| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Airey, John, et al.
(author)
-
Bilingual Scientific Literacy? : The Use of English in Swedish University Science Courses
- 2008
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 7:3, s. 145-161
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A direct consequence of the Bologna declaration on harmonisation of Europeaneducation has been an increase in the number of courses taught in English at Swedishuniversities. A worrying aspect of this development is the lack of research into the effectson disciplinary learning that may be related to changing the teaching language to Englishin this way. In fact, little is known at all about the complex inter-relationship betweenlanguage and learning. In this article we attempt to map out the types of parameters thatour research indicates would determine an appropriate language mix in one section ofSwedish higher education—natural science degree courses. We do this from theperspective of the overall goal of science education, which we suggest is the productionof scientifically literate graduates. Here we introduce a new term, bilingual scientificliteracy to describe the particular set of language-specific science skills that we hope tofoster within a given degree course. As an illustration of our constructs, we carry out asimple language audit of thirty Swedish undergraduate physics syllabuses, listing thetypes of input provided for students and the types of production expected from students inboth languages. We use this information to map out an ‘implied student’ for the courseswith respect to bilingual scientific literacy. The article finishes by identifying issues forfurther research in this area.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Allan, Rachel, Docent, 1966-, et al.
(author)
-
Building a Corpus of Written Tasks of Swedish National Tests in English : Motivation, Method and Research Applications
- 2023
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - : Umeå University/Nordic Association of English Studies. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 22:2, s. 128-154
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article describes a collaborative project involving the construction of a corpus of graded year 9 National Tests in written English. National Tests are standardized high stakes tests which are an important part of the Swedish education system because the results provide an indication of performance at national level, and also feed into pupils’ overall assessment. The grading of National Tests in written English has been found to be problematic for teachers, and a need for assessment training identified (Erickson and Tholin 2022). By providing a searchable database of graded written texts, together with the teacher feedback, this project aims to create a resource to support pre- and in-service teachers in interpreting knowledge requirements and assessment guidelines, and providing effective feedback. The corpus will also provide a resource for research into the features of student writing at different grade levels. To create the corpus, past papers from collaborating schools have been anonymized, digitized and coded. As a result, pupils’ texts can be easily sorted by a range of criteria, for example, year, gender, education type, grade achieved on the written paper and overall grade for the National Test. Teacher feedback can be accessed similarly. We outline potential research areas provided by this resource, and demonstrate how some of these might be explored. We also give examples of how the developing corpus has already been used as a resource for English teacher training programmes, and outline future plans for the project.
|
|
| 6. |
- Allan, Rachel, Docent, 1966-
(author)
-
Reserved for Research? Normalising Corpus Use for School Teachers
- 2023
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - : University of Gothenburg - Department of Languages and Literatures. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 22:1, s. 68-92
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There has been much discussion about the persistent gap between research and practice in the use of corpora in the classroom (Frankenberg-Garcia 2012; Chambers 2019 among others), despite strong evidence of its benefits (Boulton 2017). The majority of studies into data-driven learning (DDL) have been carried out by those with a particular interest and skill level, predominantly in higher education, and the need to complement these with a broader base of studies involving practising language teachers in a school environment has been highlighted (e.g., Boulton 2010; Chambers 2019). For such studies to take place, however, more school teachers need to be made aware of DDL and its potential for use in the classroom.This article discusses what we can learn from research into DDL with younger learners and teacher training in this context in order to shape a teacher training programme. It describes a pilot project introducing DDL to a group of secondary school student teachers (STs) of English at a Swedish university, and their responses to it regarding the feasibility of including it in their future teaching practice. The need for further training, particularly in practical pedagogical applications suitable for their learners, was apparent, echoing the outcomes of previous studies. It is suggested that integrating a range of classroom-focused DDL activities throughout their remaining course may be an effective approach. This also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of pre-prepared resources and novel approaches to DDL more likely to appeal to their learners, and practical examples of this are discussed.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Bergmann, Helena, 1950-
