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- Allard, Karin, 1953-
(author)
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VARFÖR GÖR DE PÅ DETTA VISET? : Kommunikativa praktiker i flerspråkig undervisning med svenskt teckenspråk som medierande redskap
- 2013
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Applying a human rights perspective on plurilingualism as a national as well as a transnational concern, with a focus on the interaction taking place in foreign language teaching and learning practices at a Swedish Special Needs School for pupils with deafness or impaired hearing, the overall aim of this study is to describe and discuss this interaction in performative terms, i.e. in terms of what is said by whom, to whom, why, and with what consequences. Although extensive research has already been carried out within the field of plurilingualism, for example from linguistic, sociological and political points of departure, research on plurilingualism with regard to foreign language teaching and learning interaction in Swedish sign language contexts has been largely missing. The ambition of this work, therefore, is to add to the diversity of research on plurilingualism. It is also hoped that this work will contribute to the debate in educational politics concerning a human rights perspective on plurilingualism, especially with regard to modern European languages as a transnational issue.Methodologically, an ethnographic approach has been employed to document, by means of two video cameras in combination with field notes, the practices of communication emerging from teacherstudent interaction. Using notions from Conversational Analysis and alongside established conventions of sign language transcription, a model of transcription was designed for the specific purpose of describing, in detail, the plurilingual interaction where Swedish sign language is used as a mediating tool.Three lessons in English and four lessons – or lesson extracts – in Spanish, at secondary level in a Special Needs School for pupils with deafness or impaired hearing, have been documented and analysed. The analyses were carried out in two different steps, one describing and one discussing the results of the empirical investigation.The institutionally formalised interaction observed appears to have contributed to the heavy dominance of the teacher, and of the IRE sequence used during the lessons, to a much greater extent than students’ deafness or impaired hearing. Although the aims and objectives of the curricular texts intended for these students, as well as for hearing ones, are expressed in communicative terms – for example, learning to read texts of relatively high complexity, or developing writing skills for communication across linguistic boundaries – almost all the lessons that were investigated concerned the translation of isolated words into sign language, often taken out of their English or Spanish context. Nonetheless, the students took part in the classroom interaction when protesting, joking, asking questions and helping each other. Thus, the teacher dominance noted does not imply suppression, but rather a tendency on the part of the teacher to underestimate the students, as well as reflecting a selective tradition within foreign language teaching and learning practices in a general Swedish school context. However, when viewed from a human rights perspective on future plurilingual European citizens, using their language skills to reach out into the world for mutual understanding, the students involved in the language teaching and learning interaction observed in this study may hardly be expected to reach out across linguistic boundaries, at least not as a result of the language education they have experienced.
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| 2. |
- Hajjouji Hennius, Samira, 1972-
(author)
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"Vi kan skriva förargument och sedan motargument" : Om deliberativa samtal i undervisning i svenska som andraspråk på högskolenivå
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the light of the twofold mission of Swedish schools, that is to say enabling pupils to develop both subject knowledge and a democratic attitude, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent adult higher education students from different language and social backgrounds, studying Swedish as a second language, are able to carry out joint writing assignments with the aid of deliberative discourse, and to what extent they thereby also develop a deliberative attitude. The twofold mission of education applies to them too. While there already exists a certain amount of research into deliberative discourse relating to education in schools, the perspective of higher education didactics in this research is still lacking. The present study is to be viewed as a first contribution to this research.The theoretical starting point of this study includes previous research into deliberative discourse by further developing an existing model regarding criteria for deliberative discourse, for example that there is a striving towards agreement, although the consensus may be temporary, that diverging opinions can be set against each other, that tolerance and respect for views other than one’s own are shown, and that traditional outlooks can be questioned. This model is supplemented by designations for a number of disruptive behaviours, such as ridiculing, ignoring, interrupting people and engaging in private conversations. The thus further developed model will thereafter act as a lens in the analysis of students’ discussions when writing joint texts. Another theoretical starting point is the view of education as communication, and of the possibility of communication creating a third place, thereby developing democracy in the here and now-situation.For this study, comprising 18 hours of observation of nine students, that is to say the discussions of three groups in connection with writing texts on different occasions, various ethnographic data collection methods have been employed, for example video recordings, participant observations, field notes and interviews in conjunction with the discussions.The analysis clarifies that the three groups developed their deliberation as the discussions about the joint assignment proceeded, and that most of the nine students furthermore expressed at least an openness towards a deliberative attitude for further discussions in the future. The disruptive behaviours mentioned in connection with the analytical model that could be identified in the discussions, for example interruptions and private conversations, proved not to constitute real disturbances; on the contrary they actually contributed towards the discussions developing, enabling them to continue. On the other hand, other and not previously identified disturbances occurred, for example a focus on grades, the lack of time and lacking language ability, which all in different ways affected the students’ attitudes towards their work. For any future didactical work on deliberative discourse in Swedish as a second language within higher education, these disturbances would need to be highlighted and made aware of for both teachers and students.Keywords: higher education didactics, communication, deliberative discourse, deliberative attitude, John Dewey, Tomas Englund, heterogeneity, ethnographic data collection methods.
