In recent years, the age of additional language learning has been lowered in school education. What separates current students from the previous generation, however, is the fact that they use modern technology, such as digital games, and this can be used as a teaching strategy. Several studies show that modern technology can benefit students in their language learning, especially when it comes to vocabulary whose acquisition helps students to develop and master the four language basic skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing). The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the literature concerning the use of digital games and their characteristics in middle school in Sweden(ages 9-12), looking at the positive and negative effects game-use has on English vocabulary learning. Results from different studies indicate that the advantages of using digital games with the aim of vocabulary acquisition outweigh the disadvantages that this computer technology can cause. Using digital games together with pedagogical materials can, for example, reduce speaking stress, increase students’ interest, motivate them to language learning, and develop language learning strategies. It is nonetheless important to take the risks of modern technology into consideration, such as behaviour change or addiction, especially with young users. Overall, integrating entertainment games into educational contexts can result in effective student learning gains.

Streaming video services have been ingrained into everyday life among Swedish teens, and the media content is often considered to benefit English language learners. The present study aims to verify that elevated English language proficiency and avid consumption of online streaming media appear synchronously in upper secondary school students. This is done by gauging online streaming media habits in students enrolled in a Swedish upper secondary school using a questionnaire, and then employing Pearson correlations to investigate the strength of the relationship between this data and student scores on a provided test of receptive vocabulary. Some attention is given to the effect of subtitle language choice on the viewer, as well as giving a brief summary of extramural English. The results are that there were found to be mostly weak correlations of low significance between test scores and online streaming media-use. The discussion links the predominantly weak correlations and significance values to previous studies about frequent multitasking occurring while participants are watching audiovisual media at home. Some space is given to a suggestion on how to adapt the present methodology to upper secondary schools to enable active teachers to explore how their English learners consume audiovisual streaming media and how this may relate to language proficiency. The study concludes that more research is needed to form a more accurate view of the relationship between watching online streaming audiovisual media and improved English language proficiency, and that further investigations should be of greater magnitude and breadth in both sampling as well as what demographic data is gathered.

As a result of the increase of digitalisation in today’s society, the Swedish school system requires a certain degree of digital competence amongst teachers, affecting the foundation of how their teaching practice is structured. Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extent Swedish EFL/ESL teachers in the primary years incorporate digital tools in their teaching practice, and more specifically how – and why – they are used to facilitate learners’ vocabulary acquisition/learning. In this qualitative study, five Swedish EFL/ESL teachers in the primary years participated. The five participants work at five different schools, in three different municipalities. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of these indicate that vocabulary drills, generally given as homework, are the primary method of teaching English vocabulary to the EFL/ESL learners, requiring them to learn consciously and intentionally. Moreover, the results imply that a variation of tasks and teaching tools, as well as a frequency in exposure of content, is necessary for beneficial vocabulary acquisition/learning. Further, it is evident that digital tools have a profitable effect on learners’ motivation and consequently their learning. Finally, it is clear that what matters when incorporating digital tools is how they are used, rather than that they are used.

This study investigates the effectiveness of adopting a Creative Writing method to motivate and develop vocabulary learning in an ESL/EFL (English as a second language/English as a foreign language) context. This research also investigates the effectiveness of adapting CW as a teaching method and its approaches for facilitating vocabulary learning for upper-secondary English students. From this, we analyzed 12 empirical research from the year 2006 to 2021 by research reviewing studies on CW and synthesizing the commonalities. Our study showed promising results, which indicates that CW is a beneficial asset for teachers to increase student engagement and vocabulary acquisition for ESL/EFL learners overall that is applicable in Sweden.

Since the Covid19 pandemic there has been a rise in the use of digital platforms such as online-game based learning platforms (OGBLPs) to diversify the learning experiences of students. This paper investigates the implementation, challenges, and benefits of online game-based learning platforms for English learning of students with English as a second language (ESL) in Sweden’s upper secondary schools. We aimed to explore teachers’ experiences of students’ vocabulary acquisition and whether it is facilitated by employing OGBLPs. We also examined the benefits and challenges of using OGBLPs for vocabulary acquisition. For this purpose we employed a qualitative approach where five upper secondary school English teachers were interviewed. All data was later transcribed, where responses from the interviews were used to highlight how teachers used OGBLPs, and what they considered challenges and benefits. Overall, teachers reported positive attitudes towards the use of OGBLPs as it influences elements such as student engagement and leads to increased motivation. However, all participants of this study also claim that OGBLPs ought to be used in combination with a theme or presentation connected to curriculum content as they doubt the effectiveness of OGBLPs in vocabulary acquisition when used in isolation, as a single learning activity.

