The following essay applies an intersectional lens to the character analysis of Jade, the main character in Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart Is a Chainsaw (2021), as it aims to introduce EFL students to the principles of the intersectional theory framework. As Jade, as a way of dealing with her reality as an abused and marginalized young part-Native American adolescent, obsessively frames her real-life experiences in a slasher movie context, the novel explores the themes of identity, marginalization, empowerment through the way Jade sees herself in relation to the Final Girl: the archetypal female protagonist featured in slasher movies. By analyzing the contrasting relationship between Jade and the concept of the Final Girl, students engage with the intersectional premise that it is the complex and dynamic interplay between Jade’s gender, race, class, and circumstances that dictates Jade’s subjectivity and inability to identify with the agentic and empowered Final Girl. As Jade ultimately transforms into her own version of a Final Girl, the essay argues that her transformation represents how a marginalized character claims her identity and becomes the protagonist of her own narrative.

Education on sustainable development and environmental awareness is becoming increasingly important with the current climate emergency. This type of education extends across all school subjects and texts of various kinds are shown to be able to help students gain new insights about the world and themselves. This essay analyzes the eco-theological and ecocritical themes found in Sheila Heti’s novel Pure Color, which was published in 2022. Furthermore, this essay illustrates how to use the novel and the ecological theories in the EFL classroom. The results show that there are noticeable spiritual and ecocritical themes in the novel as it depicts existential thoughts about the universe, God, and man’s relationship to nature.

A useful medium when teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners is authentic children’s literature. Previous research in the area has provided insight into benefits and challenges in something that could be described as ‘fiction-based teaching’. There is however little to none that is set in a Swedish classroom context.  The aim of the current study was to find how teachers in Sweden utilize children’s literature in teaching English as a foreign language in grades 1–3. The study was performed using semi structured interviews with five teachers in the central east coast of Sweden. The participants gave insight into how they use English fiction as a teaching tool, which follows the structure of the didactic questions what, how and why. The teachers’ experienced challenges in using such a medium as a teaching tool were also processed in the study. To understand and analyse the gathered data, Aidan Chambers and Lev Vygotsky’s theories about young learners were used. The main findings of the study show that processing literature via discussions between teachers and students is beneficial for language acquisition, such as vocabulary gain and comprehension. At the same time, the teachers mention challenges in using such a method, for example a lack of time and how to differentiate the teaching of EFL. The conclusion was that these findings were in line with the previous research that has been made in the area.

In this qualitative case study, the beliefs and practices regarding codeswitching in the EFL classroom are compared between selected teachers of English in upper-secondary and compulsory school (school years 7-9) from Sweden. Through semi-structured interview questions, the data were collected from six teachers from each of the respective levels of education. The interviews were conducted by the researcher on a one-to-one basis with the informants of the study. The answers showed several differences and similarities between the teachers. While both groups of teachers said that codeswitching was to varying extent necessary, the upper-secondary school teachers seemingly had a more negative view towards codeswitching in the EFL classroom. Most of the upper-secondary school teachers codeswitched when for example teaching difficult areas such as grammar by making direct comparisons to the Swedish language. The compulsory school English teachers were less negative towards the use of the L1 and often stated that codeswitching was necessary and had several uses in the EFL classroom.  According to the compulsory school English teachers, codeswitching could aid when giving complex instructions, feedback or be used to show student comprehension. When the teachers were asked about whether the guideline documents affected their choice of language in the classroom, four out of six of the upper-secondary school teachers said that their language selection was affected by the directives to varying extent. The compulsory school English teachers’ selection of language was not affected by their guideline documents, which was expected since these do not give directives regarding language selection. / I den här kvalitativa fallstudien jämförs tron ​​och bruk gällande kodväxling i engelskundervisningen mellan ett antal av gymnasieskolans engelsklärare och högstadiets engelsklärare från Sverige. Genom semistrukturerade intervjufrågor samlades data från sex lärare från respektive skolnivå. Intervjuerna utfördes av forskaren på en-till-en-basis med varje lärare som deltog i studien. Svaren visade flera skillnader och likheter mellan lärarna. Medan båda grupperna av lärare sågs att kodväxling i varierande utsträckning var nödvändigt, visade gymnasielärarna en mer negativ syn på koderna i engelskklassrummet. De flesta gymnasieskolelärare bytte kod när de exempelvis undervisade om svåra områden så som grammatik genom att göra direkta jämförelser med det svenska språket. De högstadielärarna var mindre negativa mot användningen av förstaspråket och anförde att kodbytande var nödvändiga och hade användning i engelskklassrummet. Enligt de högstadielärarna kan kodväxling hjälpa till när man ger komplexa instruktioner, återkoppling eller användas för att visa studentförståelse. När lärarna frågades om huruvida riktlinjedokumenten påverkade deras språkval i klassrummet, sade fyra av sex av gymnasieskolelärarna att deras språkval påverkades i varierande grad av direktiven. Högstadielärarnas val av språk påverkades inte av deras riktlinjer, vilket var förväntat då dessa inte nämner lärarens språkanvändning.

