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Verbal and pictorial semantic processing in 9-12-year-olds with diverse language proficiencies
Get PDFPictures are frequently used in pedagogical practices to facilitate equal participation across students with diverse language proficiencies, based on an assumption that pictures are easier to comprehend than verbal language. However, the compensatory function of pictures should be problematized if atypical semantic processing in the verbal domain cooccurs with atypical semantic processing in the pictorial domain. The purpose of the present study is therefore to increase the knowledge of semantic processing in the verbal and pictorial domains in primary school children with typical language proficiency and peers with developmental language disorder (DLD). Our research questions are: do semantic processing differ 1) between children with typical language proficiency and with DLD, and 2) between the verbal and the pictorial domains?
We measured 9-12-year-olds’ brain activity by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) to verbal narratives and pictorial narratives (wordless comic strips). We specifically measured the N400 ERP-response to words and pictures that were predictable and unpredictable in the narratives (e.g., The daddy penguin continues to bake cake/nose in the kitchen). The dependent variable was the magnitude of the N400-effect; the N400 for predictable stimuli subtracted from the N400 for unpredictable stimuli, in a 2x2 ANOVA.
Preliminary results (N = 32) showed no statistically significant main effect of either language proficiency or domain on the magnitude of the N400-effect. However, explorative analyses revealed a group difference in presence or absence of the N400-effect. Specifically, the N400-effect was present in a larger proportion of children with typical language (TL) proficiency than in children with DLD. This difference was statistically significant for the verbal domain (TL 91%, DLD 60%, z = 2.08, p = .02), though not for the pictorial domain (TL 73%, DLD 50%, z = 1.26, p = .11). Differences between domains within each group (TL: verbal 91% vs. pictorial 73%, DLD: verbal 60% vs. pictorial 50%) were not statistically significant.
Despite the lack of significant differences in N400-effect magnitude, the significant group difference in the presence of the N400-effect suggests that this study will have the potential to enhance understanding of verbal and pictorial semantic processing across language proficiencies
The dynamics of academic writing development in postgraduate writing group interaction
Get PDFWriting groups have been identified as an effective means to support postgraduate students’ development as academic writers. Often such groups are facilitated by advisors at university writing centres. Studies on reported and observed interaction in these groups suggest that students formulate tacit assumptions and draw on various types of normative knowledge (e.g. Mochizuki & Starfield, 2021). However, there is little information on how this knowledge is made relevant and used to generate intersubjective understanding and support writing development. The aim of this paper is therefore to explore the dynamics of introducing and using norms and concepts of academic writing when solving writing problems. The study takes a socio-cultural perspective and draws on the notion of mediational tools. Mediational tools objectify culturally developed knowledge as they are interpreted and used in interaction (Wittek et al., 2017), e.g. when the concept of ‘topic sentence’ is used in the group interaction to solve a specific writing issue. The study investigates how writing group participants jointly mobilize different sets of knowledge when identifying and negotiating writing problems in their own or peers’ texts.
The data consist of recordings of writing group meetings collected over eight weeks. The group comprised six masters students from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences departments who used English as an additional language, and two facilitators at a Swedish university. The analysis focuses on episodes in which participants introduce and use knowledge of research-based writing (e.g. identifying topic sentences, distinguishing between aims and objectives). The results reveal that participants negotiate various levels of abstract and situated knowledge. Students do not only test tacit assumptions about their own writing projects, but also draw on complex techniques to verify different types of knowledge
Transfer effects of daily singing in the classroom on narrative skills in primary school pupils
Get PDFThe aim was twofold, to study effects of a classroom singing intervention on narrative comprehension and production in primary school students and to study the role of language background and family SES on the linguistic measures and intervention effects.
The effects of singing intervention has been studied with focus on different language domains, showing gains in e.g. vocabulary (e.g. Busse et al., 2021). Music has been found to promote pupils' academic success (e.g. Román- Caballero et al., 2022). The present study’s focus is on transfer effects of singing intervention on narrative skills. Assessment of narrative skills are considered an ecologically valid approach to assessment of linguistic competence (Botting, 2002).
