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Pre-service teachers today face both challenges and opportunities as they prepare to teach English in the increasingly diverse Swedish compulsory school (Years 0-9). The present study focuses on one area especially warranting attention: differentiation. The increasing variation in English language proficiency within classrooms is due to, e.g., the degree of exposure to English outside of school, unequal extent and quality of English language instruction, and pupils’ linguistic diversity. This ongoing study stems from pre-service teachers’ expressed needs via end-of-term course evaluations, as well as an observation of the changing English classroom in Swedish schools. To address changing needs, the 7.5 hec course English Language Learning and Teaching (ELLT), one part of the course English for Primary School Teachers Years 4-6, 1B (15 hec) has been updated over the last two years after teacher students indicated that they wished for more theory and practical methods in this area.  The aim of the present study is to understand how pre-service English teachers of Years 4-6 understand the concept of differentiation and how they apply this understanding to their own planned teaching, as observed in a lesson unit planning assignment in the ELLT course. 

This study is informed by Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory, which indicates that learning takes place through interaction and communication with others in a social context. For effective learning to occur, primary pupils should be in the "Zone of Proximal Development" (ZPD) — the gap between their current developmental level, determined by independent problem-solving, and their potential developmental level, which can be reached through problem-solving with adult guidance or collaboration with more capable peers (1978).  In addition, an ecological perspective (van Lier, 2004) is utilized, focusing on how the pre-service teachers express perceived affordances and constraints in their lesson planning, as well as how contextual layers (e.g., the national curriculum or the course syllabus) may affect this planning.

The focus is on five cohorts of pre-service teachers studying the ELLT course. Using content analysis, the students’ lesson unit portfolios will be analyzed, focusing on the section of their planning in which they must indicate how they plan to work with differentiation. This analysis will further be examined in relation to the required course literature and seminar content, in order to identify what teaching materials have made an impact on the pre-service teachers’ understanding.  Preliminary results indicate that pre-service teachers rely on both traditional analogue and more innovative digital resources when planning for their work with differentiation. Their choices may reveal their own understanding of what is possible in working with mixed levels of proficiency as well as their understanding of the curricular requirements to incorporate more digitalization in compulsory school teaching. New knowledge of how and why pre-service teachers understand the essential concept of differentiation, as well as how they apply this to lesson planning are expected to be of value to Swedish teacher educators preparing students to teach English in the compulsory school.

van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Kluwer Academic.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S.Scribner & E.Souberman, Eds. & Trans.). Harvard University Press.

Title: Cross-national comparison: Appraisal analysis in action

Paper #4 in SS24 colloquium "Researching teacher attitudes and beliefs on multilingualism: A transnational comparative approach"

Abstract: 

This paper presents a study of how teachers talk about multilingualism and migrant parents across eight countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK). Here, we spotlight a cross-national comparison on how teachers use evaluative language to express their attitudes and beliefs. We have used appraisal analysis (Martin & White, 2005) for the coding of relevant linguistic expressions, as the method offers a framework for quantifying and comparing instances of evaluative language as well as for revealing ideological positions. We have concentrated on attitude (AFFECT, JUDGEMENT, and APPRECIATION) and graduation (FORCE or FOCUS), additionally coding attitude as inscribed or invoked and as positive or negative.

In the project, researchers have followed the same interview protocol. Ten interviews from each country were chosen, including teachers from both urban and rural schools, with varying levels of teaching experience, and from both highly multilingual schools and less diverse schools. Each country team conducted an appraisal analysis of the selected interviews according to a joint interrater-tested coding scheme. In our paper, we present quantitative comparisons as well as co-occurrences of coding.

Our preliminary findings indicate, e.g., that many teachers articulate normative assessments of parents’ behavior with negative JUDGEMENTS of their CAPACITY or NORMALITY, with parents judged as lacking proficiency in the majority language, as not understanding school culture, or as insistent on using their home languages. However, if parents have strong proficiency in the language of schooling, teachers see this as positive CAPACITY, which may be associated with SECURITY or INCLINATION.  Some teachers also express positive APPRECIATION towards diversity, with multilingualism deemed as WORTHWHILE. The tensions in the teachers’ talk about migrant parents, as evident in the comparative appraisal analysis of about 80 interviews, will be exemplified in our presentation. 

References:

Martin, J.R. and P.R.R. White (2005) The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, Hampshire.