(author)
-
Aiming for a Middle Ground : Mary Hays's Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in Behalf of Women
- 2020
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - Göteborg : University of Gothenburg - Department of Languages and Literatures. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 19:5, s. 244-261
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In 1798, a year after the death of the renowned feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, her friend, the Unitarian writer and polemist, Mary Hays, authored her own tract on the subject of women’s liberation. Entitled Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in Behalf of Women, the publication was not intended to compete with Wollstonecraft’s fiery A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Hays wished to address the major societal issue of inequality between the sexes from a less adversarial angle. As opposed to Wollstonecraft, in her introduction, Mary Hays assumes a posture of humility when stating her ambition: ‘to restore female character to its dignity and independence.’ This paper discusses the rhetorical devices employed by Hays to modify the engrained ideas of her anticipated male readers. Her tract is divided into a set argumentative sequences in the shape of seven chapters. The first of these calls in question the reliance on the Scripture as a foundation for the acceptance of the male-female hierarchy. The second seeks to invalidate the conviction that the subjection of women’s in society could be condoned through rational causes. The third and fourth chapters give an overview of some major, misconceptions of men with regard to women’s capabilities. Chapter five and six illustrate plentiful examples of unsavoury realities of female existence. In the last chapter of the Appeal, Mary Hays delivers a set of exhortations and hopeful recommendations for effectuating a change. The overall aim of the paper is to identify and analyse Hays’s strategy for converting the opposite sex, not through revolutionary ferocity or meek supplications, but through constructive persuasiveness. In a concluding section some supportive male intellectuals are introduced to illustrate Hays’s achievement of a middle ground on which to communicate.
|
|
| 9. |
- Björkén-Nyberg, Cecilia, 1962-
(author)
-
Vocal Configurations of Friday : Six Audiobook Versions of Robinson Crusoe
- 2024
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - Umeå : Umeå University. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 23:1, s. 106-127
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robinson Crusoe is a novel obsessed with voice. Shipwrecked on his island, Crusoe teaches a parrot to speak and engages in silent conversations with God and himself and, when he finally meets Friday, he communicates in the discourses of master, educator, and companion. In silent reading of the print text, the reader subvocalises and dramatises the grammar, syntax, and pronunciation of Friday’s speech and more or less unconsciously creates a cohesive whole out of the dialogue sections and the passages narrated by Crusoe. In audiobook narration this process is externalised in the actual vocalisation of the text. The performing narrator has to make conscious choices depending on how he construes the Crusoe-Friday relationship and in what genre conventions he places it. Moreover, since Friday does not appear until two thirds into the text, the performing narrator needs to fit the last third into the overall vocal profile to produce a cohesive effect. This article focuses on the vocal configurations of Friday as manifest in six audiobook recordings of the novel. Material voice characteristics, such as quality, rhythm, and diction, as well as contextualising aspects of ethnicity, age, and nationality are taken into account. The rhetorical situation in which the performing narrator intensifies intentionality is also foregrounded. © Cecilia Björkén-Nyberg 2024
|
|
| 10. |
- Björkman, Beyza
(author)
-
English as the lingua franca of engineering : the morphosyntax of academic speech events
- 2008
-
In: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - 1502-7694 .- 1654-6970. ; 7:3, s. 103-122
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- English today is frequently used as an international means of communication among its non-native speakers from different L1 backgrounds. Research on English as a lingua franca (ELF) has already revealed commonalities and common processes from a variety of settings. It is important that research continues and that lingua franca usage in different environments is described to find ways to optimize communication. This paper will focus on the morphosyntax of spoken ELF, reporting the results of a study that investigates spoken lingua franca English in tertiary education (engineering) in Sweden, where English is increasingly becoming the language of instruction. The morphosyntax of non-native-like usage is investigated in dialogic and monologic speech events. Cases of non-native-like usage are grouped as ‘disturbing’, i.e. causing comprehension problems and ‘non-disturbing’, i.e. causing no comprehension problems. Findings from this corpus-based study show that the most consistent idiosyncrasies in lingua franca usage in this setting are observed in redundant features of the language and that there is very little disturbance, i.e. breakdown in communication. Engineers seem to opt for function and reciprocal intelligibility over redundant features of the language and accuracy when they speak English in academic contexts.
|
|
