33 results on '"Robert Walldén"'
Search Results
2. Exploring children’s and adults’ joint appropriation of children’s books through the concept of playworld
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Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang and Robert Walldén
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lekvärd ,barnlitteratur ,kreativ involvering ,kollektiv fantasi ,klassrumsläsning ,Special aspects of education ,LC8-6691 - Abstract
Forskning har visat att skönlitteraturära texters position i nordiska klassrum ofta är som redskap för att utveckla språkfärdigheter och undervisa om strukturella aspekter av texterna. Detta perspektiv undanskymmer den lika viktiga kreativa och lekfulla sidan av att läsa litteratur. Denna teoretiska artikel adresserar denna obalans genom att visa hur konceptet lekvärld (Lindqvist, 1992, 1996) kan användas för att för att främja unga elevers agentskap och kreativa uttryck i läsandet av barnlitteratur. Mer specifikt svarar artikeln på frågorna, 1) hur kan muntlig och skriftlig interaktion baserad på läsningen av en barnbok förstås i termer av lekvärd, och 2) på vilket sätt kan konceptet lekvärld berika förståelsen av studenters och lärares möte med barnböcker. Forskningen baseras på en klassrumsstudie i en svensk årskurs 4 med fokuset på diskussioner och aktiviteter under högläsningen av Wegelius Legenden om Sally Jones. Resultatet möjliggör att skifta perspektivet från individuella läsare och läsresponser till ett dialogiskt samspel mellan barnen och den vuxne som på ett kreativt sätt omstöpte och utvecklade texten. Konceptet lekvärld visas som ett redskap som kan främja både lärares och elevers kreativa möten med litterära texter som bidrar till en kollektiv fantasi.
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- 2023
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3. How supervisors provide and students react to EAL thesis supervision: Voices from Sweden and Indonesia
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Musrifatun Nangimah and Robert Walldén
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English as an additional language ,thesis supervision ,academic socialization ,disciplinary literacy ,feedback ,interviews ,Education (General) ,L7-991 - Abstract
IntroductionThesis supervision is a critical part of students’ academic literacy development. Previous research has shown different dimensions of this development with limited attention to cross-cultural aspects. In particular, there has been little research on how students and supervisors negotiate supervision practices in non-anglophone contexts. This study aimed to explore students’ and supervisors’ reported priorities and experiences regarding the provision and reception of feedback in English as an Additional Language thesis supervision.MethodWe conducted a qualitative case study to illuminate supervisor’s and students’ experiences of supervision in Sweden and Indonesia. It involved 39 participants (14 supervisors and 25 students) from one Swedish and three Indonesian universities. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed thematically using Biesta’s functions of education, Habermas’ communicative action theory, and perspectives on academic literacy.FindingsFirstly, we found that Swedish and Indonesian supervisors had different feedback provision priorities. Swedish supervisors described prioritizing content-focused feedback to facilitate students’ socialization into academic writing. Conversely, most Indonesian supervisors expressed balancing content- and form-focused feedback with a greater emphasis on qualifying as English teachers. Despite these differences, supervisors in both contexts tended to isolate academic language use from discipline-specific values and practices. Secondly, students in both contexts largely expressed an instrumental orientation to achieving their goals and were frustrated by supervisors phrasing feedback as questions. Many students expressed unfamiliarity with necessary methodologies and theoretical frameworks, which made supervisors’ feedback difficult to decode.DiscussionSince only a few of the students viewed the feedback as a support for their process of learning, this study calls for a clear communication about the academic socialization intention through supervision. However, academic socialization cannot solely be the responsibility of supervisors but must be embedded in the curriculum courses.
