This dissertation concerns oral language tests from a grammatical perspective. Tests today are usually assessed based on a communicative approach to language, so it is interesting to see how great a significance the level of grammatical development of test takers has for their communicative competence in general.

The data in the investigation consist of recorded test conversations from a Swedish national language proficiency test, Tisus (test in Swedish for university and university college studies). The general aim of the study is to investigate whether there is a difference between the test takers who passed and those who failed in terms of their level of grammatical development. This is investigated in one main study and two smaller follow-up studies.

The theoretical basis for this work is comprised of theories on second language learning and theories on language testing. For the grammatical analysis, Pienemann’s processability theory (PT) is applied. This theory posits that learners acquire certain morpho-syntactic structures in a particular order, something that produces a hierarchy consisting of five levels.

In the main study, a quantitative analysis is made of the test takers’ level of grammatical development relative to their TISUS results. The results show a clear correlation between grammatical level and test results. There also seems to be a kind of watershed at level 4, given that most of the test takers who passed have command of this level in the PT hierarchy, whereas those who failed, as a rule, only make it to level 3.

The first follow-up study is more qualitative in nature and is focused on the test takers who deviate from the general pattern of results in the main study: those who failed despite their high grammatical level and those who passed despite their low grammatical level. One result of this follow-up study is that, in these cases, it appears communicative competence was critical. Being able to orient oneself to the special conversational situation represented by the test conversation is considered to be particularly important. In a second follow-up study, the problems of applying PT to morphology and syntax are examined.

The results of the dissertation suggest that there is a correlation between grammatical competence and communicative competence in general. This means that the grammatical levels in the PT hierarchy may constitute a useful basis of analysis in oral assessments, as a complement to other assessment tools.

Tests today are usually based on a communicative view of language, with less focus on grammar. In this chapter, a study is presented that investigates whether there is a difference in terms of grammatical development between a group of test-takers who passed and a group who failed an oral language test. The study addresses theories of SLA and language testing, i.e., Processability Theory and the model of Communicative Language Ability, the construct of the test. Data from learners' test performances were analysed using PT in order to see whether there was a consistent relationship between the PT stage analysis and the results derived from the test. The comparison shows a clear difference between the test-takers who passed and those who failed in terms of grammatical development. This implies a correlation between grammatical development and communicative competence in general which may indicate that PT constitutes a useful basis for oral assessment.

In our paper we present a pilot project were we introduce new students to read, write and search for academic texts. We assume an ‘academic literacies’ approach, where these activities are seen as social practices that have to be practically acquired in authentic, meaningful contexts within the disciplines, rather than in separate courses and other support structures.

Widening participation in higher education (HE) in recent decades has brought new challenges for both teachers and students. One growing group of students are L2 students who often report a lack of confidence in expressing themselves verbally in academic settings. Systematically scaffolding students into developing not only written but also spoken academic discourse is therefore an increasingly important challenge. In Sweden, L2 students are offered a qualifying course in Swedish to enable them to meet HE entry requirements. This paper reports a study carried out on the academic writing module of this course. Course activities include writing a short paper and participating in a critical discussion of peer papers, from which our data was collected. The study has a socioculturally based framework which suggests that learning takes place through social interaction. The purpose is to identify scaffolding strategies by means of a qualitative, interactional analysis. The findings indicate that different types of strategies, such as open-ended, follow-up and multi-unit questions, can help students to deliver more substantial and elaborate answers. Other useful strategies are to create reflective spaces and to focus on students’ identities as academic writers to achieve inclusive and empowering learning situations.

This report was initiated by the Department of Sociology at Uppsala University and aims to investigate how the department helps its students to develop academic literacies. Another aim is to provide suggestions on how the department can develop teaching practices in order to integrate writing within its courses. In the report, we have examined course designs, learning outcomes and writing instructions. In addition, we have interviewed teachers and analyzed students’ texts. The report is concluded by some general suggestions on how the department can continue to support the students’ academic literacies.

In this paper, we explore second language (L2) teachers’ cognitions regarding the initial assessment of adult learner literacy in their strongest language. Instruction can thus be adapted according to what is stipulated in the curriculum and syllabus. The literacy assessment is conducted in the student’s strongest language with assistance from an interpreter, translated decoding and reading comprehension tasks and concerns assessment of learners with little or no prior education. Questionnaires and interviews with L2 teachers reveal great variation based on four categories of teacher knowledge, namely, Subject matter knowledge, Knowledge of students, Pedagogical knowledge, and Knowledge of educational contexts. These four categories were partly intertwined with each other and both a resource and a deficit perspective emerged. The teachers’ cognitions regarding the concept of literacy, the value of initial L1 literacy assessment and students’ prior literacy and multilingual resources, as well as its potential for instruction planning were diverse. This may have significant implications for what emerges in initial assessments of a student's L1 literacy. In turn, this affects the validity of the assessment and, ultimately, the quality of education.

Under två decennier har högre utbildning haft breddad rekrytering som målsättning, vilket har fört med sig nya och mer heterogena studentgrupper. En av dessa är studenter med annat modersmål än svenska, och återkommande tenderar deras skrivförmåga att fokuseras i debatten. Att skrivande är sammankopplat med det sociala sammanhang där skrivandet sker har beskrivits väl inom fältet Academic Literacies. I den här artikeln presenteras en studie med fokus på lärares attityder och förhållningssätt till andraspråksstudenters skrivande. Syftet med studien är att belysa normer som präglar skrivandets sammanhang, för att på så vis få en bättre bild av de förutsättningar som präglar och omgärdar andraspråksstudenters skrivande i olika ämnen under deras utbildningsprogram. För att undersöka detta har lärares skriftliga respons som rör språket analyserats med avstamp i teorier om respons. De lärare som skrivit responsen har också intervjuats om sin respons med hjälp av stimulated recall-teknik. Resultaten visar att lärarnas respons präglas av deras egna erfarenheter, syn på skrivprocessen samt den egna rollen inom utbildningen. Sammantaget visar undersökningen att bristen på kollegial samsyn mellan ämnen inom programmet ger utrymme för parallella normer att existera, vilket resulterar i att studenterna möter ett brett spann av förväntningar på hur texter ska utformas. 