First presenter:

Paulsrud, B., School of Language, Literatures and Learning, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden

Co-authors: 

Cunningham, C., School of Education, Language and Psychology, York St John University, York, UK

Jalali-Moghadam, N., Blekinge Centre of Competence, Blekinge County Council, Karlskrona, Sweden & Department of Psychiatry, Østfold Hospital Trust, Moss, Norway

Juvonen, P., Department of Swedish, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

Mary, L., Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning (INSPE), University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

Mellenius, I., Department of Language Studies, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Putjata, G., Institut für Pädagogik der Elementar- & Primarstufe, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

Reinhardt, K., Institut für Pädagogik der Elementar- & Primarstufe, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

Schalley, A. C., Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

Schwartz, M., Department of Research and Evaluation Authority, Oranim Academic College of Education, Haifa, Israel

Segev, M., Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Turkan, S., School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Yagmur, K., Department of Culture Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands

Young, A., Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning (INSPE), University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

English-medium instruction (EMI) has long been offered as an educational option in upper secondary schools and higher education in Sweden. More recently, however, EMI has increased in popularity for younger students, mainly in Years 4-9. In this presentation, I will first present EMI in Sweden, followed by the results of a small-scale study of EMI school choice (Paulsrud & Cunningham, forthcoming), focusing on the linguistic aspirations and imagined outcomes that five parents express for their children who are either just starting or just ending EMI programmes. The analysis of the parents’ motives was framed in Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment, and informed by theories of language ideologies, linguistic hierarchies, and parental aspiration. Tensions in the three key areas of investment (capital, ideology, and identity) were evident. I will then conclude the presentation with a consideration of the connections between the parental motives expressed in the interviews and the contestation concerning these schools in current media and political debates, with claims that EMI is not compatible with Swedish language or education policies, is only a money-making scheme, and hinders students’ language development in Swedish.

Ideological tensions: A study of intersections of Swedish policies affecting language in education

Education in Sweden aims to promote equity and equality, articulated in the motto “one school for all”. This presentation addresses the layers of three policies affecting language practices in the Swedish education system: the Swedish Language Act, the national curriculum, and the teacher education programmes regulated by federal guidelines. Multilingualism is officially recognised in the Language Act (Språklag 2009), which promotes and protects Swedish as well as the “language diversity in Sweden”, and stipulates that those with a mother tongue other than Swedish “are to be given the opportunity to develop and use their mother tongue”. However, the national curriculum for the compulsory school does not clearly represent Sweden’s long experience and expertise with mother tongue instruction, mother tongue study guidance, and the subject Swedish as a Second Language, despite the presence of over 140 languages in Swedish schools. Instead, a monolingual ideology for a multilingual school persists, exemplified by implicit language hierarchies and little acknowledgement of the increasing linguistic diversity in today’s schools. Vague spaces for multilingualism in the official curriculum place great responsibility on teachers as well as teacher educators. Interviews with pre-service teachers reveal that they do not feel properly prepared for teaching in the linguistically diverse classroom, indicating a deficiency in teacher education programmes. Furthermore, there is uncertainty among teacher educators concerning who is responsible for teaching about multilingualism in teacher education. Thus, tensions exist in the intersection of the Swedish Language Act, the national curriculum, and the teacher education programmes. These three policies have been investigated through policy analyses and interviews. The presentation outlines how the affordances and constraints of the policies affect the ideological and implementational spaces for language policy processes, with a consideration of the implications for multilingual practices in the Swedish compulsory school.

Swedish Language Act (2009). Språklag 2009:600.

English-medium instruction (EMI) is increasingly common in educational contexts today, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs). The focus of EMI is primarily on the disciplinary content in courses rather than on the English language as a subject. HEIs choose to offer EMI for reasons such as internationalization and marketing, as well as providing students with exposure to the English language, although explicit language goals are not often articulated. In this chapter, EMI in relation to language ideologies, policy, student and teacher perspectives, and multilingualism is presented. Using the twin lenses of “parallelingualism” and “translanguaging,” the possible challenges to linguistic hierarchies and ideologies underlying EMI in Swedish HEIs are considered. The conclusion is that giving implementational and ideological space to languages that are currently not visible - including multiple local languages - may be a move beyond the binaries implied by a call for parallelingualism in the Nordic EMI context. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Elizabeth Peterson and Kristy Beers Fägersten.

“How can I include all the pupils when their levels of English are so different?” This question was posed by a pre-service teacher following a workshop on English teaching methodology. Teachers face challenges in planning instruction that is not too demanding for pupils on a basic level, while still maintaining the interest of more advanced learners (Bell, 2012). In Sweden, this may be due to the degree of exposure to English outside of school, the extent and quality of English language instruction between schools and regions, or the pupils’ varied linguistic backgrounds. Many teachers are not equipped with skills and methods to manage mixed-ability classes (Gaitas & Martins, 2017) and may not consider pupils' different experiences, backgrounds, and interests in their instruction because they find it challenging, and thus treat pupils as a homogeneous group (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2011).

This ongoing research addresses the need to examine how we prepare in-service teachers to teach English in the increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse Swedish school through differentiation. Our focus is on the needs of pre-service teachers as well as the perspectives and practices of in-service teachers. In our presentation, we first briefly consider how pre-service teachers of Grades 4-6 (ages 10-12) have understood and applied the concept of differentiation, as seen in an analysis of their lesson planning portfolios (written during their second course addressing English language learning and teaching). We then present the preliminary results of our interview study with in-service English teachers of Grades 4-6 in three regions of Sweden. Our aim is to understand how teachers work with differentiation to manage the needs, expectations, and emotions of high- and low-proficiency English language learners. The expected outcome of the two sub-studies is new knowledge to support teacher educators and teachers in their work with creative solutions for challenging conditions. 