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- 2023
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4. Students navigating shifting literacy expectations in grade 6 history teaching: a qualitative text-based study
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Robert Walldén
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disciplinary literacy ,elementary school ,history teaching ,social semiotic theory ,writing practices ,Education (General) ,L7-991 - Abstract
This qualitative study focuses on Grade 6 students’ possibilities to engage in disciplinary writing practices in history teaching in a school located in a socially disadvantaged and linguistically diverse area. The aim is to contribute knowledge about how students negotiate different literacy expectations in the teaching. The researcher used ethnographic methods to follow one teacher and two groups of Grade 6 students for 12 weeks’ teaching about the Vasa era in Swedish history. The material used consists of samples of students writing, parts of the text material they studied, and written questions they answered in tests and pre-writing discussion. In the analysis, systemic-functional linguistics (SFL) and thematic content analysis were employed to develop categories of literacy expectations based on the written questions. SFL was also used to analyze samples of the students’ writing and relevant textbook material. The findings show that the expectations increased in a final test because most questions required causal reasoning. In contrast, the questions used in text discussions and homework tests conveyed a variety of literacy expectations, with an emphasis on chronological reconstructions of events. While some students adjusted their writing to causal reasoning, others relied on a reconstruct approach that adhered closely to the simple text material that was chronologically structured. Outlier examples showed students using multimodal representations, a substitute teacher’s oral elaboration on a text, and resources of learner language in their answers. Implications for teaching that support all students’ engagement in disciplinary practices of history are discussed.
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- 2022
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5. 'Det fattas jättemycket' – genreteoretiska perspektiv på vuxna andraspråkselevers texter och responssamtal
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Hanna Sandgaard-Ekdahl and Robert Walldén
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andraspråksskrivande ,genrebaserad undervisning ,kamratrespons ,stöttning ,vuxnas lärande ,Theory and practice of education ,LB5-3640 - Abstract
Studien bidrar med kunskap om funktionella aspekter av vuxna andraspråkselevers arbete med skrivrespons och argumenterande texter. Den genomfördes inom grundläggande vuxenutbildning, en svagt representerad skolform i skrivdidaktisk forskning. Materialet består av inspelade responssamtal i mindre grupper samt de elevtexter som låg till grund för samtalen. Studien synliggör vilka aspekter i texterna som eleverna fokuserar på i samtalen och vilka aspekter som skulle behöva stärkas i argumentationen. I analysen används systemisk-funktionell genreteori. Resultatet visar att eleverna identifierade utvecklingsområden i texter baserat på den genrestruktur undervisningen hade utgått ifrån. Samtidigt hade eleverna hade eleverna svårt att identifiera vad som krävdes för att genrestrukturen skulle byggas ut på ett fungerande sätt. Studien ger teoretiska redskap för att synliggöra språkliga mönster på lokal textnivå för att stödja andraspråkselevers skrivutveckling. ENGLISH: ”Lots of things are missing”: Genre-theoretical perspectives on adult second-language students working with feedback and argumentative texts. The article contributes knowledge about functional aspects of adult second-language students working with writing feedback and argumentative texts. It was conducted in basic adult education, which is underrepresented in writing pedagogy research. The material consists of recorded feedback discussions in small groups and the student texts the discussions were based on. The study highlights the aspects of text the students focused on in the discussions and the aspects that could further strengthen the argumentation. In the analysis, systemic-functional genre theory is used. The result shows that the students identified areas of improvement based on the genre structure the teaching had focused on. However, the students had difficulties in identifying how the genre structure could be developed in a functional way. The study gives theoretical tools to highlight patterns of language on a local text level to support second-language students writing development. Keywords: Adult learners, Second language writing, Feedback, Peer response, Genre-based teaching, Systemic functional linguistics
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- 2022
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6. 'Internet? That’s an app you can download'. First-graders use linguistic resources to describe internet and digital information
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Eva Wennås Brante and Robert Walldén
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critical literacy ,first-graders ,focus-group interviews ,internet ,linguistic resources ,Education (General) ,L7-991 - Abstract
Given young children’s frequent use of the internet and the expectations formulated in policy documents such as the Swedish national curriculum, teachers need to promote critical awareness about information found online, even in the earliest years of schooling. Responding to the need for more information about how first-graders understand the internet, we report on findings from focus group interviews concerning what students in Grade 1 think the internet is and what kind of experiences and linguistic resources they draw upon to express their understanding. Based on thematic and systemic-functional linguistic analysis, the results show that the children mostly express an understanding of the internet as something concrete, such as an app, as something encapsulated in apps or hardware and, more generally, as an enabler for the use of different apps. Students connections to using YouTube and games are prevalent, and their understanding of the internet is shaped by experiences of screen interactions when using these apps. On rare occasions, students hesitantly tried to formulate abstract perspectives concerning what the internet is or what it means. Possible directions for promoting and researching a more abstract understanding in pedagogical practice are discussed.