This essay examines Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close through an application of a theoretical framework of trauma studies, aiming to showcase the elements of personal trauma displayed in the novel. Moreover, it wishes to discern the mental and physical sufferings and working through of the trauma through a thematic analysis aimed at the concepts of loss, vicarious trauma and isolation. The study’s results indicate that trauma is inexplicably linked to the individual, demonstrating that prior trauma has a substantial impact on how one deals with more recent trauma. They also suggest that it is impossible to distinguish between first-hand trauma and second-hand trauma, instead focusing on the term vicarious trauma to describe the elements of personal trauma in a better way. Although Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a work of fiction, this essay argues that it is valid in its portraying of trauma as it showcases the complex nature of trauma and its different aspects. In terms of the pedagogical implications of trauma, the essay suggests ways in which one can utilize and address fictional works in the Swedish EFL classroom supported by suggestions articulated by the Swedish National Agency for Education. It is done by raising students’ awareness for the elements of personal trauma, while at the same time improving their all-round communicative skills enabling them to discuss these issues at length.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-10-26T15:04:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Taiane Malabarba_.pdf: 3059781 bytes, checksum: 6e2f88e38751f63f9402334673090aa4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-26T15:04:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Taiane Malabarba_.pdf: 3059781 bytes, checksum: 6e2f88e38751f63f9402334673090aa4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-15 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa investiga a prática docente em sala de aula, entendida aqui como trabalho real-concretizado. Tem-se por objetivo geral descrever como, do ponto de vista linguístico-interacional, um projeto de ensino é pilotado em face às contingências interacionais. Os dados foram gerados em uma escola de idiomas do interior do Rio Grande do Sul a partir de 10 horas-aula gravadas em vídeo com uma turma de alunos adultos no seu primeiro semestre do curso de língua inglesa. Focou-se nos momentos em que o curso do agir é alterado a partir da participação contingente de um ou mais alunos. Por participação contingente, entende-se tanto as tomadas de turno espontâneas por parte dos alunos quanto os turnos alocados previamente, mas que, de certa forma, não atendem à expectativa projetada por uma ação antecedente. Conceitos advindos do Interacionismo Sociodiscursivo (BRONCKART, 1999) e da Análise da Conversa (SACKS; SCHEGLOFF; JEFFERSON, 1974) de forma mais ampla, abarcando os campos semióticos da fala-em-interação (GOODWIN, 2013), servem de referência teórico-metodológica para a análise. Os resultados revelam um percurso recorrente no que tange à fala-em-interação em curso durante o trabalho docente: 1) projeto de ensino; 2) participação contingente; 3) alinhamento; 4) intraexpansão do projeto de ensino; 5) fechamento; e 6) projeto de ensino – entre percursos identificados em menor escala. Em conjunto, o olhar empreendido durante a análise permite compreender também o entrelaçamento constante entre o que é da ordem da fala cotidiana e o que é da ordem da fala institucional. Quanto à primeira, observou-se a presença de riso, orientações posturais mais relaxadas e traços prosódicos específicos, que parecem estar ligados ao estabelecimento de laços entre os participantes. Quanto à segunda, chamam a atenção a postura corporal mais ereta, acompanhada pela mudança significativa no volume e/ou tom de voz e aparente relutância em empregar a língua portuguesa. Esses resultados podem contribuir com as pesquisas sobre sala de aula de línguas ao desvelar as ações que envolvem momentos em que o projeto de ensino é alterado em virtude de contingências interacionais e ao propor a construção de uma linguagem que permita falar sobre o agir docente na prática. Igualmente, eles podem ser usados pelos programas de formação docente para promover reflexão e fomentar a elaboração de um repertório de práticas interacionais que possa orientar principalmente os professores em início de carreira. / This research investigates classroom teaching as a practice understood here as real-concrete work. The main objective is to describe how, from the linguistic-interactional point of view, a teaching project is enacted in face of interactional contingencies. The study draws upon transcriptions of 10 (classroom) hours of video recordings generated with a group of elementary students in a private language school setting in the Southern region of Brazil. The focus of analysis were the moments when the course of actions changes due to unexpected student participations, so understood either because they were not pre-allocated by the teacher or because they fail to meet the expectations projected by a previous action. Concepts derived from Sociodiscursive Interactionism (BRONCKART, 1999) and Conversation Analysis (SACKS; SCHEGLOFF; JEFFERSON, 1974) in a broader perspective, which views talk-in-interaction as created through several semiotic fields (GOODWIN, 2013), were used as theoretical and methodological reference in the analysis. The findings reveal a pervasive route concerning talk-in-interaction observed in the accomplishment of the work of teaching: 1) teaching project; 2) unexpected participation; 3) alignment; 4) inner-expansion of the teaching project; 5) closing; and 6) teaching project among other less frequent routes. Altogether, the analysis accomplished reveal the constant interweaving movement between ordinary and institutional talk. Concerning the former, the presence of laughter, more relaxed body postures and specific prosodic features, which seem to be linked to the establishment of rapport with the students, is noticeable. Concerning the latter, attention is drawn to more straight body posture accompanied by a significant change in voice volume and/or pitch and an apparent reluctance in using Portuguese to interact with students. Such findings may contribute to the body of language classroom research by unveiling the actions that involve moments when the teaching project is reshaped due to interactional contingencies and by proposing the construction of a language for talking about teaching practice. Likewise, they may be used in teacher education programs in order to promote reflection and support the creation of a sustainable repertoire of interactional teaching practices to be used principally by novice teachers.