Ninety second grade pupils from three schools participated in a daily, fifteen minute singing intervention during five weeks led by the school’s music teacher. The pupils’ production and comprehension of narratives were measured before (one or two times) and after intervention at two times. Picture sequences from the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN, Gagarina et al., 2019) were used to elicit narratives. The production of macrostructural elements (MSE) and the use of internal state terms (IST) were analyzed according to Gagarina et al. (2019). For microstructure, the proportion of subordinate clauses was measured by Subordination Index (SI). Comprehension of narratives was measured with auditory passage comprehension test, Lyssna Förstå Minnas (LFM, Carlie et al., 2021).
Preliminary analyses from two schools showed differences in parental SES, but the results were similar between schools regarding LFM, MSE and IST. Group level SI differed between schools. Directly after intervention, the number of MSE increased in one school. The number of IST increased after intervention while SI decreased in both schools . Follow-up data and data from the third school are yet to be analysed.
These preliminary findings suggest that singing intervention in the classroom may support language learning. In an upcoming study we will investigate singing intervention effects on pupils’ vocabulary, as measured by word definition skills.This study is part of a five years longitudinal interdisciplinary study, Singing, health and well-being in school – a societal matter
Teaching that promotes multilingual students' grammatical awareness
Get PDFThrough sentence chain tests before and after interventions with teaching about systemic-functional grammar (see Halliday 2014) in grade 3 at a linguistically heterogeneous school in Sweden, we have studied whether the ability to determine what is a sentence increases when students receive grammar instruction with the support of a concretizing model of a sentence.
The study is based on research that questions traditional grammar teaching as support for writing (Andrews 2005, Torgerson et al. 2014) but which shows that teaching systemic-functional grammar provides good support for language and knowledge developmentn( e.g. Moore & Schleppegrell 2016). The project also follows up a pilot study on how grammar teaching can be made concrete by comparing the parts of sentences with planets that rotate around suns (Lindgren 2022).
The theory behind the study is based on a systemic-functional theory of language (Halliday 2014). The material consists of results of sentence chain tests (see Jacobsson 2014) in three experimental classes and three control classes.
Preliminary data from the analyzes of the student tests show an increase measured in points after the interventions. The increase was large for both the control group (eta2=0.45) and the experimental group (eta2=0.63). However, the magnitude of the increase was greater for the experimental group than for the control group, which we interpret as more increasement of the experimental group's than of the control group’s performance
The effects of extensive, timed, and repeated oral reading on grammatical and sentential processes
Get PDFImproving reading fluency is crucial for learners of English as a second language (L2). This skill is vital in achieving their personal and professional goals. L2 reading research has identified effective techniques to improve learners’ fluency such as extensive reading (ER), timed reading (TR), repeated reading (RR), and oral reading (OR) (e.g., Beglar et al., 2012; Chung & Nation, 2006; Milliner, 2021; Taguchi & Gorsuch, 2002). However, understanding how these fluency treatments affect the cognitive processes used in reading is not well understood. While reading theories have suggested that consistent exposure to reading material automatizes bottom-up processes such as grammar and sentence comprehension, empirical evidence supporting these assertions is scant, particularly in L2 English as Foreign Language (EFL) settings. Therefore, the aim of this study is to elucidate how treatments of extensive, timed, and repeated oral reading have on the automatization of grammatical and sentential cognitive processes among L2 English Japanese university learners over one academic year.
The presenter will report on the automatization of the grammatical and sentence comprehension among Japanese university students (N = 76) after receiving reading fluency treatments over one academic year. In this experiment, the participants were divided into three groups. The first group engaged in a combination of timed reading, oral reading, and extensive reading. The second group practiced timed and extensive reading. Finally, a comparison group did mainly speaking and communication activities.