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- 2021
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7. 'Räknas detta också som text?' Lässtrategier i ett ämnesintegrerat arbete med läromedelstexter
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Robert Walldén
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classroom interaction ,disciplinary literacy ,metalanguage ,reading strategies ,science teaching ,Education - Abstract
This article responds to the need of further qualitative insight into teachers’ supporting students’ factual reading by introducing reading strategies. Inspired by ethnographic methods and action research, the material of the study consists of observations and audio recordings (20 lesson) of teaching in Grade 4 which integrated the subjects Swedish and Science (Physics and Biology). The analysis is mainly based on Langer’s stances for building knowledge in academic disciplines and a social-semiotic perspective inspired by Macken-Horarik’s knowledge domains. The findings show that the classroom interaction involved considerable attention to both the features of the disciplinary texts, verbal as well as visual, and the process of reading. The reading practice allowed the students to share previous experiences and discover a need for new information. However, the teacher and the students largely relied on informal metalanguage and foregrounded connections to everyday experience, rather than using a more elaborate metalanguage to explore how knowledge is construed from the perspective of physics and biology. Implications for teaching reading strategies in ways which promote students’ engagement with disciplinary content are discussed.
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- 2022
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8. Interconnected literacy practices: exploring classroom work with literature in adult second language education
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Robert Walldén
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adult education ,critical literacy ,second language instruction ,reader-response ,teaching literature ,Special aspects of education ,LC8-6691 - Abstract
Previously, there has been little research conducted on how teachers and adult second language learners negotiate the challenge of reading authentic novels in the target language. This qualitative classroom study explores literacy practices in adult intermediate second language instruction, involving two teachers and their diverse student groups over four weeks of work with literature. The material has been generated during weekly book discussions, through observations, voice recordings and the collection of texts and other teaching materials. The result shows a strong orientation towards meaning-making, which was scaffolded by the teachers directing attention to language, style and narrative structure. Thus, different kinds of literacy practices were interconnected. Although practices of critical text analysis were not prioritised by the participant teachers, it is shown how the students used their diverse experiences and knowledge to read both 'with' and 'against' the grain of the text. Implications for teaching and steering documents are discussed.
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- 2020
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9. Kommunikativa orienteringar i kunskapsbyggande interaktion
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Robert Walldén
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classroom interaction ,content-based instruction ,communicative approaches ,discursive mobility ,primary education ,Education (General) ,L7-991 - Abstract
Exploring spoken interaction in the teaching of texts and content knowledge to linguistically diverse Grade 6 students, this article responds to the need of a more nuanced understanding of how different patterns of interaction function in knowledge-building classroom practices. The study is based on observations and transcriptions of recorded classroom interaction in different school subjects. The analysis is based on theoretical frameworks of communicative approaches, knowledge domains and discursive mobility. The result shows how patterns of classroom interaction are connected to important functions, such as building up prior knowledge, reminding students of key disciplinary concepts, reinforcing meanings in disciplinary texts, problematizing different aspects of how subject content is represented and enabling the diverse students to connect the subject content to personal experiences and process it with innovative use of the target language. The result also shows that movements towards a disciplinary discourse can be promoted by grounding the interaction in written texts and hindered by less functional use of everyday language.
- Published
- 2021
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10. Accepting or Challenging the Given? Critical Perspectives on Whole-Class Readings of Texts in Social Studies
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Robert Walldén
- Abstract
Exploring how the information flow of social studies textbook spreads is negotiated in teacher-led interaction, the concern of this study is the conscious and critical use of teaching material in diverse student groups. The study involved a teacher and her Grade 6 students in a school with many migrant language learners. The data was gathered by observations, field notes, voice recordings, and the collection of teaching materials. Using social semiotic theory of visual design, the analysis of the textbook used in instruction shows that the layout perpetuated a Western-centric view of a divided world, along with an individualistic and anthropocentric view of environmental sustainability. The oral interaction, highlighting different text elements, largely reinforced the meaning perspectives promoted in the textbook. However, on occasion, the students were positioned to take a more analytical stance. Implications for using knowledge about information flow in textbooks to promote critical literacy practices in teaching are discussed.
