Robert Walldén, en av de utsedda granskarna av Skolforskningsinstitutets översikt, menar att kritiken mot råden om skrivundervisning träffar fel.

I denna artikel undersöks hur undervisning organiseras och genomförs när ämnet svenska som andraspråk (sva) samläses med svenska (sve) i två klasser i årskurs 6 i den svenska grundskolan. Utgångspunkten är att skolämnet sva har en särskild kursplan med fokus på bland annat flerspråkighet, kontrastiva perspektiv och explicit språkundervisning. Studien baseras på klassrumsobservationer och intervjuer med två erfarna lärare, och analyseras med hjälp av begreppen kraftfull kunskap och epistemisk kvalitet. Även Biestas teori om utbildningens tre funktioner – kvalifikation, socialisering och subjektivering – används för att fördjupa förståelsen av lärarnas didaktiska val. Resultatet visar att samläsningen erbjuder vissa fördelar, såsom rika möjligheter till språk- och kunskapsutvecklande undervisning för alla elever, men också att sva-specifika moment ibland riskerar att nedprioriteras. Undervisningens kvalitet påverkas av lärarnas förmåga att balansera olika syften och behov. Studien bidrar med ny kunskap om hur integrerad svenska- och sva-undervisning kan organiseras för att främja ämnesfördjupning i en språkligt heterogen elevgrupp.

This article explores how teaching is organized and enacted when the subject Swedish as a Second Language (SVA) is co-taught with Swedish (SVE) in two sixth-grade classrooms in Swedish compulsory school. The subject of SVA follows a specific curriculum that emphasizes multilingualism, contrastive perspectives, and explicit language instruction. Drawing on classroom observations and interviews with two experienced teachers, the study applies the concepts of powerful knowledge and epistemic quality to analyze opportunities for subject-specific learning. The framework is complemented by Biesta’s three educational functions – qualification, socialization, and subjectification – to interpret the teachers’ didactic choices. The findings indicate that co-teaching can create favorable conditions for language- and knowledge-oriented teaching practices that benefit all students. At the same time, elements specific to SVA risk being deprioritized in the joint instruction. The analysis underscores the importance of teachers’ ability to balance diverse pedagogical goals. The study contributes theoretically and empirically to the understanding of how co-teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms can support the development of deep subject knowledge.

Baserat på klassrumsobservationer och lärarintervjuer undersöks hur lärare och elever i årskurs 2 tolkar och använder den textlösa bilderboken Migrants i en undervisningspraktik. Med stöd i teorier om läsrespons, litteracitets-praktiker och skrivdiskurser visar resultatet att den textlösa bilderboken öppnade upp för olika tolkningar och kreativa uttryck hos elever och lärare, där elevernas tolkningar präglades av egna intressen och erfarenheter samt uppmärksamhet vid visuella detaljer. Som ett uttryck för sin didaktiska läsning försökte lärarna styra tolkningarna mot bokens migrationstema, som dock blev relativt perifert när eleverna skapade djurfigurer och skrev egna berättelser med inspiration av Migrants. Däremot tog eleverna fasta på förevisad genrestruktur samt moraliska värden lärarna poängterade, såsom snällhet och hjälpsamhet Lärarna uttryckte att den textlösa bilderboken gav eleverna utrymme för fantasi, muntligt deltagande och stolthet över det egna skapandet, samtidigt som de såg skrivandet som nödvändigt för att motivera arbetssättet. Med utgångspunkt i Bernsteins begrepp rekontextualisering belyses hur arbetet med den textlösa boken både öppnade upp för kreativitet och behövde anpassas till ett undervisningsparadigm som värderar genre-kunskaper och skriftliga förmågor högt. 

Based on classroom observations and teacher interviews, this study explores how teachers and second-grade students interpret and use the wordless picturebook Migrants within a teaching practice. Drawing on theories of reading response, literacy practices, and writing discourses, the findings show that the wordless picturebook opened up space for multiple interpretations and creative expression among both students and teachers. The students’ interpretations were shaped by their own interests and experiences as well as close attention to visual details. As part of their pedagogical reading, the teachers attempted to steer the interpretations toward the book’s theme of migration; however, this theme remained relatively peripheral as the students created animal characters and wrote their own stories inspired by Migrants. Instead, the students picked up on the demonstrated genre structure and the moral values emphasized by the teachers, such as kindness and helpfulness. The teachers expressed that the wordless picturebook allowed for imagination, oral participation, and pride in student creations, while also stating that writing was necessary to justify the pedagogical approach. Using Bernstein’s concept of recontextualization, the analysis highlights how the work with the wordless book both enabled creativity and had to be adapted to a teaching paradigm that places high value on genre knowledge and writing skills.

