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Interactions of language and power in the first grade classroom
Full text linkThe aim of this study is to develop teaching practices that promote students’ critical literacy in the first year of primary school. The following research questions are addressed: 1) How can instruction that promotes students’ critical literacy be designed, planned, and conducted? 2) What possibilities for developing writing skills does instruction promoting a critical literacy perspective offer? The study was conducted as part of an eight-month-long combined research and professional developmental project in a Swedish primary school. The Interdependent Framework for Critical Literacy Education (Janks, 2013) was used for planning, implementing, and evaluating the project. Methods for data collection included audio recordings of planning sessions with teachers, observations and video recordings of lessons, and samples of student work. The tools of critical content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004) was used to examine the material. Findings from initial analyses indicate that teacher-led discussions, with questions based on the framework, enhanced the students’ ability to reflect over and deepen their understanding of language use in relation to issues about power. The students also developed awareness of their own writing, particularly in terms of vocabulary selection. Critical literacy explores interactions of language and power, and addresses social issues about power, equity and justice (Comber, 2015). In education, critical literacy is a textual practice that encourages students to explore how texts are socially constructed and position the writer and reader in specific ways (Janks, 2013). Research on the teaching and learning of critical literacy in the early school years is, however, scarce, and there is a need to further explore how to best support young children’s development of critical literacy (Larson & Marsh, 2015)
Nexus analysis as a framework for understanding complex connections inherent in teacher education program literacy practices
Full text linkThis presentation is part of a larger project that aims to gain an in-depth understanding of disciplinary literacy in primary school teacher education in Sweden, including for example teacher educators’ beliefs about literacy practices. In the presentation we will discuss the results from a sub-study of three teacher educators’ talk about literacy in relation to their teaching practice and about students’ writing in their respective discipline, namely biology, Swedish (comparative literature) and mathematics. Nexus analysis, based on mediated discourse theory (Scollon & Scollon 2004), is used as the analytic framework focusing on the concepts of ‘social action’, ‘historical body’ and ‘discourse in place’. Drawing on dialogical interviewing principles (Way et al. 2015), semi-structured interviews were conducted on Zoom at a university in the south of Sweden. Analysis revealed clashes between the historical body of the participants and the discourses in place due to the intricate web of literacies and interdisciplinary fields that teacher educators need to navigate. We argue that this type of meta-methodological perspective, in which the social actions of the participants come to the fore, can clarify the complex connections inherent in literacy practices as opposed to common procedures in the field such as think-aloud protocols and expert-novice distinctions
Challenges in language testing of multilingual individuals
Full text linkThis paper illuminates the intersection between language and education from childhood to adult age through the lens of institutional language testing of multilingual individuals. The research question is how the language competences of multilingual individuals are made measurable within three institutional settings in Denmark: daycare, primary school and language schools for adult learners of Danish.
Grounded in the theoretical understanding that an institutional linguistic evaluation is a situated political act (Shohamy, 2006) this paper focuses on the construct (Fulcer & Davidsen, 2007) of the different language testing instruments.
The cross-institutional and comparative perspective is supplemented with a diachronic perspective that illuminates the epistemological and political background for the linguistic evaluations. This approach supplements Scandinavian research in which language evaluation typically is analyzed within specific institutional settings (Monsen, 2014; Vallberg-Roth, 2012; Vik, 2020).
The empirical basis for the article is legislation, governing documents, and evaluation tools as well as international research literature about language evaluation.
On the one hand, the analysis shows a considerable epistemological difference between the various linguistic evaluation tools. On the other hand, it appears as a common feature that the evaluations have difficulty dealing with multilingualism and the linguistic repertoire of multilingual individuals and thus raises ethical challenges (McNamara & Ryan, 2011).
Based on the concept of linguistic repertoire (Garcia & Wei, 2014), the ethical challenges in current evaluation practices are discussed and the importance of relating language evaluations to the linguistic complexity that currently characterizes many Western societies is highlighted
Towards an educational linguistics for peace
Full text linkThe world is facing a confluence of crises, from poverty, misinformation, and intolerance to disease, climate change, and geopolitical conflict. In 2015, the United Nations set an ambitious agenda for worldwide sustainable development to accomplish by 2030 in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Halfway to this deadline, only 15% of SDG targets to inter alia reduce poverty, enhance education, advance equality, ensure health and well-being, and preserve natural resources are on track (United Nations, 2023). It is easy to feel despair and hopelessness. What can educational linguists and language teachers do in the face of such daunting challenges?