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- 2024
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11. Visual Resources and Interaction in Grade 4 Science Teaching--Moving in and out of Discourse When Exploring Concepts of Evolution and Adaption
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Robert Walldén and Pia N. Larsson
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Although visual aids are widely considered a valuable source of scaffolding, the nature and active utilization of these aids in current science classrooms are not well understood. This qualitative study explores interaction in the teaching of concepts related to evolution, with a specific focus on a teacher's use of different visual support material. Based on a classroom study in a linguistically diverse Grade 4 classroom, we employed the perspective of discourse-bridging interaction to develop three broad categories of interactional examples, which we related to three kinds of visual support material used in the instruction: generic visual support images, naturalistic images, and disciplinary images showing examples of natural selection. The findings show that the interaction moved in and out of science discourse in a way that reflected the images' properties. A generic visual support image illustrated the concept of "adaption" as puzzle pieces fitting together, which promoted everyday and anthropomorphic examples of animals and people striving to fit in. When the teacher used naturalistic images, the discourse shifted between a range of perspectives, while visual aids and whiteboard drawings showing the classic examples of giraffes evolving (a disciplinary image) were employed to clarify the notion of natural selection. We discuss the study's implications for using visual support material in a planned way that supports disciplinary understanding.
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- 2024
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12. Adult Migrants' Voices about Learning and Using Swedish at Work Placements in Basic Language Education
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Robert Walldén
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The aim of the present study was to contribute knowledge about how adult L2 learners perceived their possibilities to use and develop the target language (Swedish) when formal language teaching was combined with placements. Situated in the context of Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), the study drew inspiration from action research and ethnographic methodology. A thematic analysis was conducted underpinned by the systemic-functional linguistic concepts of field, tenor and mode. The findings showed that the students highly valued interaction with L1 Swedish speakers outside of the classroom. Several of the students described rich opportunities to interact socially, which, however, also entailed anxiety about their status as L2 speakers. A few of the students reported accessing field-specific language and literacy practices that aligned with their current career goals. However, students with placements relating to kitchen, garage and warehouse work voiced feeling isolated and having little opportunity for social interaction. While students in the first of two course instances found it difficult to discuss and exemplify language they had learnt, a vocabulary assignment developed for the second course instance facilitated discussions about placement-related words and expressions. Implications for teaching are discussed, including using authentic examples of workplace discourse as preparation for placement visits.
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- 2024
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13. Assessed into form
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Robert Walldén
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teacher's profession ,marketization ,formative assessment ,critical discourse analysis ,social media ,Education (General) ,L7-991 - Abstract
The aim of this article is to examine how the discourse of formative assessment is perpetuated and transformed in a Facebook group where teachers and other agents meet for discussions and to share advice about teaching methods. Drawing on concepts from critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 1993), the study shows how teachers position themselves as successful and devout practitioners of formative assessment, while perpetuating central concepts such as self-regulation and peer assessment. Additionally, the results show how teachers’ voices intermingle with private actors seeking to align formative ideals with requirements for certain goods and services. In light of these findings, the relation between formative discourse and discourses of marketization and performativity seems dialectic rather than oppositional. It is proposed that the resulting interdiscursive mix pushes teachers towards adopting market-oriented identities, foregrounding not only the assessable behaviors of students but also those of their teachers.
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- 2017
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14. Eight-year-olds engaging in guided information searches with iPads: Dimensions of reading competence.
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Eva Wennås Brante, Robert Walldén, and Kim Ridell
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- 2024
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15. Diverse views on supervision: Insights from interviews with EAL supervisors in Sweden and Indonesia
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Musrifatun Nangimah and Robert Walldén
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General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
Literature on thesis supervision emphasises collaborative approaches with strong and supportive relationships. Despite an increasing research interest in supervisory relationships, little cross-cultural research has been conducted on supervisory roles and relationships in expanding circle countries. This study explores how thesis supervisors negotiate different roles and relationships in supervision in English as an Additional Language (EAL) contexts. A multi-case study was employed in three contexts: a Swedish university, two Indonesian private universities, and an Indonesian public university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen thesis supervisors. Thematic analysis and systemic-functional appraisal theory were used to analyse the discourse. Our findings revealed that supervisors expressed dealing with (a)symmetrical relationships with students and colleagues, dealing with different supervision roles, and managing priorities relating to intellectual development and instrumental goals. However, these dimensions of supervision were described differently in the three contexts. The Swedish supervisors expressed concerns about having weak authority; meanwhile, the Indonesian private supervisors described frustrated attempts to form a closer relationship with the students, whereas the Indonesian public supervisors reacted to students trying to become too familiar. Furthermore, supervisors in the three contexts had to take different unwanted roles in supervision. The article concludes with implications for understanding situated aspects of supervision.
