This study aims, through a critical discourse analysis (CDA), to elucidate discourses in Swedish parliamentary debates between 2019 and 2022 which relate to multilingualism in Swedish schools. Furthermore, the study aims to identify underlying language ideologies and examine the manner in which multilingual students are represented within the discourses. The results show four different discourses which all construe multilinguals and multilingualism in different ways. Permeating the first three is a dominant monolingual conception, in which other languages than the majority language are discarded or only deemed relevant in private affairs, which is reflected in part in the representation of multilingual students. Two of the identified discourses have an othering effect, where these students are represented as incompetent, linguistically and/or culturally deviant, as a burden on teachers as well as fellow students, or as victims in need of rescuing as a consequence of unsuccessful political attempts at integration. One of the discourses construes students' whole linguistic repertoires as resources for education and personal development, and students are represented as competent, curious, and in possession of valuable experience and knowledge. Despite a pluralistic shift in legislation and official policy pertaining to language and multilingualism, a monolingual norm still dominates political discourse regarding language and education in Sweden.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-194822 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Haney, Magnus |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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