 Reference list

Bell, J. (2012). Teaching mixed level classes in The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Second Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Gaitas, S., & Martins, M. A. (2017). Teacher Perceived Difficulty in Implementing Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Primary School. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(5), 544-556. 

Swedish Schools Inspectorate. (2011). Engelska i grundskolans årskurser 6-9. [English in Years 6-9]. Retrieved from https://www.skolinspektionen.se, 5 October 2017. 

Pre-service teachers today face challenges and opportunities in increasingly linguistically diverse Swedish schools. The present study aims to understand how pre-service English teachers of Years 4–6 (ages 10–12) plan lessons while considering this linguistic diversity. The focus is on pre-service teachers studying a course, English Language Learning and Teaching, with an analysis of their lesson unit assignments, spotlighting multilingual perspectives in their planning. Language orientations (language-as-right, language-as-problem, and language-as-resource) form the theoretical foundation of this study. An ecological perspective is also utilized, focusing on how potential affordances for lesson planning found in contextual layers (e.g., the national curriculum or course materials) may affect their planning. The findings indicate that pre-service teachers generally employ a multilingual stance in their lesson unit planning, revealing a clear language-as-resource orientation across the cohorts studied. Furthermore, micro-level factors, such as course literature, have a more immediate impact than macro-level influences, such as the Swedish Language Act. New knowledge of how and why pre-service teachers understand multilingualism, as well as how they then plan lessons for English as a foreign language in the linguistically diverse classrooms of today, can be of value to all teacher educators.

English teacher education: Working with differentiation and multilingualism 

The aim of this discussion session is to consider the challenges and opportunities of working with English language learning and teaching (ELLT) in teacher education for the compulsory school (Years 0-9).  The rationale for the session stems from our own experiences and observations as teacher educators of ELLT, our interactions with colleagues and students, and our own research. We see a need to examine how we are preparing students to teach English in the increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse Swedish school. We plan to focus on two areas warranting discussion: differentiation and multilingualism. For each, we wish to explore best practices for our own teaching of a diverse student population as well as for how we may best prepare students for their future teaching in Swedish schools.  First, we aim to discuss how teachers can work with differentiation to manage the needs, expectations, and emotions of high and low-proficiency English language learners. Second, we will consider the role of multilingualism in ELLT, especially in light of the new emphasis on multilingualism in the 2022 Swedish curriculum for the compulsory school. Both the role of students’ linguistic resources and their understanding of how to work with multilingual pupils in the English classroom will be in focus. We anticipate an open, engaging discussion with fellow teacher educators on the challenges and opportunities regarding differentiation and multilingualism, as well as an exchange of ideas and experiences of best practices that provide strategies for addressing each area in ELLT. 

Pre-service English teachers’ understanding of multilingualism in the Swedish classroom

Pre-service teachers today face challenges and opportunities in the increasingly linguistically diverse Swedish school. The aim of the present study is to understand how pre-service English teachers of Years 4-6 (ages 10-12) understand linguistic diversity and how they plan lessons accordingly. The focus is on pre-service teachers studying a course, English Language Learning and Teaching, with an analysis of their lesson unit portfolio assignment, focusing on how they plan to work with multilingualism. Ruiz’s (1984) language orientations (language-as-right, language-as-problem, and language-as-resource) inform the study. An ecological perspective (van Lier, 2004) is also utilized, focusing on perceived affordances and constraints in lesson planning, as well as how contextual layers (e.g., the national curriculum or course syllabus) may affect their planning. New knowledge of how and why pre-service teachers understand multilingualism, as well as how they then plan lessons for English as a foreign language, can be of value to all teacher educators.

Ruiz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34. 

van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Kluwer Academic.

This chapter addresses the use of video assignments in two English courses for Swedish preservice primary school teachers (Years 4-6). These assignments have been introduced in courses designed to improve English proficiency and to develop digital competence according to the demands of Swedish educational policy. Students prepare short videos for assignments on course content and as makeup work for missed seminars. Student evaluations have confirmed the attainment of our main goals: extended student-teacher contact time, increased oral proficiency and increased digital competence for language learning. From a teacher perspective, the video assignments provide an important complement to other student work and a basis for better understanding what students know and for assessing their oral English. An added benefit is that the format is time saving for teachers, even as it requires a high level of preparation from students.

