Inte för räddhågsna. Undervisning i grundläggande litteracitet och svenska som andraspråk på gymnasieskolans språkintroduktion

Not for the timid. Emergent literacy education in Swedish as a second language for adolescents

The overall aim of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding about the education of Swedish as a second language and basic literacy to recently immigrated adolescents with little prior experience of school-based learning. It investigates how the students are given access to the literacy practices that are required for active and independent participation in school and in society, how the students take part in the activities and interactions offered in this particular school context, how the relationship between the teachers and these adolescents is manifested and finally, how the rules of the school context relate to the literacy practices that are available to the students. The thesis is based on four ethnographic studies investigating diverse aspects of this education, using different theoretical frameworks. The data consists of observations of lessons in Swedish and social sciences, conversations with the teacher, the students and the language tutor, in addition to formal interviews with the students. The results indicate that the teacher and the language tutor played an important role to give the students access to the literacy practices and rules of schooling. Students’ previous knowledge, as well as class field trips and concrete examples, served as important foundations for their instruction. Also, the teachers’ engagement with the students’ linguistic and other semiotic resources contributed to the students’ participation in literacy practices. Concurrently, the interaction about topics that had previously been unfamiliar to the students seemed to enhance their ability to understand new discourses. The study implies that some of the rules and norms associated with schooling promote learning in this specific context, while other rules seemed adapted to prepare the students for future studies. The thesis also discusses students’ agency and opportunities to invest in their schooling in the mainstream society.