- Published
- 2023
16. 'It can be a bit tricky': negotiating disciplinary language in and out of context in civics classrooms
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Pia Nygård Larsson and Robert Walldén
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Language and Linguistics ,Education - Published
- 2022
17. Diskursöverbryggande perspektiv på återkopplande skrivsamtal i årskurs 3
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Robert Walldén
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General Medicine - Abstract
Föreliggande studie svarar mot behovet av en mer nyanserad förståelse av skrivundervisning i tidiga skolår genom att belysa återkopplande samtal under klassrumsarbete med rådgivande brev. Studiens deltagare var en undervisande skolbibliotekarie och elever i årskurs 3 som genomförde en skrivuppgift efter högläsning av en barnbok. Materialet utgörs av ljudupptagningar samt fotograferade elevtexter. Analysen bygger på en empirinära operationalisering av Ivanićs ramverk för skrivdiskurser med fokus på hur samtalen relaterade till språklig korrekthet, struktur och kommunikativa mål. Den kommunikativa aspekten synliggörs genom Hallidays registerteori, medan interaktionen visualiseras som diskursiva rörelser mellan dessa olika perspektiv eller textnivåer. Resultatet visar att bibliotekarien ofta motiverade en viss textstruktur genom att hänvisa till aspekter som rörde den kommunikativa kontexten, såsom nödvändigheten att lugna mottagaren och ge tydliga motiveringar av föreslagna råd. Bibliotekarien förde också uppmärksamheten till behovet av att vara tillräckligt språkligt explicit i konstruktionen av texten. Därmed kunde diskursöverbryggande rörelser ses mellan ett fokus på struktur/innehåll och ett fokus på kommunikativ situation. Återkoppling gällande språklig korrekthet motiverades mer sällan med kommunikativa hänsynstaganden men detta förekom i samtal om sambandsord. Studien bidrar med en analytiskt lins som kan användas för att belysa interaktion under andra skrivdidaktiska moment.
- Published
- 2022
18. Focusing on content or strategies? Enactment of reading strategies in discussions about science texts
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Robert Walldén
- Subjects
science texts ,primary education ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,Didactics ,Disciplinary literacy ,social semiotics ,Didaktik ,reading-strategies ,Language and Linguistics ,Education - Abstract
This article concerns the relationship between general literacy skills and engagement with subject-specific content in classroom practice. The aim is to contribute knowledge about how enactment of reading strategies impacts classroom discussions about science texts. For 10 weeks, the researcher conducted observations and audio recordings of strategy-focused text discussions in Grade 4 physics and biology. The strategies employed were as follows: text knowledge, looking at text features and using prior knowledge. The analysis of the transcribed recordings and relevant parts of the textbook material was informed by Bernstein’s sociology of education and a social semiotic view of disciplinary literacy practices. The result shows that reading strategies were foregrounded in discussions about texts in ways which created and upheld boundaries to related content, activities and texts. Notably, the teacher and the students discussed single pages of science textbook material without considering how meaning conveyed by images and writing relates to other pages by, for example, bringing technical knowledge closer to everyday experience or by condensing meanings in a technical way. The study shows the potential of adhering to the information flow between given and new on textbook spreads to understand shifts between concrete and technical meaning.
- Published
- 2022
19. 'Man förstår nästan allt!' Läsförståelsearbete med faktatexter i årskurs 4
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Annika Langwagen and Robert Walldén
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Didactics ,Didaktik - Published
- 2021
20. Accepting or Challenging the Given? Critical Perspectives on Whole-class Readings of Texts in Social Studies
- Author
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Robert Walldén
- Subjects
colonialism ,Linguistics and Language ,Class (computer programming) ,Didactics ,Information flow ,critical discourse analysis ,social semiotics ,Didaktik ,Colonialism ,Social semiotics ,Social studies ,Language and Linguistics ,Education ,Epistemology ,Critical discourse analysis ,Critical literacy ,critical literacy ,Classroom discourse ,textbooks ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,Sociology - Abstract
Exploring how the information flow of social studies textbook spreads is negotiated in teacher-led interaction, the concern of this study is the conscious and critical use of teaching material in diverse student groups. The study involved a teacher and her Grade 6 students in a school with many migrant language learners. The data was gathered by observations, field notes, voice recordings, and the collection of teaching materials. Using social semiotic theory of visual design, the analysis of the textbook used in instruction shows that the layout perpetuated a Western-centric view of a divided world, along with an individualistic and anthropocentric view of environmental sustainability. The oral interaction, highlighting different text elements, largely reinforced the meaning perspectives promoted in the textbook. However, on occasion, the students were positioned to take a more analytical stance. Implications for using knowledge about information flow in textbooks to promote critical literacy practices in teaching are discussed.