Sweden is often commended for the inclusion of home languages in the formal education system: both mother tongue instruction (where a pupil’s home language is taught as an optional school subject) and study guidance (where a pupil is given content support in their home language or prior language of schooling) are offered. Still, while many national educational policies are supportive of multilingualism, their enactment on the ground is often problematic. The attitudes and beliefs of teacher educators, in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers are crucial here, yet few studies have investigated how these key actors in Sweden perceive their encounters with linguistic diversity. Furthermore, an understanding of the similarities and differences in the perspectives across these three cohorts is lacking. We have analysed interviews with five teacher educators, five in-service teachers, and eight pre-service teachers concerning their attitudes and beliefs on multilingualism. These interviews reveal orientations towards language and language use in teacher education and primary schools. Specifically, language is seen both as a problem and as a resource. Our results uncover tensions in the expressed attitudes and beliefs about multilingualism, as well as about multilingual pre-service teachers in teacher education and multilingual pupils in the Swedish school.

Due to increased migration and mobility world-wide, educational settings are changing, with classrooms characterized by considerable diversity in students’ linguistic backgrounds. This heterogeneity poses a challenge to education and in particular to inclusive education – that is, the aim of offering quality education for all while also respecting diversity and different needs and abilities, characteristics and learning expectations (see Kugelmass, 2006). Pre-primary and primary teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge (ABK) on multilingualism are critical factors to achieving inclusive education. Teacher cognition (Borg, 2003, 2006) addresses the interplay between teachers’ ABK and the pedagogical and language developing practices in schools and classrooms. Four major factors have been identified to interactively shape and be shaped by teacher cognition: teachers’ own schooling experience, teacher education, contextual factors such as the organization of education, and classroom practices (Borg, 2003).

The present study addresses multilingualism, teacher cognition and inclusive education in Sweden, with an aim to empirically investigate attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of pre-primary and primary teachers. We employ a mixed-methods approach (semi-structured interviews and large-scale online survey), studying what shapes attitudes, beliefs and knowledge on multilingualism and which factors correlate with these.

In our presentation, we will offer an overview of our larger ongoing project, before moving to preliminary results from the first interviews. We are currently interviewing pre-primary and primary teachers, aiming for participants from varied school demographics. Our focus is on their experiences with multilingualism in the classroom as well as their insights from their own backgrounds and teacher training. Our results are expected to generate new understandings of teachers’ perceptions of classroom diversity and of children who speak languages in addition to Swedish, as well as how these perceptions are shaped and how they influence classroom practices. Thus, our study will contribute to the theoretical perspectives of teacher cognition and inclusive education.

References

Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36: 81–109.

Kugelmass, J.W. (2006). Sustaining cultures of inclusion: the value and limitations of cultural analyses. European Journal of Psychology of Education XXI(3): 279–292.

Pre-primary and primary educational settings are changing because of increased migration and mobility, with many classrooms characterized by considerable linguistic diversity. This heterogeneity poses challenges in particular to inclusive education: that is, the aim of offering quality education for all while also respecting diversity as well as different needs, abilities, characteristics and learning expectations. Pre-primary and primary teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge (ABK) of multilingualism are critical factors to achieving inclusive education. Teacher cognition addresses the interplay between teachers’ ABK and the pedagogical and language developing practices in schools and classrooms. Four major factors have previously been identified to interactively shape and be shaped by teacher cognition: teachers’ own schooling experience, teacher education, contextual factors such as the organization of education, and classroom practices. With these factors in mind, our study addresses multilingualism, teacher cognition and inclusive education in Sweden, offering an empirical investigation of pre-primary and primary teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of multilingualism. We employ a mixed-methods approach (semi-structured interviews and large-scale online survey), studying which factors correlate with these.

In this presentation, we offer an overview of our larger ongoing project, before moving to preliminary results from the first interviews with pre-primary and primary teachers from varied school demographics. Our focus is on their experiences with multilingualism in the classroom as well as their insights from their own backgrounds and teacher training. Our results are expected to generate new understandings of teachers’ perceptions of classroom diversity and of children who speak languages in addition to Swedish, as well as how these perceptions are shaped and how they influence classroom practices. Thus, our study will contribute to the theoretical perspectives of teacher cognition and inclusive education, as well as offer insights to researchers and educators beyond the Swedish context.

Swedish schools are experiencing new challenges due to increased mobility and linguistic diversity. Efforts to achieve inclusive education for all are dependent upon teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge (ABK) of multilingualism. The interplay between teachers’ ABK and the pedagogical and language-developing practices in schools is defined by four major factors interactively shaping and being shaped by teacher cognition: teachers’ own schooling experience, teacher education, contextual factors (e.g. the organization of education), and classroom practices (Borg 2003, 2006). Against this theoretical backdrop, our study investigates the ABK of multilingualism of Swedish teachers, a key issue in the nation today, as part of a larger international project that investigates what shapes teachers’ ABK of multilingualism across countries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pre-primary and primary teachers from five Swedish regions (Dalarna, Småland, Stockholm, Värmland, and Västerbotten), representing varied school demographics. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using appraisal theory (Martin & White, 2005; White 2015). Early results indicate that while teachers generally express positive views on multilingualism, echoes of a monolingual mindset are quite strong (“the language” equated with Swedish; “home country” for children born in Sweden; descriptions of a “monolingual” school as the “perfect school”). Teachers with training in language-developing practices acknowledge that mother tongue instruction supports the majority language development as well as students’ overall academic performance. Nonetheless, using all linguistic resources and acknowledging students’ multilingual identities are not common pedagogical strategies. In the school context, Swedish is considered as more important than students’ additional languages, which are often merely seen as an added value not directly relevant to the daily activities in the Swedish school system. Moreover, the findings point to a need for more extensive pre-service teacher education and professional development of teachers, on multilingualism more generally, and on related classroom practices more specifically.