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| 3. |
- Rebenius, Inga, 1948-
(author)
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Talet om learner autonomy : språkinlärning, autonomi och ett demokratiskt medborgarskap - ett gränsland till moralfilosofi
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis is to clarify a number of meanings embedded in the discourse that frames the concept of learner autonomy and then place special emphasis on the concepts of autonomy and citizenship. In addition the thesis has three subgoals: to revitalize an early political dimension that aims at democratic citizenship, to investigate how the discourse of learner autonomy is expressed in national curricula and in syllabuses in English and French/German/Spanish for the Swedish upper secondary school and to clarify and discuss a number of possible didactic consequences of a revitalized concept of learner autonomy. One specific question asked is if such a revitalization can make the autonomous student visible as a rebellious autonomous student via a narrative. A red thread in the thesis is the pedagogical paradox: How can a goal such as autonomy be promoted when it is the institution that imposes autonomy on the students. The thesis is comprised of a textual analysis and a case study in the form of a narrative analysis. Both are placed within a critical-pragmatic approach. This approach is linked to a curriculum theory tradition that focuses on the selection of content as it is expressed in the Swedish official governing documents for education. The analysis can be described as a historical, language didactic, political – moral - philosophical and curricular contextualisation. Five meanings of the discourse of learner autonomy are constructed: Autonomy – a democratic citizenship, Autonomy – efficiency in language learning, The well-adjusted autonomous student, Autonomy, a social context and communication and Autonomy as critical awareness. ‘Autonomy – effi ciency in language learning’ and ‘The well-adjusted autonomous student’ are designated imposed autonomy based on Immanuel Kant. ‘Autonomy – a democratic citizenship’, ‘Autonomy, a social context and communication’ and ‘Autonomy as critical awareness’ are designated experienced autonomy-authenticity based on Charles Taylor. The five meanings are used as points of references in the analysis of the national curricula and syllabuses. The autonomous student is made visible as a rebellious autonomous student with the help of certain aspects of the concept of freedom, the meaning ‘Autonomy as critical awareness’ and my interpretation of Taylor’s ideas on freedom, autonomy and identity. The discourse that frames the concept of learner autonomy has had an impact on the syllabuses. It is primarily imposed autonomy that is expressed there, reaching a peak in 1989 in French/Spanish/German. The analysis of the curricula shows that there are parallels to the discourse of learner autonomy. In the overall goals both imposed autonomy and experienced autonomy-authenticity are expressed. Didactic consequences are discussed under six headings: the pedagogical paradox; the subject-object problematic; the learner as an individual, as a communicator, as a change agent and as a person; imposed autonomy – experienced autonomy-authenticity and the individual versus the collective.
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| 4. |
- Engström, Karin, 1949-
(author)
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Delaktighet under tvång : om ungdomars erfarenheter i barn- och ungdomspsykiatrisk slutenvård
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Participation under coercion. On young people’s experiences in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care. The aim of the dissertation is to study young people’s experiences of participation under coercion in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care and to discuss these in relationship to the potential senses of participation and the conditions applying to encounters in care. It takes as its theoretical point of departure Gadamer’s texts on medical encounters, von Wright’s texts on participation as an intersubjective phenomenon that is related to the creation of meaning and Buber’s texts on interhuman encounters. The dissertation is based on two empirical studies. The first consisted of interviews with 21 young people in the 14-18 age group who were patients in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care; ten of them involuntarily, eleven voluntarily admitted. The interviews dealt with the following areas: coercion, participation, meaning and encounters in care. The second study involved an analysis of the ambitions of the health care system with regard to participation and encounters with patients as expressed in the legal regulations applying to the health and medical services and the guidelines on professional ethics for different categories of staff. Analysis of the empirical material was based on a hermeneutic approach. The young people’s experiences of their care revealed that they rarely have any knowledge of the legal conditions that apply or about their rights, irrespective of whether they are voluntary or committed patients. One recurrent experience is lack of clarity about the reason for the treatment and what it is intended to do. Despite these shortcomings in their participation, some of the young people view their treatment as important and at times even lifesaving. Analysis of the ambitions of the health care system shows that the focus in the current regulations is placed on the self-determination and autonomy of the patients. There is rarely any description of the importance of a dialogue or of collaboration with the patient. Analysis of the material as a whole reveals that three senses can be attributed to participation in the care situation studied: participation as a right, participation as involvement and participation as meaning. The dissertation discusses how participation in these three senses can find expression in encounters between young people and staff. If participation is to be possible, a relation and an interhuman encounter is required which is characterised by truth, frankness and lack of pretence. This shows how important it is for young people undergoing coercive treatment to be able to meet individuals who can see and acknowledge them as subjects with an entitlement to participate. This can offer possibilities for the creation of meaning in treatment that has not always been sought but which can still be experienced as meaningful.
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