Comparison of Authentic and Simplified Texts : A case study of Wuthering Heights

The aim of this essay is to explore in what way Graded Readers are different from authentic texts against the background of English as a Second Language (ESL) and the use of authentic and simplified text in ESL teaching. The material used for this purpose is the authentic text of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and two upper-intermediate Graded Readers from two different publishers. The study uses the software readability-score and manual analysis to examine the texts with regards to lexical choice, language structure and story. The study showed that the Graded Readers are simplified in all aspects studied. Moreover, the Graded Readers differ from each other as well, most notably in the style of the text due to sentence structure and story simplification. This could imply that different authors of Graded Readers adopt different styles when simplifying text and that the grading levels are not comparable between different publishers.

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.