In this chapter we examine language ideologies as part of a translanguaging framework in education. We begin with an overview of the concept translanguaging, from its origins as a term in bilingual education in Wales to its development in research on multilingual classrooms mainly in the North American and British contexts. From there, translanguaging has spread as both a theoretical and pedagogical concept used by researchers and educators to approach linguistically and culturally diverse environments, in and outside of the classroom. Hence, the theoretical and pedagogical objectives have emerged side by side and enhanced one another. Employing a perspective based in critical pedagogy, we present and analyze empirical studies from different educational and political contexts to illustrate how ideologies are expressed through implicit and explicit policies in the classroom. The three foci include studies of translanguaging in the early years in continental Europe, in secondary schools in Scandinavia, and in higher education in South Africa. Many studies of translanguaging present examples of classroom practices in multilingual contexts and where English is often the majority/dominant language. However, our aim is not to examine the pedagogical practices per se but rather to explore the language ideologies made visible, negotiated and challenged through translanguaging in the selected studies. With a focus on translanguaging and language ideologies in education, the ways translanguaging may resist language hierarchies and monolingual norms, and instead promote social justice, become especially relevant. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of the implications of such ideological stances in education.

In Sweden, approximately 29% of all school pupils are multilingual (SNAE, 2020) and, in some schools,close to 100% of the pupils have mother tongues other than Swedish (Norberg Brorsson & Lainio, 2015).Thus, most primary teachers meet multilingual parents in their daily work. However, in Swedish teachertraining, there are no common measures in place to prepare pre-service teachers for working with linguisticdiversity in the classroom, as this preparation is not an obligatory part of a Swedish teaching degree(Paulsrud & Zilliacus, 2018). To understand primary teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about multilingualparents and multilingualism within this somewhat contradictory context of both diversity and lack ofpreparation, we analysed interviews with primary school teachers in Years 1-3 (ages 7-9). The participatingteachers represented both urban and rural schools as well as teachers with different levels of experience. Inaddition, we included teachers working in highly multilingual schools and those not. Three teachers had amultilingual background themselves. Preliminary results reveal differences across the participants as well astensions concerning the attitudes and beliefs expressed. Although the teachers had attitudes and beliefs aboutmultilingualism and multilingual pupils, some teachers had little to say about the parents themselves.However, some early results show a distinction made by teachers between the parents’ different backgroundsand the reasons for immigrating to Sweden, hinting at linguistic and cultural hierarchies. Teachers also havesomewhat negative attitudes towards parents’ initial proficiency in the Swedish language, combined withsome appreciation of their later acquisition. Concerns are also expressed about how multilingual parents mayunderstand the Swedish school system. Our results suggest that the nearly non-existent presence ofmultilingual pedagogy in Swedish teacher training may give rise to uncertainty in how to meet multilingualparents in the Swedish school.

Our study presents a young multilingual child, here called Laura, and her perspectives on and experiences of everyday language practices using Hungarian, Finnish, and Swedish. Laura was interviewed and observed over the course of one full day in the home with her family, in order to elicit her views on her agency and linguistic repertoire. In addition, Laura’s parents were interviewed about planned and implemented family language policies, and some of the written observations and audio-recorded interactions collected by the parents since Laura’s birth were considered. The thematic analysis reveals Laura’s perspectives on people, spaces and purpose in relation to her flexible use of named and unnamed languages. Laura is keenly aware of translanguaging affordances based on interlocutor, drawing on the resources of others’ repertoires. Laura sometimes challenges her parents’ family policy but also creates her own spaces for translanguaging. Finally, Laura adapts the use of her resources according to perceived purpose, as seen in her changing language use since starting school. The study offers a unique view of how one child exercises agency, makes use of her linguistic repertoire, articulates metalinguistic awareness, and respects or resists the family language policy set forth by her parents, thus creating her own everyday translanguaging practices.

