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This study explores the linguistic aspirations and imagined outcomes behind the parental choice of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Swedish schools. Five parents were interviewed about factors influencing their EMI choice, e.g., impressions of the school and beliefs about language use in the school context. The analysis was framed in Darvin and Norton's model of investment (capital, ideology, and identity) and informed by theories of language ideologies, linguistic hierarchies, and parental aspiration. The findings reveal that the perceived benefits of fluency in English, high academic achievement, and calm environments interconnect with first, linguistic aspirations, as seen in the parents' investment in the assumed capital afforded by the English language; second, an ideology of the English language as connected to a better academic situation than the Swedish language; and third, an identity ascribed to their children as able to accept the challenges of instruction through another language. Tensions in the three areas of investment are evident, as parents struggle with the effects that EMI may have on their children's use and development of English and Swedish. Understanding parental motives is of interest to educators and policymakers in all contexts where EMI is offered to young learners.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.