The participants’ reaction time data of a grammaticality judgment task and a true/false sentence task were collected three times during year using Superlab computer software. Automaticity will be evaluated based on (a) a decrease in reaction time, (b) a decrease in the coefficient of variation, and (c) a positive correlation between the coefficient of variation and reaction times. The results will show how various reading fluency activities impact these cognitive reading processes. While it is expected that all the treatments will have a positive effect on the automatization of these processes, it is hypothesized that the first group, which had the most comprehensive reading fluency treatment, would make the most improvement
Languages in the French higher education: A small-scale study of the relationship between family language policy and French students’ attitudes towards English and minority languages
Get PDFPuristic attitudes of the French and their attitudes towards English have been widely discussed (e.g., Ager, 1999; Walsh, 2014; 2016), and may be related to what Thomas (1991) terms as ‘external linguistic purims’. The basic goal of this research is to investigate French students’ attitudes towards English and minority languages in the French higher education, as well as to establish correlations between such attitudes and three key components of family language policy. The key components of family language policy, as identified by Spolsky (2004; 2009), are: language practices, language ideology, and language management. The methodology of the research includes the administration of a questionnaire among the students of the University Côte d’Azur (Nice, France), who are divided into two groups - those from monolingual families and those from bilingual families. There are three hypotheses that the research is expected to confirm:
The participants will evaluate the knowledge and learning of English as more relevant than the knowledge andlearning of other (minority) languages;
The participants from bilingual families will assign greater value to multilingualism and the use of minority languagesand will believe that minority languages should be present to a greater extent in the French higher education (as coursesand media of instruction) than the participants from monolingual families;
The participants from bilingual families whose parents insisted on maintaining their minority languages will assigngreater value to multilingualism and the use of minority languages and will believe that minority languages should bepresent to a greater extent in the French higher education (as courses and media of instruction) than the participantsfrom bilingual families whose parents did not insist on maintaining their minority languages
An upper secondary student’s translingual writing practices in Swedish as a second language
Get PDFResearch has shown that students with access to several languages make use of their first language(s) when writing in a second language. However, there is a research gap concerning how these translingual writing practices (Canagarajah, 2013) vary between students, and with the same student. In this presentation, I show how Kim's translingual writing practices change over three writing activities. Kim was one of three students participating in a case study with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of upper secondary school students’ writing practices by exploring students’ use of resources during writing activities in the school subject Swedish as a second language. Two research questions are relevant for this presentation:
How does Kim use different resources when writing?
How does Kim’s use of resources change over time?
The study draws on dialogic, functional, and socio-material perspectives, and resources are viewed as parts of three dynamic semiotic repertoires. At specific moments, resources of the three repertoires come together in unique and situated assemblages to make meaning.
Following a linguistic ethnography approach, material was collected over three semesters and include survey responses, video and screen recordings, field notes, artefacts and photographs, student interviews and student texts.
The resources were identified and categorized, followed by the analysis of a selection of writing activity moments using the notions of semiotic repertoires and assemblage. Intertextual analytical tools were used on students’ texts.
Preliminary results show a variation in Kim's translingual writing practices. Over time, Kim largely abandoned the use of two languages and mainly used Swedish, while other students consistently used several languages and Google translate. Kim also adjusted her translingual practices to school conventions when needed, e.g. by using private notes made at home. Furthermore, the analysis shows Kim over time being more confident using Swedish, at the same time expressing concern about losing what could be interpreted as a translingual identity. Preliminary results imply the necessity of viewing students' translingual writing practices as individual, dynamic, and spatiotemporally situated
L2 English extramural activities and lexical complexity
Get PDFFrequent engagement in extramural English (EE) activities (English-language activities that students engage in outside of the classroom) has been shown to positively influence students’ L2 receptive and productive skills (e.g., Sundqvist, 2009). There are also indications in previous studies that the type of EE input students receive affects their production (Kaatari et al., 2023). Extending this line of research, we test the role of the type of input students receive through EE activities focusing specifically on their effect on lexical complexity. To do so, we look at junior and senior high school student writing in L2 English from the Swedish Learner English Corpus (SLEC). SLEC contains information about how many hours per week students engage in five EE activities: reading, watching, conversation, social media, and gaming. We use three types of psycholinguistic lexical sophistication measures (contextual distinctiveness, concreteness, and age of exposure), along with one measure of lexical diversity (moving average type-token ratio). Specifically, we build on previous research and ask the following research questions that also serve as our hypotheses:
Does frequent engagement with spoken input (conversation and watching) result in a higher degree of linguisticdiversity than other types of EE exposure?
Does frequent engagement with longer written input (reading) result in a higher degree of linguistic sophistication, thanother types of EE?
