2012, Volume 6, Issue 1https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/403682024-03-28T12:23:09Z2024-03-28T12:23:09ZIf You Get Double the Time: Teaching practices in the “Swedish/English” language subject option in Swedish nine-year compulsory schoolingTholin, Jörgenhttps://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/408662018-05-17T03:34:29Z2013-02-04T12:07:39ZIf You Get Double the Time: Teaching practices in the “Swedish/English” language subject option in Swedish nine-year compulsory schooling
Tholin, Jörgen
In Swedish nine-year compulsory schooling, all students are supposed to learn English and at least one additional language, i.e., French, Spanish, or German. As a final option, extra Swedish and/or English classes, often called SvEn, are offered for students who choose not to study another language. The activities in SvEn are unregulated: there are no official instructions for the teachers, no set teaching goals (over and above those for regular Swedish and English classes), and no grading criteria, as students choosing SvEn are not graded in this language choice. This paper focuses on how 17 teachers organize their teaching of English in SvEn, basing the study on teacher interviews. It also analyses the assumptions regarding language learning that underlie their teaching practice and how these are connected to current and previous course syllabi.The analysis of the interviews demonstrates that many teachers have well-thought-out strategies for English teaching, though they are not always successful in realizing these in classroom practice. Despite the fact that the interviewed teachers say that underachieving students need more class time to succeed in their studies, many of them simultaneously describe the difficulty of filling SvEn classroom time with relevant content. None of the interviewees refers to current curricula and course syllabi. The teachers’ statements about lesson activities, and their reasons for them, fall into four categories corresponding well to the subject view that formed part of English course syllabi from the 1960s up to 1994.
2013-02-04T12:07:39ZAcquisition of French as a Second Language: Do developmental stages correlate with CEFR levels?Prodeau, MireilleLopez, SabineVéronique, Danielhttps://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/408652018-05-17T03:34:34Z2013-02-04T12:03:23ZAcquisition of French as a Second Language: Do developmental stages correlate with CEFR levels?
Prodeau, Mireille; Lopez, Sabine; Véronique, Daniel
This paper contributes to an assessment of the role of grammatical knowledge in the definition of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) levels of reference and to a discussion of the relation of the knowledge of grammar in the definition of proficiency in French as a second language. The first part is a summary of the findings about the acquisition of French morphosyntax with special emphasis on nominal and verbal groups. The second part looks at possible correlation between these results and the CEFR. The rationale is that the six levels defined in the CEFR do not imply an even split in the acquisition process or the curriculum. Some levels will take longer and require more instruction for the learner to move beyond than others. We will also argue that the sum of pragmatic and linguistic skills needed to achieve communicative success at each level makes it difficult, if not impossible, to find lexical and grammatical means that would characterize only one level.
2013-02-04T12:03:23ZThe English Pronunciation Teaching in Europe Survey: FinlandTergujeff, Elinahttps://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/406072018-05-17T03:34:27Z2012-12-21T08:06:00ZThe English Pronunciation Teaching in Europe Survey: Finland
Tergujeff, Elina
This paper reports on the findings of the English Pronunciation Teaching in Europe Survey (EPTiES), concentrating on responses from EFL teachers working in Finland (n=103). The survey was designed to gain research-based information about the state of English pronunciation teaching in European teaching contexts, and it included questions related to teacher training, teaching materials and methods, assessment of pronunciation, status of pronunciation teaching, and pronunciation model, among other things. These issues are now addressed based on the data provided by the Finnish respondents.
2012-12-21T08:06:00ZBook review: Varcasia, Cecilia (ed.). 2011. Becoming multilingual: Language learning and language policy between attitudes and identities. Oxford: Peter Lang.Carty, Nicolahttps://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/403702018-05-17T03:34:30Z2012-11-19T12:13:51ZBook review: Varcasia, Cecilia (ed.). 2011. Becoming multilingual: Language learning and language policy between attitudes and identities. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Carty, Nicola
This is a review of Becoming multilingual: Language learning and language policy between attitudes and identities (Varcasia, Cecilia (ed.). 2011)
2012-11-19T12:13:51Z“Stories from No-Man’s Land?” Situated language learning through the use of role models in the context of international Higher EducationHaines, Kevinhttps://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/403692018-05-17T03:34:33Z2012-11-19T12:06:57Z“Stories from No-Man’s Land?” Situated language learning through the use of role models in the context of international Higher Education
Haines, Kevin
This article discusses the value of role models in the language acquisition process of international students following an English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) programme in the Netherlands. Narrative interpretations of qualitative data provide insights into the identity work involved in the use of role models and the impact that this work has on the participation of learners in the ir core learning community and other communities. The article compares the use of role models in the cases of three students. These learning experiences were recorded through Language Learning Histories (Murphey, Chen & Chen: 2004), semi -structured interviews and journal entries. Analysis is grounded in the theory of situated learning, taking Communities of Practice (Wenger 1998) as the main conceptual framework. The article also draws on related perspectives from within the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), notably a heuristic understanding of Activity Theory (Lantolf & Pavlenko 2001; Ivanič 2006) and ‘person -in-context’ (Ushioda 2009). Narrative interpretations of language learning experiences are shown to provide understandings of the impact of local educational practices on learner participation in and across learning communities. These interpretations highlight the need for greater transparency and awareness of the tensions intrinsic to participation in language learning communities. These tens ions are exemplified in these three cases by the learners’ use or non -use of role models, which is of particular relevance in the broader context of their experience outside the classroom setting. Such research provides an opportunity to incorporate learner perspectives in curriculum design and evaluation.
2012-11-19T12:06:57Z