- Published
- 2021
21. Negotiating figurative language from literary texts: second-language instruction as a dual literacy practice
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Robert Walldén and P. Nygård Larsson
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Linguistics and Language ,legitimation code theory ,second-language teaching ,Literature and Literary Theory ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Didactics ,Språk och litteratur ,disciplinary literacy ,Didaktik ,DUAL (cognitive architecture) ,Literal and figurative language ,Language and Linguistics ,Linguistics ,Literacy ,Education ,discursive mobility ,Negotiation ,systemic-functional linguistics ,Languages and Literature ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,classroom interaction ,Sociology ,Second language instruction ,adult education ,media_common - Abstract
The aim of this article is to contribute knowledge about how figurative language from literary texts is negotiated through oral interaction in second-language instruction. The material consists of transcriptions of recordings from a classroom study of basic adult second-language instruction involving two teachers and their two student groups. Theories of semantic waves and discursive mobility are used to explore and visualize discursive shifts between concrete and condensed abstract meanings. The results show a varied use of linguistic resources, where students’ contributions often serve as a bridge between the teachers’ concrete examples and abstract paraphrases in which lexical metaphors interplayed with grammatical metaphors. In some exchanges, characters and events in the literary texts were significantly expanded upon in the interaction as they were used as contextual resources. The study sheds light on second-language instruction as a dual disciplinary literacy practice, involving both language learning and the study of literary texts.
- Published
- 2021
22. Graphical models for narrative texts: Reflecting and reshaping curriculum demands for Swedish primary school
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Kim Ridell and Robert Walldén
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Linguistics and Language ,Language and Linguistics ,Education - Published
- 2023
23. 'You know, the world is pretty unfair' : Meaning perspectives in teaching social studies to migrant language learners
- Author
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Robert Walldén
- Subjects
classroom discourse ,colonialism ,Subject (philosophy) ,second-language learners ,Colonialism ,Social studies ,Critical pedagogy ,Education ,Critical discourse analysis ,social studies education ,Writing instruction ,Pedagogy ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Sociology ,writing instruction ,05 social sciences ,Didactics ,Pedagogik ,050301 education ,critical discourse analysis ,Didaktik ,Sociology of Education ,0503 education ,critical pedagogy ,050104 developmental & child psychology ,Meaning (linguistics) ,sociology of education - Abstract
This contribution explores how subject positions and perspectives are negotiated in the discursive practices of teaching social studies. The study involved a teacher and a group of second-language learners in Grade 6, the data being gathered by observations, voice recordings, and collection of teaching materials throughout seven weeks. The analysis, drawing upon discourse theory and sociological theories of education, is conducted from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis. The result, highlighting a curriculum area about living conditions, shows how Western-centric beliefs about a divided world were perpetuated both during introductory activities and in the searching for information about different countries. This mainstream meaning perspective was also sustained when the teacher modelled ways of using language for expressing content knowledge. Throughout, the migrant language learners were positioned as privileged Swedish citizens. Implications for shaping discursive practices of teaching in ways which builds on students’ diverse knowledges and experiences are discussed.
