Out-of-School English and the possible effect it has on Second Language Acquisition : - a study on how students with different backgrounds acquire the English language outside of school

Second language acquisition is a field that has fascinated linguists for numerous years and is a topic that is very much connected to how English teachers in Sweden try to teach the English language to the students in their classrooms. In 2009 Sundqvist examined what possible effects extramural English could have on learners' oral proficiency and their vocabulary. In her study she found out that extramural English “is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English” (Sundqvist, 2009, p. i).  In 2014, three Swedish secondary- and upper secondary school teachers started a project for the Erasmus+. These three teachers tried to create better teaching conditions and to come up with new methods for teaching English. During their investigation they noticed that students who had only been in Sweden for four years or less, seemed to get less exposed to English in their spare time than native Swedish students, which created a disadvantage for them. Since the time when these two studies were carried out, the number of immigrants has increased drastically, which creates the need for further investigation within this area of second language acquisition. In this study, I therefore investigate how much and in what way students come in contact with the English language outside of school. I also examine if there are any differences between native Swedish students versus non-native Swedish students and if so, how this might affect the students and their grades in English. The study was conducted through the use of questionnaires and through observations of different teaching situations, including the participating teachers' methods and the participating students' reactions. The results show that there are differences between native- and non-native students when it comes to extramural English activities. The results also show that these differences seem to affect the students' grades in English, in favour of the native Swedish students. The native students tend to spend more time on extramural English activities, especially in connection to the Internet and computer games, than the non-native students. These results indicate that something needs to be done in order to compensate for the non-native students' disadvantage.

Automaticity in L2 learning: Correlation between vocabulary proficiency and response time in word recognition

Automaticity (in this essay defined as short response time) and fluency in language use are closely connected to each other and some research has been conducted regarding some of the aspects involved. In fact, the notion of automaticity is still debated and many definitions and opinions on what automaticity is have been suggested (Andersson,1987, 1992, 1993, Logan, 1988, Segalowitz, 2010). One aspect that still needs more research is the correlation between vocabulary proficiency (a person’s knowledge about words and ability to use them correctly) and response time in word recognition. Therefore, the aim of this study has been to investigate this correlation using two different tests; one vocabulary size test (Paul Nation) and one lexical decision task (SuperLab) that measures both response time and accuracy. 23 Swedish students partaking in the English 7 course in upper secondary Swedish school were tested. The data were analyzed using a quantitative method where the average values and correlations from the test were used to compare the results. The correlations were calculated using Pearson’s Coefficient Correlations Calculator. The empirical study indicates that vocabulary proficiency is not strongly correlated with shorter response times in word recognition. Rather, the data indicate that L2 learners instead are sensitive to the frequency levels of the vocabulary. The accuracy (number of correct recognized words) and response times correlate with the frequency level of the tested words. This indicates that factors other than vocabulary proficiency are important for the ability to recognize words quickly.

The effects of video games on the receptive vocabulary proficiency of Swedish ESL students

Playing video games is an activity that takes up an increasing amount of children’s and adolescent’s spare time. While some previous studies have highlighted the negative aspects of video games, little research has been carried out on the linguistic learning opportunities that video games present. This study primarily investigates if Swedish second language learners of English can increase their vocabulary proficiency in English with the use of video games. In order to answer the research questions, two quantitative data elicitation methods are used: a questionnaire which aims to gather attitudinal and behavioral data, and a Vocabulary Levels Test which elicits data about the participants’ receptive vocabulary proficiency. The participants consist of 25 students at an upper secondary school in Stockholm. The results show that participants who played video games scored higher on the Vocabulary Levels Test, indicating a higher receptive vocabulary proficiency. Furthermore, the results show that participants who played moderate to frequent amounts of time performed better in the Vocabulary Levels Test than infrequent players. The results also show that video games emphasizing co-operation and communication are preferable to use for vocabulary acquisition. Additionally, the study discusses if video games could be integrated into the Swedish upper secondary school system.

