Teaching EFL to Newly Arrived Adolescents : A Literature Review on EFL Teaching in Multilingual Classrooms

The Swedish curriculums point out that language is crucial to social interactions, learning and individual development as well as essential to uphold a democratic and multicultural country. However, a recent report from the Swedish National Agency for Education depicts the language introduction programs for immigrant adolescents in Sweden as a school form in great need of development (Skolverket, 2016a). This systematic literature review, which draws on sociocultural theory, contributes to the field of how to teach English to newly arrived adolescents in Sweden. The main findings, gathered from six studies from around the world, suggest several different areas for improvement concerning EFL teaching. A specific pedagogy for EFL learners is suggested as well as targeted professional development for EFL teachers. Additionally, the results point out challenges faced by EFL teachers in multilingual classrooms. Further research could investigate how EFL teachers deal with these challenges. Furthermore, further research could investigate EFL textbooks for multilingual students at upper secondary school in terms of language, culture, identity texts and difficulty level.

An Empirical Study on Teachers’ Choice of Extensive Literature in the Swedish Upper Secondary EFL Classroom

The importance of extensive literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context has been given increasing attention in recent research. Literature reading is also a required part of the national syllabi of the (EFL) courses offered to both adolescents and adults at Upper Secondary level in Sweden. This thesis aims to investigate the teachers’ process of making literature choices for extensive reading in upper secondary EFL courses in Sweden. Eight teachers of three different student groups took part in the study, representing adolescent university preparatory programs and vocational programs, as well as programs for adult students. Questionnaires were used and the data was analyzed for patterns revealing three main factors affecting teachers’ literature choice: language proficiency, reading experience and contextual factors. These three factors were fitted into the theoretical framework of psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic reading models, with the addition of a perspective of motivational research. The results of this survey underline the importance of extensive reading, according to teachers, and that motivation for literature choice can be primarily related to factors associated with psycholinguistic reading models. The survey also points to the need for further investigating of teachers’ own experiences of literature reading, searching for deeper motivational factors which influence teaching choices. Another future field of research is the choice of reading activities assigned together with the chosen literature, which probably also influence teachers’ choices in the Swedish EFL classroom.