening materials are and how, when and why they are used in the classrooms. I conducted a two-part investigation to study these matters. The first part of the investigation focuses on teachers’ usage of listening materials and is based on a questionnaire handed out to five teachers. I found that the teachers varied much in their usage of listening materials. In the second part of the investigation I compare the listening materials provided by two Swedish textbooks on English, one from 1994 and one from 2003. Here I focus on the speakers’ varieties, rate of delivery, and instructions given for listening exercises. I found that both books featured a majority of speakers from the British Isles and America, and very few non-native speakers. The more recent book featured a larger degree of varieties outside the areas of Britain and the USA, as well as a larger degree of American English when dividing the varieties by the time these were spoken. RP (Received Pronunciation) and GA (General American) were also less dominating in the textbook from 2003. The rate of delivery was generally slower in the older textbook. The results from this investigation suggest that some changes seem to have occurred between the publishing of the two books. However, a focus on English as a lingua franca, where the aim is proficiency in efficient cross cultural communication rather than in the English spoken by native speakers,  does not seem to have influenced the textbooks studied here. It is difficult to appreciate whether or not changes like these have taken hold in Swedish classrooms, as teachers use many different listening materials and in many different ways.