To test these specific hypotheses, we use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Competing measured variable path analysis models were fitted, systematically testing our hypotheses. The best-fitting model (χ : 0.14, df: 20, CFI: 0.99, RMSEA: 0.033[0.00–0.064], SRMR: 0.067) confirmed both of our hypotheses. It thus seems crucial to avoid grouping EE activities together into a single category, and instead consider what type of input students are exposed to
Elever i matematiksvårigheter - Vilket stöd kan SPSM ge?
Get PDFMålet med aktiviteten:
Ökad kännedom om SPSM och det stöd myndigheten kan erbjuda skolans aktörer då det gäller matematiksvårigheter.
Teorier och metoder eller arbetssätt och strategier:
Informationen kommer att baseras på myndighetens stödmaterial om matematiksvårigheter, som vilar på vetenskaplig grund och beprövad erfarenhet.
Resultat av undervisningsinsatsen eller studien:
Stödmaterial matematiksvårigheter erbjuder kunskap om hur matematiksvårigheter kan upptäckas, vilka konsekvenser det kan få, och vad lärare och annan personal kan göra för att öka förutsättningarna för elevers lärande i matematik.
Slutsatser eller reflektioner över den beskrivna undervisningsformen, utvecklingsområdet eller studien du/ni beskriver:
Stödmaterial matematiksvårigheter är ett av myndighetens mest besökta och använda material som med information och spridning skulle kunna komma ännu fler till gagn.
Vilken betydelse kan detta få för undervisning av elever i behov av stödinsatser:
Stödmaterialet är webbaserat, kostnadsfritt och erbjuder konkreta exempel på hur skolans personal kan identifiera elever med särskilda utbildningsbehov samt anpassa undervisningen därefter
Elevassistenters arbete med elever i behov av särskilt stöd - risker och möjligheter
Get PDFElevassistenternas antal i den svenska grundskolan har ökat kraftigt sedan 2013, från drygt 13 000 till över 22 000. Det är en yrkeskategori som benämns på många olika sätt och uppdragen skiftar. Tidigare forskning visar att det finns både möjligheter och risker med att anlita elevassistenter för att arbeta med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. I en enkätundersökning om specialpedagogisk verksamhet ställdes följande fråga till blivande speciallärare och specialpedagoger: Vilka förutsättningar måste finnas för att resurspersonalens (elevassistenternas) arbete ska fungera bra? Resultaten bygger på 86 fritextsvar. Det är en liten undersökning med fokus på framgångsfaktorer, och resultaten är tentativa. Tre temaområden urskildes:
Delaktighet, samarbete och kommunikation Resurspersonalen behöver vara delaktig i pedagogisk och didaktisk planering, samtal kring undervisning och få information om eleverna. De bör vara en naturlig del av arbetslaget och inkluderas i möten och beslut som rör eleverna. Nära samarbete och öppen kommunikation mellan resurspersonalen, lärarna och övrig skolpersonal är viktigt.
Tydliga roller och ansvarsfördelning Tydlighet i uppdrag, arbetsuppgifter och ansvarsfördelning mellan elevassistenterna och lärarna är viktigt för att förebygga att situationer i skolan blir röriga och oklara. Det bör finnas tydliga arbetsbeskrivningar. Gränserna mellan olika yrkesgrupper måste vara reglerade. Det är också viktigt att det finns förståelse för resurspersonalens roll och hur de kan bidra till elevernas lärande.
Utbildning, handledning och kompetensutveckling Möjligheten för att elevassistentens arbete ska fungera bra blir större om hen har en pedagogisk eller social utbildning. Handledning av speciallärare eller specialpedagog, kurator eller psykolog, är betydelsefullt för att resurspersonalen ska klara av att möta elevernas olika behov. Möjligheter till kompetensutveckling ska finnas.
Tidigare forskning visar att elevassistenter ofta får en undervisande roll, och att arbetet många gånger består av att stödja elever med särskilda utbildningsbehov i matematik och svenska, dvs. grundläggande färdigheter. Seminariets syfte är att diskutera risker och möjligheter för elevers lärande med fokus på matematikutveckling, då elever har stöd av en elevassistent.ever har stöd av en elevassistent