I denna artikel presenterar vi ett högskolepedagogiskt projekt som syftar till en ämnesinte-grerad introduktion i akademiskt skrivande, med utgångspunkt i forskningsfältet academic literacies. Vi delar med oss av våra erfarenheter samt redovisar några viktiga lärdomar inför liknande projekt.

This chapter addresses vocationally adjusted language courses in Swedish for adult immigrants. We focus on individualisation, which is stipulated in the curriculum and other syllabus documents, and argue that individually adapted feedback could be considered a tool (out of several potential tools) for “doing” individualisation in a pedagogical practice. We discuss different understandings of individualisation in policy documents and research literature, and define individualisation as an educational practice in teaching, carried through in dialogue. In an empirical study, we apply the definition by analysing feedback sequences in video recordings from two vocational courses (designed for outdoor maintenance workers and medical doctors, respectively) using the linguistic method of interaction analysis. We demonstrate (1) how individualisation in terms of feedback is managed in interaction involving teacher and students, and (2) the vocational and linguistic skills that materialise as important for the individual students in these feedback sequences. Our results demonstrate that feedback is a functional educational tool for individualisation, providing learning opportunities for both language acquisition and professional knowledge. However, this requires authentic assignments that are designed to promote opportunities for more developed dialogues. Another conclusion is that a professional experienced teacher who can provide feedback on both professional skills and language use is particularly important. 

This study is part of a project on initial assessment of first language (L1) literacy in adult newcomers prior to the commencement of L2 studies in Swedish. Here, we explore the assessment summariesof newcomers’L1 literacy, performed by L2-teachers, with assistance from an inter-preter. According to the syllabus, instruction in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) should be adapted to the individual ́s needs and goals; however, SFI often fails to do so. L1 literacy—i.e., using texts in different domains (school, work, society, and everyday life)—serves as a foundation for L2 learning and teachers’access to and utilization of students L1 literacy can significantly enhance instruction. From a sociocultural approach to literacy and based on Luke and Freebody’s ‘Four Resource Model’, a qualitative document analyses of L1 literacy assessment summaries (N=50) demonstrated literacy practices form different domains of student life, beyond school literacy. Literacy practices from all four learner roles, i.e.,Code-Breaker, Text Participant, Text Userand Text Analyst were identified in the assessments to various degrees dependent on the students’background, which is illustrated by a close analysis of 5 summaries. This information is both important for teachers’planning of second language teaching and in the long term for the development of second language teacher education.

Studier som fokuserar på det akademiska skrivandets sociala sammanhang har påvisat ett glapp mellan lärarnas förväntningar på studenternas skrivande och studenternas tolkningar av lärarnas krav. En studentgrupp vars skrivande särskilt har hamnat i fokus är flerspråkiga studenter, vilket kanske kan förklaras med att lärarna ofta är ovana vid dessa studenters förutsättningar. I syfte att rikta ljuset mot glappet undersöker vi hur högskolelärare reflekterar muntligt kring sin bedömning av flerspråkiga studenters texter vilka uppvisar tydliga andraspråksdrag. Materialet utgörs av retrospektiva intervjuer kring lärarnas respons på studenttexter, och för undersökningen tillämpas det sociokulturella ramverket Academic Literacies, i kombination med Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA). Genom att undersöka hur kategoriseringar konstrueras interaktionellt bidrar studien till att belysa hur normer och förväntningar kopplade till bedömningspraktiken uttrycks. Resultaten pekar på variation gällande attityder till andraspråksdrag, och MCA bidrar till att fånga hur dessa attityder uttrycks genom kategoriseringar och positioneringar. Å ena sidan konstrueras klassiska akademiska ideal, där lärare och student positioneras med stort avstånd till varandra gällande kompetenser och resurser. Å andra sidan uttrycks också ett mer dynamiskt förhållningssätt mellan lärare och student, vilket representerar ett perspektiv rotat i Academic Literacies.

This article presents a qualitative, empirical study of two educational programmes for immigrants that integrate languageinstruction and vocational training. In the context of migration, social inclusion is often conceptualised as access to socialcapital. Proficiency in the national language is considered key for employment and fast integration into working life hasbecome a primary goal in Swedish migration policies. This article examines the two programmes from the perspectiveof inclusion into an (imagined) future professional community of practice (CoP), focusing specifically on the participants’possibilities to invest in a professional linguistic repertoire. The article is dedicated to empirical analyses and positive factors,recognising the need for research. Data consists of interviews with students and teachers, observations, and videorecordings of course activities. Organisational aspects of the courses, such as the teachers’ backgrounds and the courses’proximity to future CoPs, as well as relational aspects of the learning environments, are considered essential for the participants’inclusion in a future professional CoP. Analyses of the programmes’ content demonstrate that participants areassumed to lack context‐specific, vocational knowledge, including professionally related vocabulary. The article contributesto knowledge on how inclusion can be managed in practice in educational settings for adult immigrants and promotesan understanding of how vocationally adapted courses can assist immigrants in becoming members of a future professionalCoP.