A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.

The purpose of this work is to examine the teaching methods secondary and upper secondary teachers apply to teach grammar in the EFL classroom, as well as their perceptions about the benefits of having grammar knowledge and its benefits to students’ writing. Previous research reveals that grammar teaching is an integral part of language teaching; explicit and implicit methods along with deductive and inductive instruction are the main practices teachers use to transfer knowledge to their students. Apart from that, it is beneficial when teachers have good grammarknowledge; hence students can develop good metalinguistic awareness and writing ability. The theoretical framework is based on teacher cognition theory, as teachers’ personal experiences and knowledge affect their decisions about grammar practices in the classroom environment. A qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with six secondary and upper secondary teachers who teach English as a foreign language in different schools and municipalities in the whole of Sweden are used to conduct the current study. The results demonstrate that indeed grammar teaching is needed to teach a new language. However, factors such as age and type of groupinfluence teachers’ decisions. Above all else, teachers’ highest goal is to help students become good language users. / Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka de undervisningsmetoder högstadie- och gymnasielärare tillämpar för att undervisa i grammatik i EFL-klassrummet, samt deras uppfattningar om fördelarna med att ha grammatikkunskap och dess fördelar för elevernas skriftliga förmåga. Tidigare forskning visar att grammatikundervisning är en integrerad del av språkundervisningen; de explicita och implicita metoderna tillsammans med deduktiv och induktiv undervisning är de huvudsakliga metoder som lärare använder för att överföra kunskap till sina elever. Bortsett från det är det fördelaktigt när lärare har goda grammatiska kunskaper; därför kan eleverna utveckla en god metaspråklig medvetenhet och skriftlig förmåga i målspråket. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger på lärarkognitionsteori, eftersom lärares personliga erfarenheter och kunskaper påverkar deras beslut om grammatikpraxis i klassrumsmiljön. En kvalitativ analys av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex högstadie- och gymnasielärare som undervisar i engelska som främmande språk i olika skolor och kommuner i hela Sverige har använts för att genomföra den aktuella studien. Resultaten visar att det verkligen behövs grammatikundervisning för att undervisa ett nytt språk. Faktorer som ålder och typ av grupp påverkar dock lärares beslut. Framför allt annat är lärares högsta mål att hjälpa eleverna att bli bra språkanvändare.