Since its inception, it has been a central tenet of educational linguistics to be theme-based and problem-driven (Hornberger, 2001; Hult, 2010a). That is to say, we begin with a practical problem and look to relevant principles, theories, and methods that allow us to investigate and address it (Hornberger, 2006). There is, perhaps, no greater thematic challenge today than the threat to peace. In their work on peacebuilding in language education, Oxford et al. (2021) emphasize that peace is not simply the absence of violence and war but the positive presence of equitable social structures that foster human rights for everyone and that language educators have a pivotal role to play in cultivating peace (cf. Skutnabb-Kangas, et al., 2009).
Accordingly, I argue that peace studies (e.g., Curtis, 2022; Manojlovic, 2018) is a useful addition to the fields and disciplines that inform educational linguistics. In particular, I examine how Oxford’s multidimensional Language of Peace Approach (Oxford et al., 2021), which includes inner peace, interpersonal peace, intergroup peace, intercultural peace, international peace, and ecological peace, aligns with the intellectual roots of educational linguistics as a way to account for the socially situated nature of language (in) education (e.g., Douglas Fir Group, 2016; Hornberger, 2003; Hult, 2010b, 2019; Hult & King, 2011; Spolsky, 1972; Van Lier, 1994, 2004). To that end, I discuss how my own work and that of others applying ecology of language and nexus analysis (Hult, 2013, 2017; cf. Scollon & Scollon, 2004) can advance an educational linguistics for peace. I describe how language education policy and practice can be leveraged to foster peace and how educational stakeholders as social actors can become agents for peace. As we search for hope in turbulent times, we can begin looking right in our own classrooms
Specifika räknesvårigheter/dyskalkyli – vad ser vi i klinik?
Full text linkPå Logopedkliniken, Danderyds sjukhus har utredningar med dyskalkylifrågeställning gjorts i över tjugo år. Vi har sett efterfrågan på dessa utredningar öka markant över tid, vilket åtminstone delvis torde kunna förklaras av att diagnosen har kommit att uppmärksammas alltmer i samhället under senare år. Icke desto mindre verkar det fortfarande finnas en tämligen utbredd skepsis mot dyskalkyli som diagnos, vilket många av våra patienters berättelser vittnar om – flera har gått igenom grundskolan med stora räknesvårigheter utan att misstanke om dyskalkyli väckts från pedagogiskt håll.
Det har under flera decennier forskats betydligt mer på dyslexi än på dyskalkyli, men under de senaste 10-15 åren har förhållandet tenderat att utjämnas något. Riktlinjer och konsensusdokument för utredning och diagnostik av räknesvårigheter har utarbetats i några större europeiska länder, men saknas alltjämt i Sverige.
Den här föreläsningen tar sin utgångspunkt i ett kliniskt perspektiv, där vi vill dela med oss av vad vi möter i den kliniska vardagen. I takt med att forskningsfältet tar kliv framåt bekräftar rönen också vår bild av en heterogen patientgrupp där samförekomsten med angränsande tillstånd inom logopedi och neuropsykiatri är hög, och matematiksvårigheter i bredare bemärkelse är vanligt förekommande oavsett orsak.
Vi ser dock att den patientgrupp vi möter inte alltid återspeglar de förhållanden som målas upp i forskning, vilket får oss att fundera över vilka andra faktorer som kan ligga till grund för remittering. Vi ser tendenser till både över- och underremittering där exempelvis flickor utgör en klar majoritet av de vi träffar, vilket står i kontrast till rådande prevalensestimat. Till kliniken remitteras patienter från stora delar av landet, vilket återspeglar att dessa utredningar görs på få håll och endast inom ett fåtal verksamheter. Den stora andel patienter som remitteras från andra regioner bekräftar också bilden av ett ojämlikt vårdutbud och att kunskapen om och synen på dyskalkyli som diagnos kan variera regionalt.
