The multicultural classroom is becoming more prominent in Sweden. Students from different cultures and ethnicities meet to learn in the same environment. In a changing society, the need to develop acceptance towards others is more important than ever.  Thus, in this essay, post-colonial and social influence theories have been applied to the analysis of Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred. This essay argues that by integrating post-colonial literature in the EFL- classroom, students can gain deeper intercultural knowledge and learn to understand the power of the social environment concerning its influential effects on people’s racial attitudes and prejudices.

The thesis compares methods and forms of Czech language teaching at secondary grammar school and Waldorf lycée. The first part deals with the theoretical basis of traditional and alternative education, whereas the second part focuses on their practical implementation as methods and forms of work. The observed lessons are analysed and the results of traditional and alternative approach are contrasted by a test. The aim is to ascertain whether the alternative school implements its principles into methods and forms of language teaching and whether they are more effective than the traditional ones. The thesis concludes that the alternative school implements only a few aspects of alternative education resulting in more active and engaged pupils. The results of the test imply that both schools are comparable in terms of language knowledge. KEYWORDS teaching Czech language, syntax, upper-secondary school, grammar school, waldorf lycée

In 2012, Uganda celebrated 50 years of independence. The postcolonial era in the country has been marked by political turmoil and civil wars. Uganda, like many other postcolonial states in Africa, cannot be described as an ethnically or culturally homogenous state. However, history education has globally been seen as a platform for constructing national identities in contemporary societies. At the same time, it is assumed that specific historical experiences of countries influence historical understanding. This study takes its starting point in the theories of historical consciousness and narrativity. A narrative could be viewed as a site where mobilization of ideas of the past to envisage the present and possible futures is made and hence the narrative expresses historical orientation. Through the concept of historical orientation historical consciousness can be explored, i.e. what history is viewed as significant and meaningful. The aim in the study is to explore in what ways students connect to their historical pasts.   The study explores 219 narratives of 73 Ugandan upper secondary students. Narratives elicited through written responses to three assignments. Designed to capture different approaches to history: either to start from the beginning and narrate history prospectively or to depart from the present narrating retrospectively. The colonial experience of Uganda affected the sampling in the way that students were chosen from two different regions, Central and Northern Uganda. The comparison was a way to handle the concept of ‘nation’ as a presupposed category. Narrative analysis has been used as a method to explore what the students regarded as historically significant and what patterns among the narratives that point towards particular historical orientations.   The empirical results show how different approaches to history, a prospective or a retrospective approach, influence the student narratives. For instance, valued judgments on past developments were more common with the retrospective approach. The results also show differences in evaluating past developments according to regional origin. Students from northern Uganda were generally more inclined to tell a story of decline. Also, it is argued that the student narratives were informed by a meta-narrative of Africa. It was as common to identify oneself as African as it was to identify as Ugandan.

A recent (2016) PISA survey has shown that, among Swedish youth, one in five students do not reach a basic level of reading literacy, a result mirrored that of a similar study from 2009, which suggests that Swedish schools and teachers have failed to address this issue successfully over a longer period of time. This raised the question of why this is and what possible measures could be taken to improve the situation. This study aimed to explore the topic of reading literacy in the ESL classroom. In particular it aimed to specifically research how teachers at a local school in southern Sweden individualise reading activities by assessing existing levels of reading literacy. This was achieved through semi-structured interviews with experienced teachers currently employed at the school who were asked whether or not they assess previous knowledge or skills and, if so, how. When challenged with a negative result, that is, no explicit strategies were discovered, the study took the form of a hermeneutic process in which new questions continuously arose and were explored regarding the subject of reading literacy. The guiding documents for Swedish upper secondary school were studied in order to clarify their approach toreading literacy and the assessment thereof. The conclusion of the study initially discusses the way in which the hermeneutic process has changed and challenged our perception of the topic of assessing reading literacy. Lastly, areas of improvement, and suggestions for future research on the subject, are discussed.

This essay’s aim is to investigate how Rowling uses her novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to criticize racism in her magical world and ours. A secondary aim concerns how Rowling’s critical stance creates ways to resist racism for readers in the EFL classroom. Therefore, a comparison from a Critical Race Theory (CRT) perspective is made with focus on certain sequence comparisons between the novel and the film. Teachers need to highlight problems like racism in classrooms and fantasy novels and movies are exceptional tools to raise awareness and teach critical thinking to students.