This essay is focused on gender issues in the film The Kissing Booth directed by Vince Marcello and how it can be used in a Swedish EFL classroom to problematize the stereotypical portrayals of the main characters. Since film is readily available for people in the Western world, including young students, it is important to teach them to be mindful of how media content can influence people in different ways. Even though the movie challenges some gender norms at first glance, an application of the Bechdel test shows that The Kissing Booth actually strengthens the Western world's traditional representation of gender. Because gender was mostly viewed as a binary correlated to sex before, it is easy to stay within those restrictive ways when creating and depicting characters in film. However, theorists have found that gender is not innate but performative and if it is not depicted as such in mainstream media, it may uphold outdated notions of gender and prevent changes in attitudes needed for a more inclusive society. Modern events, such as the Me Too movement, also indicate that there is a need for more conversations about these issues.

Even though English should mainly be used in the EFL-classroom according to the Swedish national curriculum, some recent scholars have argued that a judicious use of the students’ L1 by the teachers in some particular situations may benefit the learning environment there. From this context, this thesis examines what research says about in what particular situations the L1 is used by teachers in upper secondary EFL-classrooms as well as the teachers’ and the students’ attitudes towards this practice. The method used was a systematic literature review, where seven articles from all across the globe were analyzed, compared and synthesized. The results show that the L1 was mainly used by the teachers when managing discipline, when explaining grammar and when teaching vocabulary. However, the articles did not conclude how the L1 could be used strategically by the teachers. Concerning the teachers’ and students’ attitudes, the majority of these were positive towards L1 use by the teacher in the above mentioned situations. However, the teachers were not aware of how the L1 could be used by them in a judicious and a strategic way. Lastly, it can be concluded that more research is needed on how the L1 can be used more strategically by the teachers as well as on the students’ perspective on this.

Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give is a young adult novel that covers controversial topics such as racism and police violence. In this essay, the concept of immersion is used to examine how the novel and its 2018 film counterpart adaptation differ in examining these topics. I claim that the film and novel versions operate through different methods of immersion. The novel mainly operates by immersion through characterization, while the film often prioritizes immersion through setting. In both cases, references are used to create immersion by grounding the novel within real historical eventhappenings and relevant contemporary discourse. Furthermore, this essay shows that highlighting factors of immersion, history, and contemporary discourse, while working with adaptation in practice, can lead to a more productive way of working with racially aware literature in the EFL classroom.

The aim of this master’s thesis was to study the portrayal of discrimination that occurs because of multiple factors in Maya Angelou’s book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The analysis has been conducted through the lens of Critical Race theory as the theory draws on the affiliation between race, racism and power. The main focal point of this essay was the intersectionality of race, gender and social class. The results of this study showed recurring events in which the characters in the book are marginalized. However, the study also showed the resilience and resistance the characters manifests in their exertion for an equal society. Additionally, this Master’s thesis addressed how the English as a Foreign Language classroom with the inclusion of Caged Bird and the usage of Critical Race pedagogy can start a development of fundamental values such as equality and gender roles whilst diminishing prejudice.