Kirjoittaminen yläkoulun englannin ja ruotsin oppikirjasarjoissa

Considering recent advances in information technology (including the internet and social media), we argue that writing should be given a greater emphasis in teaching foreign languages and acknowledge that textbooks play a crucial role in what gets taught (and what not) in classrooms. The article is based on a MA thesis by the first author, and in it teaching writing is compared and contrasted in popular series of textbooks targeted at grades 7 through 9 in two foreign languages: English and Swedish. A total of 1,081 writing exercises (600 and 481, respectively) were first analyzed by type and function, and then one type of writing tasks (i.e. texts, including communicative tasks as defined in The Common European Framework) were subjected to closer scrutiny. Some main findings of the textbook analysis are reported and illustrated with exercise/task samples, and finally their implications are discussed from the perspectives of teachers and textbook authors.