Investigations of the Swedish upper secondary school show that almost one fifth of the students struggle with low motivation. Hence, this paper concentrates on two different contexts in which increased motivation for ESL has been highlighted: contexts where songs and music are used, and extramural contexts. Nevertheless, there is a research gap in the combination of these two aspects. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the role of songs in extramural contexts regarding motivation and vocabulary acquisition. Moreover, the purpose is to investigate these contexts in the plurilingual and culturally rich country of South Africa and thereafter explore how this can be implemented in the Swedish ELL classroom. Hence, a student questionnaire and two qualitative interviews with youth leaders were used to answer the two research questions: To what extent does the use of songs in extramural contexts affect the perceived vocabulary acquisition among high school students and youth leaders in South Africa? Furthermore, how does extramural use of English songs affect the perceived motivation and joy for learning English as a second language? The results revealed a positive impact of songs in extramural contexts, where social media was the most common context, both regarding motivation and vocabulary acquisition. Nevertheless, the effects were stronger when using songs productively, and the genre that had most effect on the vocabulary was HipHop. Hence, there is much to bring into the Swedish ELL classroom from the song-based extramural contexts, which can fulfil and develop requirements from the Swedish National Curriculum.

Abstract In this study, the role-playing game Final Fantasy 7 was analysed in regards of its qualities for English language development. Areas concerning language, specifically vocabulary, and video games explored in this study were academic words, words that express time, collocations, frequency, and keywords. Other areas investigated in this study are video games in connection to the syllabus for English, students’ outside of school interests, and implications for teaching. Data from a corpus-based vocabulary analysis showed that the players of Final Fantasy 7 will encounter a rich variety of words and linguistic features. Further, the text of Final Fantasy 7 shares a lot of the same qualities with texts from English 5 and 6, concerning academic words. Although, an analysis of keywords in the game and in the school texts also showed some differences, mainly in terms of grammatical variations, which indicate that Final Fantasy 7 can function as a complement to typical school texts.

Vocabulary is a crucial component for language acquisition and EFL lessons are often dictated by the usage of textbooks and workbooks. The current study therefore aims to investigate how effective textbooks are in helping learners acquire high, mid, and low-frequency words as well as to what degree high and mid-frequency words are repeated throughout the textbooks. Additionally, the study explores the types of exercises presented in the EFL teaching materials, with a particular focus on the extent to which they promote learners' active engagement and use of the vocabulary presented. The findings suggest that EFL teaching materials could benefit from more comprehensive and systematic approaches to vocabulary instruction, which emphasize the active use and recycling of high and mid-frequency words in meaningful contexts. The present study recommends that teaching materials and EFL teachers incorporate more varied and interactive exercises that promote learners’ active engagement and use of the target vocabulary. Additionally, the study uses corpus-based methods to investigate the frequency level of text bodies compiled from EFL textbooks targeting sixth-grade pupils in Sweden. Furthermore, the accompanying workbooks are examined to establish the types of exercises pupils are exposed to through their use. In addition, the study suggests that teachers using the included teaching materials should incorporate additional vocabulary exercises in their EFL instructions to promote the repetition of words found in the textbooks.

Abstract Task-Based Language Teaching has long been a method for education in different subjects. This study investigates the use of Task-Based Language teaching regarding vocabulary acquisition in English upper secondary/high school students. Through the use of a database, multiple scientific studies and research papers on vocabulary acquisition through TBLT have been included. This study contains the results of the use of TBL through similar teaching methods with the focus on vocabulary development in the L2 classroom. The findings show that studies have different results regarding what tasks to include but present a similar conclusion regarding what method to use; TBLT. The results also show that regardless of what task is used, communication could be beneficial and even played a big role in multiple studies where it increased students vocabulary acquisition. The conclusion of our study suggests that TBLT is an efficient method for developing vocabulary acquisition in upper secondary and high school students. All research papers analysed concluded that TBL and TBLT can be used as means for motivating students which aided the task engagement, thus helping develop their vocabulary acquisition.

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