This study explores how teachers promote literary understanding and language development in Swedish as a second language (SSL) classrooms for Grade 6 students through read-aloud discussions. Addressing a research gap on core SSL curriculum delivery in elementary schools, this investigation observed two experienced teachers over a two-month period. The study draws on reader-response perspectives from Langer and Felski, combined with discursive strategies and Cummins' notion of reading engagement. Through analysis of classroom observations, field notes, and photos, the study examines how teachers use questioning, discussions, and language support strategies to foster students' growth in literary understanding and L2 knowledge.In both classrooms, linguistic aspects appeared to be highly integrated into the reading practices. For example, the teachers commented on the linguistic and aesthetic qualities of literary words. At the same time, the different dynamics of the student groups impacted the teachers’ choice of texts, which affected the possibilities for a deeper understanding of the text; for instance, by perceiving symmetries between the text and knowledge acquired in other teaching areas. The strategies revealed in the present study can potentially be used in other contexts to elevate the quality and status of L2 teaching.

In both classrooms, linguistic aspects appeared to be highly integrated into the reading practices. For example, the teachers commented on the linguistic and aesthetic qualities of literary words. At the same time, the different dynamics of the student groups impacted the teachers’ choice of texts, which affected the possibilities for a deeper understanding of the text; for instance, by perceiving symmetries between the text and knowledge acquired in other teaching areas. The strategies revealed in the present study can potentially be used in other contexts to elevate the quality and status of L2 teaching.

Second-language (L2) research, including L2 writing research, typically recruits college or university students. There is an increasing awareness that this sampling bias entails negative consequences both for the generalizability of emerging L2 theories and for the applicability of research findings in heterogeneous L2 classrooms. However, previous research has not systematically investigated the association between adults’ L2 writing development and their prior level of formal education. The present study contributes a concrete portrayal of what that association may look like by investigating a text corpus collected longitudinally from 38 students enrolled in Swedish for Immigrants. The texts were assessed by five experienced L2 teachers using the method of comparative judgement, which ascribes a holistic quality score to each text. The participants follow three study paths that reflect their varying levels of education, and statistical analyses revealed that study path significantly predicted the participants’ writing ability and their rate of writing development. Despite the small sample size and other limitations of the study, those results confirm the importance of treating educational background as a crucial factor in L2 writing research. Implications for curriculum design are discussed, and methodological challenges that further L2 research needs to address are highlighted.

Exploring how the information flow of social studies textbook spreads is negotiated in teacher-led interaction, the concern of this study is the conscious and critical use of teaching material in diverse student groups. The study involved a teacher and her Grade 6 students in a school with many migrant language learners. The data was gathered by observations, field notes, voice recordings, and the collection of teaching materials. Using social semiotic theory of visual design, the analysis of the textbook used in instruction shows that the layout perpetuated a Western-centric view of a divided world, along with an individualistic and anthropocentric view of environmental sustainability. The oral interaction, highlighting different text elements, largely reinforced the meaning perspectives promoted in the textbook. However, on occasion, the students were positioned to take a more analytical stance. Implications for using knowledge about information flow in textbooks to promote critical literacy practices in teaching are discussed.

The aim of the present study was to contribute knowledge about how adult L2 learners perceived their possibilities to use and develop the target language (Swedish) when formal language teaching was combined with placements. Situated in the context of Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), the study drew inspiration from action research and ethnographic methodology. A thematic analysis was conducted underpinned by the systemic-functional linguistic concepts of field, tenor and mode. The findings showed that the students highly valued interaction with L1 Swedish speakers outside of the classroom. Several of the students described rich opportunities to interact socially, which, however, also entailed anxiety about their status as L2 speakers. A few of the students reported accessing field-specific language and literacy practices that aligned with their current career goals. However, students with placements relating to kitchen, garage and warehouse work voiced feeling isolated and having little opportunity for social interaction. While students in the first of two course instances found it difficult to discuss and exemplify language they had learnt, a vocabulary assignment developed for the second course instance facilitated discussions about placement-related words and expressions. Implications for teaching are discussed, including using authentic examples of workplace discourse as preparation for placement visits.

 The emergence of participatory research with children within the field of children’s literature (Deszcz-Tryhubczak & Garcia Gonzales, 2022; Malilang & Walldén, 2023) has widened the reading process as a collaborative one between children and adults. While the current studies have been emphasizing on the intergenerational collaboration, this study aims to examine how educators, in their various capacities, can assume the role of actors of change in promoting the collaborative and playful reading with young readers. The focus of this study is the classroom collaboration between young readers, librarian, classroom teacher, and extracurricular educator in reading a wordless picturebook, Migrants. While the young readers rule and own the resulted play space, or playworld (Malilang & Walldén, 2023), the adult actors also contributed the building blocks of the space according to their specialties while relegating their adult authority in the process. This study thus highlights their contributions and the way the three educators are playing along with the young readers to create the collaborative space.