In a municipality in the county of Stockholm there is a preparatory class which accepts newly arrived children from other countries. In the preparatory class the education is focused on teaching students the Swedish language so that they eventually, after about 3-4 -terms, can be transferred to a "regular" class.

For students with a different native language, it takes about 5-7 years longer to learn the knowledge-based language that is used in school (Gibbons 2009: foreword). This requires education in school to be linguistically developing.

The purpose with this essay is to gain knowledge on how pedagogues can work in a linguistically developing manner with students who have Swedish as their second language. The comparison between education in a preparatory class and education in two regular classes at two different schools is also part of that purpose.

What is the education considering linguistically developing work methods like in the preparatory class and the" regular" classes? Are there differences and similarities between the preparatory class and "regular" classes education when it comes to linguistically developing work methods? Which part of the education is adapted to a linguistically developing perspective that fits students with Swedish as a second language?

Theories as the socio cultural theory, the proximal zone, and Jim Cummins model, concerning among other things language and knowledge development, is brought up and linked to the study of differences and similarities between schools. It’s important for a pedagogue to let students with Swedish as their second language converse a lot with one another, as they learn the language by interacting with others. (Lindö 2002:46) It is also important to let students speak without correcting their grammatical mistakes, the important thing is letting them use their language and try to navigate through it.

To get answers to my questions I’ve conducted interviews with the five pedagogues in the three different schools; three "class teachers" and two teachers who teach Swedish as second language. I have also observed a lesson in each of the three class teachers’ classrooms.

To work in a theme based manner is also a good work method, because students with Swedish as their second language need to hear words and sayings in different contexts. Students with Swedish as their second language don’t have the same frames of reference as students with Swedish as their first language and can therefore have trouble comprehending schoolbook texts that conclude with a Swedish cultural context. Taking in account students’ previous knowledge and experience is therefore another important part of linguistically developing work methods.

What the material I had indicated was that the pedagogue in the preparatory class was well aware of linguistically developing work methods and the importance of those methods for their students. In comparison the pedagogues, who I interviewed from and observed in regular classes, were aware of these work methods to a certain degree but not at all to the same degree as the pedagogue in the preparatory class was. In other words when it comes to education there were both similarities and differences between the classes.