Det här är en studie om sambandet mellan matematiklärares syn på begreppet formativ bedömning och deras undervisning i gymnasieskolan. Det har genomförts intervjuer med fem matematiklärare på gymnasiet och observationer av deras matematiklektioner. Empirisk data presenteras tillsammans med teori och tidigare forskning kring formativ bedömning. Insamlad data pekar på att medverkande matematiklärare har en positiv syn på formativ bedömning även om det beskrivs som tidskrävande. Det verkar samtidigt vara mycket som ryms inom begreppet vilket förtydligas genom medverkande matematiklärares stundtals skilda sätt att applicera det i sin undervisning. En av lärarna menar att formativ bedömning ska stärka elevernas självkänsla genom uppmuntran i form av positiva kommentarer som exempelvis ”jättebra”. Samtidigt finns det medverkande lärare som istället vill framhålla formativ bedömning som detaljerad information till eleven om deras kunskapsläge och utvecklingsmöjligheter. / This is a study about mathematics teachers‟ views on the relation between formative assessment and their teaching in upper secondary school. In the study there have been five interviews with five mathematics teachers on upper secondary school and observations of their teachings. Empirical data is presented together with theory and previous research on formative assessment. Collected data indicates that participating mathematics teachers have a positive view on formative assessment even if it also is described as time consuming. It also seems as it is a wide term which clarified by the participating mathematics teachers sometimes different ways to apply it in their teaching. One of the teachers believes that formative assessment should strengthen students‟ self-esteem with positive comments like for example “well done”. At the same time there is participating teachers who emphasize formative assessment as detailed information to students about their knowledge and development.

This essay argues that Bill Konigsberg depicts the traumatic experience of being raped and the inner conflict of being a male rape survivor with harsh immediacy by implementing internal focalisation in his young adult novel The Music of What Happens (2019). Additionally, the essay argues that the novel is a useful teaching resource in the Swedish EFL classroom by discussing the pedagogical implementations. This essay conducts an analysis from a trauma theory perspective, allowing a closer scrutiny of how the protagonist is affected by trauma. Lastly, it is concluded that although broaching sexualized trauma in the EFL classroom can be triggering, the novel can in fact vicariously represent students who have undergone traumatic events and therefore validate their feelings.

This essay presents a literary analysis of the autobiography Educated (2018) by Tara Westover. The analysis examines to what extent Westover’s story conforms and subverts the genre conventions of the Bildungsroman and the autobiography. An overview of the genre constitutions is therefore provided. In addition, the essay focuses on the use of the autobiography in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Besides creating an arena for critical discussion and reflection in the Swedish upper secondary school, the autobiography may also encourage students to share their own stories. The findings show that Educated both conforms to and subverts the Bildungsroman genre. It is concluded that Westover’s autobiography challenges traditional genre conventions and may serve as a valuable tool in the EFL classroom.

The importance of explicit grammar instruction has been debated during decades within the second language acquisition discourse community. Researchers’ views on the topic are controversial, and there is still no clear answer to be found. In terms of English teacher attitudes, previous research shows no indication of a gradually decreasing interest in explicit grammar instruction in L2 or FL classrooms. Despite this, the Swedish National Agency of Education does not mention explicit grammar instruction in their official documents regarding the subject of English. Hence, this paper aims to examine if the Swedish context has an impact on in-service English teachers’ attitudes towards explicit grammar instruction. To investigate their attitudes, along with their preferred approaches to explicit grammar instruction, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five English teachers at upper secondary school. The interviews were recorded, carefully analysed and partly transcribed. The results show that all of the interviewed English teachers were positive towards explicit grammar instruction and use it in their teaching. In terms of approaches to explicit grammar instruction, all of the five teachers explained that they highlight a certain grammatical rule when they notice that many of their students have a hard time with it. It is often after a writing assignment that the grammatical difficulties are revealed and will be brought up in class. The teachers tend to explain the rule by using the whiteboard, a relevant YouTube clip or a PowerPoint. An interesting finding was that all of the teachers referred to their own experience when explaining why they use a specific approach to explicit grammar instruction, whereas none of the teachers referred to research within the field. In addition, all of the interviewed teachers expressed that the official steering documents by the Swedish National Agency of Education should mention grammar instruction more explicitly. However, they were still positive towards the official documents, because of the fact that these focus on communication. The current paper provides an indication of how English teachers in Sweden prefer to work with explicit grammar instruction, along with suggestions for further research on the topic.

This essay is a discussion about how English teachers in the Swedish school system can use Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to encourage awareness and reflection in students regarding issues of class division and its impact on society. The essay provides examples of how the contemporary Swedish society and the society depicted in Pride and Prejudice share both similarities and differences in issues regarding class division. The reader response perspective has been applied to show how teachers may use the novel to emphasize students’ reflections and responses. This, in the hope of creating rewarding discussions in the classroom that are based on the curriculum for the Swedish upper secondary school’s content of democratic values and human rights. This essay will show that Pride and Prejudice is a suitable choice of literature to use as basis for generating awareness and reflection regarding the issues of the impact of class divisions on society in the EFL classroom.