2018, Volume 12, Issue 2
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62718
2024-03-28T15:44:19ZThe many faces of online community : Images and imaginings of togetherness on Imgur
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62727
The many faces of online community : Images and imaginings of togetherness on Imgur
Martinviita, Annamari
This article discusses the meaning and function of “community” as a discourse on
the image-sharing website Imgur. The analysis shows that the community term has
many meanings and serves as a shorthand for a wide variety of social practices, and
these meanings are shaped by the experiences of social action leading to the use of
the term. Based on ethnographic data, nexus analysis provides an understanding of
how the interactions related to community on the site come to take place the way they
do. In conceiving of these interactions as mediated discourse, the article provides a
fresh approach to the long-established academic discussion on the definition of
community, suggesting a new conception of the community term as a boundary
object, which takes on various meanings and functions as it is employed in social
action. On Imgur, the community term is associated with an imagined connection to
similar others, a shared culture, and the commitment to participation required by
the intertextuality of the site content and the challenge of learning to read and create
the content that is popular on the site.
2019-02-07T10:05:27ZStakeholder beliefs in English-medium instruction for young learners in Sweden
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62726
Stakeholder beliefs in English-medium instruction for young learners in Sweden
Toth, Jeanette
While several studies have investigated English-medium instruction (EMI) or
content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in Swedish upper secondary and
tertiary education, few have investigated such programmes in Swedish primary
schools. This paper explores perceptions among staff and students about
affordances and constraints in the learning of content and languages, drawing on
data from a larger longitudinal case study of an English-Swedish bilingual primary
class during Grades 4-6. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with a
school leader, 12 teachers and 22 students as well as fieldnotes and photographs
from classroom observations. Thematic analysis of the data revealed the belief
among staff that learners acquired English naturally by being ‘forced’ to use it in
English-medium subjects taught by native speakers of English. The use of Swedish
among students in these subjects was generally seen as a potential scaffold when
communicative difficulties arose, as students who were more proficient in English
could translate and provide their classmates with explanations of difficult concepts
in Swedish. However, staff and students nonetheless voiced concerns about
students’ content learning as well as about limited development of subjec t-specific
language in Swedish, which could have implications for their future Swedish -
medium studies. Meanwhile, although multilingual students’ mother tongues were
valued by the students themselves, participants did not acknowledge them as
legitimate learning resources for use in the mainstream classroom, where only
English and Swedish were allowed to be used in interaction.
2019-02-07T09:59:52ZCan Do and Cannot Do – CEFR inspired examination and assessment in a Swedish higher education context
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62725
Can Do and Cannot Do – CEFR inspired examination and assessment in a Swedish higher education context
Baldwin, Richard; Apelgren, Britt-Marie
The focus in this paper is on the introduction and implementation of learning
outcomes based on the descriptors in the Common European Framework of
References for Languages (CEFR). It discusses reaction to the introduction by
teacher educators as well as the influence on teacher assessment practice in courses
for prospective teachers of English as a foreign language. The paper presents some
of the results from a case study concerning changes made in connection with the
Bologna process in a department of education within a university college in
Sweden. The results show that the adoption of the CEFR descriptors was contested
and had a minimal influence on assessment practice. The aim of the paper is to
explore possible reasons for the lack of influence, something that was not developed
fully in the original case study.
2019-02-07T08:10:47ZOn Uganda government’s commitment to the development and implementation of the mother tongue education policy in post-2015 era
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62719
On Uganda government’s commitment to the development and implementation of the mother tongue education policy in post-2015 era
Masaazi, Fred Masagazi; Ssentanda, Medadi E.; Ngaka, Willy
The year 2015 was set as deadline to realise the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) which were authored in 2000 by 189 states in the world. Language is at
the heart of MDGs (Barron, 2012; Romaine, 2013). Some scholars look at language
(development) as a measure and/or determinant of development (e.g. Romaine,
2013). This paper examines Uganda’s commitment to the development and
employment of mother tongues in education as a way of realising the quality of
education in Uganda. It is important to reflect on the trend and level of mother
tongue development and employment in education in Uganda to chart the way
forward for the post-2015 period. The paper draws from different studies and
reports which have focussed on mother tongue education in Uganda. This study
faults the government in many ways for failing to sustain the national initiatives
of mother tongue education, particularly in terms of poor financing and failure to
monitor the implementation of UPE and mother tongue education programmes. The
paper proposes a way forward for the realisation of a meaningful Education for All
(EFA) in form of Universal Primary Education (UPE) initiative and the mother
tongue education policy introduced in Uganda in 1997 and 2006 respectively.
2019-02-06T09:59:17Z