This study presents an investigation of a young multilingual child, called Laura, and her parents as they navigate language practices using Hungarian, Finnish, and Swedish in their everyday life in Sweden. The multimethod study focused on Laura’s perspectives. Our aim was to highlight a child’s “lived experience” of translanguaging as her views on and experiences of translanguaging reveal how she respects or resists the planned family language policy. First, Laura was interviewed and observed over the course of one day at home with her family. One researcher engaged Laura in play in order to elicit her views on her agency and linguistic repertoire in relation to family language policies. Second, Laura’s parents were interviewed about the implicit and explicit family language policies, and how these policies were initially constructed and then developed in their implementation over the course of the childhood of Laura and her two younger siblings. These interviews and observations were considered together with material (written observations and audio-recorded interactions) collected by the parents since Laura’s birth. The triangulation of methods offers a unique view of how one child exercises agency, makes use of her linguistic resources, articulates metalinguistic awareness, considers societal language hierarchies, and respects or resists the family language policy set forth by her parents—thus creating her own everyday translanguaging practices. Our results indicate the importance of linguistic awareness and repertoires, and suggests the potential that this multilingual child possesses for exercising agency in order to “make sense” of her multilingual world. We argue that focusing on a child’s stories of everyday translanguaging framed within her family’s language policy and practices has relevance for understanding the home, school, and societal implications of young children’s translanguaging.

This book offers a critical exploration of definitions, methodologies and ideologies of English-medium instruction (EMI), contributing to new understandings of translanguaging as theory and pedagogy across diverse contexts. It brings together a number of conceptual and empirical studies on translanguaging in EMI at different educational levels, in a variety of countries, with different approaches to translanguaging, different named languages, and different policies. These studies include several underrepresented contexts across the globe, providing a broad view of how translanguaging in EMI is understood in these educational settings. Furthermore, this book addresses the complexities of translanguaging through a discussion of the affordances and constraints associated with the use of multiple linguistic resources in the EMI classroom.

English-medium instruction (EMI) involves the teaching of academic content through the medium of Englishin contexts where it is not a majority language, thereby creating a space in which students from differentlinguistic and cultural backgrounds meet on common linguistic ground in shared learning experiences.Although EMI is often believed to be an English-only environment, the existence of multiple languages andlanguage practices are common in many such nominally English-only classrooms across the globe. Thus,the ensuing reality in EMI contexts is a plethora of de facto language policies and classroom practices thatare rarely monolingual. Translanguaging, which can be understood as a theory as well as pedagogy, offers aview of all linguistic resources as legitimate for learning. The fact that EMI and translanguaging may existside-by-side is not new. However, empirical research is key to an innovative understanding of theaffordances available for learning, communicating, building identity, dismantling language hierarchies,promoting social justice, and resisting monolingual ideologies when EMI and translanguaging are allowedto be juxtaposed.In this colloquium, we first address some of the definitions, methodologies, and ideologies involved inglobal EMI and translanguaging. Following this introduction, three individual papers focusing on empiricalstudies of EMI and translanguaging in Kazakhstan, Malawi, and Cambodia, respectively, will be presented.These studies reveal how translanguaging has been understood and approached in the various educationalcontexts with different named languages represented. Finally, our invited discussant will first providecomments on the four presentations, before we invite a full-audience discussion of the empirical studies’theoretical and pedagogical contributions to how translanguaging can be understood and applied in EMI contexts, as well as reflections regarding future directions for the research field.

2 hour colloquium

Although Sweden has historically been a multilingual society, Swedish education and teacher education have generally reflected a monolingual mindset. Furthermore, Swedish as the main instructional language in primary, secondary, and tertiary education dominates classrooms, despite pupils and teachers often having knowledge of other languages. With a monolingual orientation to education, multilingual pupils are often learning English through their second language (Swedish) and may not be allowed access to all of their linguistic resources in their schooling. Thus, there is a need to increase awareness and knowledge among pre-service teachers about how to work with multilingual pupils. One way to address this is to incorporate translanguaging as a pedagogy in the English language classroom.

While translanguaging research has shown many potential benefits, little is known about how translanguaging as addressed in teacher education is enacted in the classroom. The case study presented in this session therefore explores how translanguaging theory and pedagogy informs teaching, addressing the following questions:

· What translanguaging practices do pre-service English teachers report implementing in the Swedish Years 4-6 classroom? 

· What discourses are visible in pre-service English teachers’ perspectives on translanguaging in the Swedish Years 4-6 classroom?  

Data were collected from an online survey and semi-structured interviews with participants recruited from among two cohorts of pre-service teachers enrolled in a Swedish university’s work-study program that trains teachers for Years 4-6 teacher qualification. The cohorts in question have completed an English course in which translanguaging has been addressed in readings, seminar discussions, and tasks.

In this roundtable session, we aim to facilitate a critical discussion of how translanguaging is understood and implemented in teacher education for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. The presentation will conclude with a number of questions for further reflection, which will also serve as the basis for the discussion to follow.

This article presents a multi-site and multi-method doctoral dissertation study of English-medium instruction (EMI) in the Swedish context, focusing on perspectivesand practices in two upper secondary schools. The research explores the status of EMI, reasons schools offer EMI, beliefs about EMI, and implementation of EMI in classrooms. The educational context is studied from an ecological perspective using methods based in linguistic ethnography. The results indicate that the few Swedish schools teaching content through another language tend to offer EMI — not content and language integrated learning (CLIL). Neither language learning nor 100% English instruction are the main goals of the schools. Translanguaging is abundant, affording both pedagogic and non-pedagogic functions. The study concludes that a development of definitions and practices of both EMI and CLIL in Sweden is needed, especially in relation to language policy and language hierarchy.