Hur hjälps vi bäst åt att tidigt identifiera elever som har svaga förutsättningar för aritmetiskt och/eller bredare matematiskt lärande, oavsett orsak? Hur kan vi mötas över professionsgränserna till gagn för eleverna med störst behov
The potential role of civic- and health communicators for building sexual health literacy among newly arrived migrants in Sweden
Full text linkHow a country receives and welcomes refugees and other migrants is critical to their access to societal resources, health, and well-being. Inequality in access to information about sexual health among newly arrived refugees compared to the Swedish population manifests itself, for example, in lower utilization of essential sexual and reproductive health care, lower participation in preventive activities, and poorer health outcomes. Limited access has been explained by a complex interplay of pre- and post-migration determinants, such as limited sexual health education and exposure to sexual health care in the home country, poor language skills and system navigation, low trust in health professionals and interpreters, and experiences of marginalization. This presentation discusses and contrasts the right to health and underlying determinants in the design and implementation of "culturally appropriate" interventions. We specifically explore the role of civic and health communicators/cultural mediators, operating within the realm of Swedish integration laws, in reaching newly arrived migrants with information about sexual and reproductive health. The critical analysis incorporates aspects of cultural and social integration, specifically related to the discourse on sexual and reproductive health and rights. We highlight the potential role of civic and health communicators in facilitating dialogue about sexuality, gender norms, intergenerational conflicts, and building links between societal institutions.How a country receives and welcomes refugees and other migrants is critical to their access to societal resources, health, and well-being. Inequality in access to information about sexual health among newly arrived refugees compared to the Swedish population manifests itself, for example, in lower utilization of essential sexual and reproductive health care, lower participation in preventive activities, and poorer health outcomes. Limited access has been explained by a complex interplay of pre- and post-migration determinants, such as limited sexual health education and exposure to sexual health care in the home country, poor language skills and system navigation, low trust in health professionals and interpreters, and experiences of marginalization. This presentation discusses and contrasts the right to health and underlying determinants in the design and implementation of "culturally appropriate" interventions. We specifically explore the role of civic and health communicators/cultural mediators, operating within the realm of Swedish integration laws, in reaching newly arrived migrants with information about sexual and reproductive health. The critical analysis incorporates aspects of cultural and social integration, specifically related to the discourse on sexual and reproductive health and rights. We highlight the potential role of civic and health communicators in facilitating dialogue about sexuality, gender norms, intergenerational conflicts, and building links between societal institutions
Brazilian queer and trans mobility: a postcolonial approach
Full text linkThe world paradox of LGBT+ migration and refuge seeking might become a little bit trickier when we look into Brazil. This country used to be the main country of origin of queer and trans emigrants, but in the past years after some “legal apparatus” that strengthened LGBT+ rights and protection, became a country of destination of queer and trans migrants and asylum seekers (Andrade 2019; França 2017).
We could compare Brazil with other “sexual democracies” that became a haven for LGBT+ migrants in the Global South. What is remarkable in the Brazilian experience is the (neo)fascist turn in the politics in the second half of 2010’s century and how, at the same time, the country became both a receiver and a sender of LGBT+ migrants. It became receiver because of an easy process for asylum procedure at the borders and with the federal police, based on identity of gender and sexual orientation. These policies are also safeguarded by a series of LGBT+ law enforcements that the justice system has been backing up in the past years (Theodoro and Cogo 2019). As a sender, there are few data available on who is leaving, although the evidence has been very clear in the past years. Many leaving are LGBT+s scared of the fascist presidency in power between 2018-2022 or who desire to live in a place where they can be free of harassment and violence – especially trans people (Vartabedian 2018).
This paper will present the Participatory Observation done from 2020-2021 with the Coletivo Pelos Direitos do Brasil em Madrid, a grassroot organization that organizes several assemblies, events on human rights, LGBT+ rights and decolonial feminism and is connected to several networks of the diaspora in the Iberian Peninsula and Europe.The world paradox of LGBT+ migration and refuge seeking might become a little bit trickier when we look into Brazil. This country used to be the main country of origin of queer and trans emigrants, but in the past years after some “legal apparatus” that strengthened LGBT+ rights and protection, became a country of destination of queer and trans migrants and asylum seekers (Andrade 2019; França 2017).
We could compare Brazil with other “sexual democracies” that became a haven for LGBT+ migrants in the Global South. What is remarkable in the Brazilian experience is the (neo)fascist turn in the politics in the second half of 2010’s century and how, at the same time, the country became both a receiver and a sender of LGBT+ migrants. It became receiver because of an easy process for asylum procedure at the borders and with the federal police, based on identity of gender and sexual orientation. These policies are also safeguarded by a series of LGBT+ law enforcements that the justice system has been backing up in the past years (Theodoro and Cogo 2019). As a sender, there are few data available on who is leaving, although the evidence has been very clear in the past years. Many leaving are LGBT+s scared of the fascist presidency in power between 2018-2022 or who desire to live in a place where they can be free of harassment and violence – especially trans people (Vartabedian 2018).
This paper will present the Participatory Observation done from 2020-2021 with the Coletivo Pelos Direitos do Brasil em Madrid, a grassroot organization that organizes several assemblies, events on human rights, LGBT+ rights and decolonial feminism and is connected to several networks of the diaspora in the Iberian Peninsula and Europe