La aplicación del componente pragmático funcional en un manual sueco de español publicado tras el currículo Lgy 2011

El objetivo de esta monografía es el de analizar el modo en el que un manual didáctico para la enseñanza del español en el contexto educativo sueco de bachillerato aplica y desarrolla la competencia pragmática funcional en sus propuestas didácticas. Para la realización de dicho análisis usaremos como instrumento de medida, por una parte, las actividades de simulación, escenario y role-play que propone Sánchez Sarmiento (2005), y que se dirigen a la activación de la competencia pragmática de los estudiantes de lenguas extranjeras y, por otra, los criterios de transacciones e interacciones de colaboración para el desarrollo de la competencia pragmática funcional que se recogen en el §.5 del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza, evaluación (MCER, 2002). La hipótesis de la que parte este estudio postula que el manual que analizamos (Caminando 5, Natur & Kultur, 2013), a pesar de estar compuesto de propuestas didácticas en las que se presentan el componente pragmático funcional, no enuncia de forma explícita el trabajo con ella, no conduce ni a su activación ni a su desarrollo, su frecuencia de aparición en el manual es irregular, y las actividades que forman parte de sus propuestas didácticas no proponen reflexiones metapragmáticas sobre los propios contenidos pragmáticos de la lengua. La investigación que hemos desarrollado confirma que, aunque en algunas propuestas didácticas del manual  se proponen actividades que activan y desarrollan algunos de los criterios de transacción e interacción colaborativa del MCER (2002), su tratamiento resulta poco exhaustivo y su explicitación es escasa. Sin embargo, se puede constatar que el manual representa un acercamiento a los principios metodológicos de los enfoques comunicativos y que su explotación didáctica, aunque no de forma explícita, conduce, en parte, al trabajo con algunos de los criterios pragmáticos funcionales que se proponen en el MCER (2002).

Språk och känsla : En etnologisk studie om vardagen med andraspråk

Languages are a central aspect of communication, and also strongly related to ideas about belonging and identity. Language is a necessary knowledge to speak, act and make connections with other people, and also seen as an essential aspect of integration. However, as languages are connected to resilient norms in society, there are ideas of “good” and “bad” language use. This study examines migrated academic individuals and their use of acquired Swedish, to see how their language use is experienced as a communication tool and as a marker of inclusion. To live with a second language is different from learning it. A phenomenological perspective is applied to explore the lifeworlds of the individuals, to see how language use and its consequences are embodied and resulting in emotions and strategies. This is done by interviews and observations combined with language portraits and language diaries. The study shows that language is done by languaging (språkande), understood as an action of making language. The making of language includes a range of communicative elements and also the experiences, strategies and emotions that the language experiences result in. With the concept of languaging, the focal point is how language is made meaningful, as a tool that you communicate with, as well as live with.

Verbal contents of repetitions in Swedish child-directed speech

Repetitions in child-directed speech (CDS) have been shown to vary over time, and are suggested to affect first language acquisition. Correlations between verbal contents of repetitions in CDS and children’s language development have been suggested. The verbal contents of repetitions in Swedish CDS have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the verbal contents of repetitions in Swedish CDS during the child’s first 2 years and possible changes in proportions of repetitions during the same time span. Verbal contents of repetitions in parents’ speech in 10 parent-child dyads as the children were 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 months old were investigated focusing on word classes, sentence types and whole-constituent change. The results were compared to the children’s productive vocabularies at the age of 30 months. Possible occurrences of item-based constructions and frequent frames in the repetitions were also examined. The overall results revealed patterns concerning change in verbal contents in repetitions over time and correlations between verbal contents in repetitions and child language development. Two proposals were made: parents adjust the complexity of their speech to linguistic developmental stages of their children, and linguistic variation in the input increases as the child grows older.

Frequency, Form, and Distribution of Illocutionary Speech Acts in Swedish Parent-Child Interaction

In this study, young children’s development of speech acts was examined. Interaction between six Swedish-speaking parents and their children was observed. The frequency, form and distribution of speech acts in the output from the parents were compared with the frequency, form and distribution of the children’s speech acts. The frequency was measured by occurrences per analysed session. The aim of the analysis was to examine if the parent’s behaviour could be treated as a baseline for the child’s development. Both the parents’ and the children’s illocutionary speech acts were classified. Each parent-child dyad was observed at four different occasions, when the children were 1;0, 1;6, 2;0, and 2;6 years of age. Similar studies have previously shown that parents keep a consistent frequency of speech acts within a given time span of interaction, though the distribution of different types of speech acts may shift, depending on contextual factors. The form, in terms of Mean Length of Speech Act in Words (MLSAw), were correlated with the longitudinal result of the children’s MLSAw. The distribution of the parents’ speech acts showed extensive individual differences. The result showed that the children’s MLSAw move significantly closer the MLSAw of their parents. Since the parent’s MLSAw showed a wide distribution, these results indicate that the parent’s speech acts can be treated as a baseline for certain aspects of the children’s development, though further studies are needed.