Oral communicative Swedish in basic education. A longitudinal study on pupils' language skills development in and their attitudes toward B1 Swedish studies in grades 7-9
Thesis event information
Date and time of the thesis defence
Place of the thesis defence
Linnanmaa, L2
Topic of the dissertation
Oral communicative Swedish in basic education. A longitudinal study on pupils' language skills development in and their attitudes toward B1 Swedish studies in grades 7-9
Doctoral candidate
Master of Arts Eero Talonen
Faculty and unit
University of Oulu Graduate School, Faculty of Humanities, Research Unit for Languages and Literature
Subject of study
Nordic Philology
Opponent
Professor Karita Mård-Miettinen, University of Jyväskylä
Custos
Professor Paula Rossi, University of Oulu
Oral communicative proficiency in B1 Swedish does not improve according to the curriculum goals in grades 7–9
Many pupils’ oral communicative proficiency in B1-level Swedish didn’t develop in grades 7–9 while their attitudes toward Swedish studies became more negative. Additionally, significant differences existed between girls’ and boys’ attitudes and language skills, as well as school-specific language variations. Based on these findings, there is a gap between the goals outlined in the curriculum and pupils’ language skills development.
The study investigated how pupils’ oral communicative proficiency in Swedish evolved, how their attitudes and motivation toward Swedish studies changed from grades 7 to 9, and what kind of oral communicative language skills students had at the end of basic education.
The research was conducted as a longitudinal case study. The research data was collected in three Finnish-language schools in three rounds within grades 7–9. The written data was gathered through pupil surveys, vocabulary tests, and teacher surveys, while the oral data was collected through pupil interviews, picture description tasks, and reading tasks. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The research results indicate that pupils' attitudes toward Swedish studies were positive in grade 7 but significantly more negative in grade 9. Most pupils' oral communicative language skills did not improve in grades 7–9 which is why many pupils' actual language skills were weak or nearly nonexistent in grade 9. Girls consistently had more positive attitudes and they performed better in written vocabulary tests than boys. In oral tasks girls and boys performed quite similarly. The interview data showed that in language comprehensibility and communicative abilities, boys tended to improve their language skills more than girls in grades 7–9. Pupils' attitudes were quite similar in all the three schools but there were notable differences in pupils' language performance and development.
The research results largely support recent national assessments but only partially align with the goals outlined in the curriculum. The results suggest that current teaching arrangements, learning environments, local curricula, teaching materials, and language pedagogical solutions need to be reviewed and updated to consider the perspectives and changing needs of students, teachers, and material producers.
The thesis defense will be held in Swedish.
The study investigated how pupils’ oral communicative proficiency in Swedish evolved, how their attitudes and motivation toward Swedish studies changed from grades 7 to 9, and what kind of oral communicative language skills students had at the end of basic education.
The research was conducted as a longitudinal case study. The research data was collected in three Finnish-language schools in three rounds within grades 7–9. The written data was gathered through pupil surveys, vocabulary tests, and teacher surveys, while the oral data was collected through pupil interviews, picture description tasks, and reading tasks. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The research results indicate that pupils' attitudes toward Swedish studies were positive in grade 7 but significantly more negative in grade 9. Most pupils' oral communicative language skills did not improve in grades 7–9 which is why many pupils' actual language skills were weak or nearly nonexistent in grade 9. Girls consistently had more positive attitudes and they performed better in written vocabulary tests than boys. In oral tasks girls and boys performed quite similarly. The interview data showed that in language comprehensibility and communicative abilities, boys tended to improve their language skills more than girls in grades 7–9. Pupils' attitudes were quite similar in all the three schools but there were notable differences in pupils' language performance and development.
The research results largely support recent national assessments but only partially align with the goals outlined in the curriculum. The results suggest that current teaching arrangements, learning environments, local curricula, teaching materials, and language pedagogical solutions need to be reviewed and updated to consider the perspectives and changing needs of students, teachers, and material producers.
The thesis defense will be held in Swedish.
Last updated: 24.5.2024