Both Sweden and Finland have education systems promoting equity and equality. However, recent societal and political changes linked to increased immigration have created new challenges in efforts to support linguistic diversity. This paper aims to explore how multilingualism is represented in the national compulsory school curricula in the two contexts, using the language orientation framework: language as problem, right, or resource. The analysis reveals differences. In Finland, an explicit discourse on multilingual education exists, with an aim of integrating multilingual perspectives into the whole curriculum. In Sweden, however, the discourse is less explicit; and multilingualism as a concept is limited to minority language students. Considering language orientations in the two curricula affords an understanding of the spaces for multilingual education that are key to our possibilities as educators to promote linguistic diversity and social justice in the schools of today’s global societies. © 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Språklig mångfald i den svenska skolan ställer krav på verksamma lärare, liksom på lärarutbildare och lärarstudenter. För att undersöka synpunkter på och erfarenheter av flerspråkighetspedagogik och utforska om transpråkande får utrymme i den svenska lärarutbildningen, har vi utfört en intervjustudie med lärarutbildare och lärarstudenter. Vårt fokus är på hur studenterna förbereds inför sitt arbete med den språkliga mångfalden i dagens skola samt vilka möjligheter, alternativ begränsningar, för transspråkande finns i lärarutbildningen. Vi vill även belysa hur transspråkande kan relateras till social rättvisa och strävan efter en skola för alla. I studien har vi intervjuat femton lärarutbildare från fyra lärosäten enskilt och fjorton lärarstudenter från tre av dessa lärosäten i grupp. Vi har gjort en tematisk analys av deras svar. Målet med intervjuerna var att uppmuntra deltagarna att prata fritt om just språklig mångfald i relation till lärarutbildningen samt om deras synpunkter och erfarenheter som utbildare eller student.

Lärarutbildare och lärarstudenter uppger att de ser på den språkliga mångfalden både inom lärarutbildningen och i den svenska skolan som central i dagens undervisning. Däremot pekar deras svar åt olika möjligheter och begränsningar, vilket i sin tur avslöjar vilken plats transspråkande kan ha i lärarutbildningen. I vårt paper ska vi presentera resultat uppdelade i teman: först på hur lärarutbildare och lärarstudenter ser på språklig mångfald i lärarutbildningen och skolan, och sedan på vilken plats flerspråkighetspedagogik tar i utbildningen. I dessa teman uppdagas frågor om bland annat bristperspektiv på språk, språkhierarkier, vikten av verksamhetsförlagd utbildning samt ovisshet om vem som har ansvar för flerspråkighetspedagogik i lärarutbildningen. Vi ämnar att föra en diskussion om transspråkande i lärarutbildningen, samt om transspråkande och social rättvisa.

This paper presents part of the research collaboration Multilingual and intercultural education in Sweden and Finland (MINTED), a study of education policy and teacher education. We have examined how the concepts multilingualism and interculturality are represented, on the one hand, explicitly and implicitly in teacher education in relation to national policy, and on the other hand, in the perspectives of teacher educators and students in response to the multilingual and multicultural classroom.

In this paper, we present an empirical study of teacher educator views on the challenges and needs they face in relation to multicultural and multilingual education in their teacher training institutions. We have interviewed 29 teacher educators (14 in Finland and 15 in Sweden) at eight universities with an aim to understand the current policies and practices for supporting quality multicultural and multilingual education. Our analysis is framed by three general categories: Instructional, institutional and socio-political challenges in teacher education (Gorski, 2012), and we relate the study to our previous analyses of the national curricula for compulsory schooling in the two countries. Results indicate that educators call for greater competence in addressing diversity in the classroom, with a need for concrete encounters and experiences. Moreover, a deeper integration of multicultural and multilingual education across the institutions is needed. In our presentation, we offer examples of both challenges and strategies considered by the educators for a teacher education programme that may better serve all students. We also highlight differences between the two national contexts.

We contribute to the symposium in several ways. First, our study offers a timely investigation into current needs in teacher education. This is relevant as pre-service teachers will be facing a very different classroom than the teacher educators themselves had in their respective school contexts. As one teacher educator stated: ”We need to prepare teacher students to teach in a school that looks much different than the one they went to themselves.” Second, we offer a unique comparison of two seemingly similar but rather different contexts. Finland and Sweden are neighbouring countries with similar education policies, practices and values, yet quite different frameworks and practices. Finally, we address the implications of our study on the directions necessary for the development of teacher education and how spaces for multilingual and intercultural educational practices can be created.

Multilingualism is visible and officially recognised in Sweden and Finland. Both have education systems promoting equity and equality, articulated in the motto “one school for all”. However, recent societal and political changes linked to increased immigration have created new challenges in efforts to support linguistic diversity. Our study aims at clarifying the conceptual frameworks of multilingual education in the two contexts through an analysis of their compulsory school curricula, using Ruiz’s (1984) framework of three language orientations of language planning: language as problem, resource or right. Questions emerging from the language-as-problem orientation include how and for whom languages are considered problems, which hierarchies may be in place, and what challenges are created for minority speakers. The language-as-right orientation focuses on the right to both avoid discrimination for language use and to use one’s own language to access democracy. Finally, language-as-resource offers a more positive view on multilingualism, one in which linguistic diversity is both valued and supported as part of a pluralistic society. The material investigated includes the Swedish Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the recreation centre (2015) and the Finnish National comprehensive school curriculum (2014), as well as some supporting documents from each country. The two curricula differ in their orientations of language as problem, resource or right. Both stress the rights of minority language speakers through mother tongue support. Finland, however, has an explicit emphasis on the value and place of multilingualism in the classroom; while in Sweden, a language hierarchy is evident and a monolingual norm is prevalent. Given the common focus on providing education for all and also given Sweden’s long history of provision of mother tongue support and Swedish as a second language instruction, the different spaces for multilingual education revealed in the education policies are somewhat surprising. In our presentation, we will examine and compare examples from our analysis of the orientations and discuss how these spaces created are key to our possibilities as educators to promote linguistic diversity and social justice in the schools of today’s global societies.

Ruiz, R. (1984). Orientations in Language Planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34.

The Public Service Language Centre and Högskolan Dalarna are core partners in a two-year European Socrates Lingua funded project exploring informal and socially situated language learning for adults. The Language Café project (www.languagecafe.eu) draws on the existing and growing café culture around Europe and aims to create a network of language cafés which exist in real cafes and other publicly accessible social spaces. During this session, we will briefly outline the background to the Language Café project, report on progress to date, discuss the major challenges in setting up and sustaining a language café and present some of the support and publicity materials developed by the project. The project partners from the Public Service Language Centre in Vilnius and Högskolan Dalarna will compare examples of language cafés in Lithuania and Sweden. A presentation will follow regarding the different cultural traditions of teaching and teacher-student relationships in the different project partner countries. We will also discuss the meeting between the public and the private sector, i.e. academia and café owners, as well as between academia and the general public. Moreover, issues regarding how different methods of teaching and learning have influenced the success or failure of a language café will be presented.

In recent years, the significance of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) development has been widely recognised in foreign language education, with language teachers expected to encourage the development of ICC in their learners. The current study aims to investigate how Kazakhstani EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from English-medium schools perceive ICC and to what extent their beliefs are integrated and reflected in their reported teaching practices. Employing a questionnaire, qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 103 EFL teachers. The findings reveal that the teachers are aware of the concept of ICC and the role of teaching interculturally oriented objectives. However, the implementation of these has not yet been integrated on a regular basis in their actual teaching and thus requires greater support and promotion.

Vad kan ett språkporträtt indikera? Reflektioner från en studie om ett flerspråkigt barns identitetskonstruktion

Boglárka Straszer, Högskolan Dalarna

BethAnne Paulsrud, Högskolan Dalarna

Laura är ett flerspråkigt skolbarn som växer upp i en språkmedveten familj i en större stad i Sverige. I detta bidrag presenterar vi Lauras narrativ om sin språkliga identitet i förhållande till hennes familjs klart uttalade språkpolicy, som inkluderar majoritetsspråket svenska, ett officiellt nationellt minoritetsspråk, finska, och ett invandrarspråk, ungerska, som inte har någon specifikstatus i Sverige. Syftet med presentationen är att belysa sambandet mellan ett barns narrativ om sin språkliga repertoar och hennes upplevelser av sitt eget språkande. Som forskningsmetod används språkporträtt (Busch, 2012) i kombination med flera individuella intervjuer med Laura samt hennes föräldrar under tre års tid. Lauras deltagande i att måla språkporträtt och reflektera kring det ger förståelse för hennes identitetskonstruktion i förhållande till hennes upplevda språkliga repertoar. Eftersom materialinsamlingen ägde rum vid flera tillfällen är det intressant att se Lauras identitetskonstruktion och hur hennes sätt att förhålla sig till att måla språkporträtt förändras under den tid studien pågår. Under materialinsamlingen och analysen framträdde även frågor om själva forskningsmetoden med språkporträtt i fokus, samt vilka möjligheter och begränsningar Buschs språkporträtt erbjuder för att få förståelse för ett barns språkliga repertoar och språkande. I vår presentation kommer vi dels att redogöra för vår analys av Lauras språkporträtt över tid och dels kritiskt diskutera och reflektera över forskningsmetoden. Vi avslutar presentationen med en diskussion om de implikationer som vår studie indikerar, liksom de bidrag som denna studie ger till forskning om unga flerspråkiga barns identitetskonstruktion med språkliga repertoar och språkande i fokus.

Busch, B. (2012). The Linguistic Repertoire Revisited, Applied Linguistics (33: 5) 503–523.