- Published
- 2022
24. Going Off the Rails With Sally Jones : Promoting Literary Understanding in Character-focused Read-aloud Discussions
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Robert Walldén
- Subjects
Linguistics and Language ,Literature and Literary Theory ,picture books ,Didactics ,disciplinary literacy ,Didaktik ,Language and Linguistics ,literary understanding ,Education ,primary school ,reader-response - Abstract
Although discussion-based approaches to literature have been researched extensively, there has been little qualitative research on read-aloud discussions focusing on specific aspects of literature. Moreover, considering the current bias towards comprehension and analytical skills in language arts curricula, an on-going discussion about different dimensions of literary understanding in classroom practice is necessary. Therefore, the present study seeks to contribute knowledge about possibilities for literary understanding in character-focused classroom discussions. Data, comprised of field notes and transcribed audio recordings, were collected throughout 12 lessons in a Swedish Grade 4 during the reading aloud of the picture book Legenden om Sally Jones (The Legend of Sally Jones). The analysis was guided by thematic content analysis and reader-response theories, enabling a broad view of literary understanding. The result shows that character-focused discussions promoted evaluating the characters, making inferences, and considering important events. Occasionally, the students made analytical remarks about how the story worked. In addition, the students were encouraged to empathise with the characters while making connections between the text and their lives. Furthermore, the students drew on intertextual knowledge to use the text in creative expressions involving pleasurable narrative deaths. Implications for teaching and language arts curricula are discussed.
- Published
- 2022
25. Revamping Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle in Classroom Practice : Negotiating Stereotypes, Literary Language, and Outdated Values
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Robert Walldén and Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang
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Linguistics and Language ,Classroom studies ,value ,third space ,Litteraturvetenskap ,General Literature Studies ,Gender roles ,Education ,Literary language ,text reception - Abstract
In this contribution, we explore something rarely reported on in research on children’s literature: how an old children’s book is re-appropriated and altered in ongoing teaching practice. The material consists of the book used in instruction, a Swedish translation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (Tant Mittiprick), and transcribed audio recordings collected throughout six weeks of teaching. Participants include a librarian, who conducted the lion’s share of the discussions based on the books, two teachers, and two groups of Grade 3 students. The analysis is conducted based on Langer’s theory of building literary envisionments and the concept of the “third space”. The findings show that the students’ initial reception of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, playfully articulated in the classroom discussions, is shaped by literary stereotypes of old women and connections to everyday experiences. This reception is partly acknowledged by the adults. Thus, this shows the potential of the meaning making process through join negotiation of the third space—connecting prior knowledge and experience to the book. However, the librarian’s evaluations of student responses reinforce a particular didactic reading of the character as someone firm and knowledgeable, playing down the whimsical and silly characteristics of the protagonist. In reading the book aloud, the librarian made significant alterations to the text. With respect to literary language, the librarian provided numerous paraphrases and elaborations which served to support the students in making meaning of the book. More drastic alterations of the text served to avoid reinforcing outdated values, for example antiquated gender roles and references to physical punishment. While the paraphrases of literary terms created opportunities for negotiating the third space and learning about literary language, the sanitised reading of the book with respect to values failed to capitalise on opportunities for contextualising the book and making intertextual connections.
- Published
- 2022
26. Med fokus på ord, uttryck och språklig stil
- Author
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Robert Walldén
- Subjects
0504 sociology ,05 social sciences ,050401 social sciences methods ,050301 education ,General Medicine ,0503 education - Abstract
I denna studie utforskas ett litteraturarbete som involverar en larare och en grupp andraspraksinlarare inom grundlaggande vuxenutbildning. Den aktuella kursen ar Svenska som andrasprak Delkurs 3. Syftet med studien ar att utforska och synliggora de litteracitetspraktiker som erbjuds under moment som fokuserar pa romanens sprak. Materialet grundar sig pa observationer, ljudinspelningar och insamlat laromaterial. Analysen vilar primart pa Luke och Freebodys litteracitetspraktiker, Langers teori om textrorlighet samt Bernsteins utbildningssociologiska teori. I analysen betraktas litteraturarbetet som samspelande litteracitetspraktiker, dar arbetet med romanens sprak utgor en sarskild textanvandningspraktik. Resultatet visar att lararen i diskussioner kring ord, uttryck och spraklig stil for uppmarksamheten till de centrala karaktarernas egenskaper och utveckling genom romanen. Detta medfor att textanvandningspraktiken samspelar med en betydelseskapande praktik, dar de betydelser som utforskas i interaktionen overskrider betydelsen av de enskilda ord och uttryck som valjs ut och diskuteras. Detta kan tillmatas viktiga stottande egenskaper i en undervisningsgrupp dar majoriteten av eleverna skulle ha svart att forsta romanen pa egen hand. I artikeln diskuteras aven hur fokuset pa romanens sprak oppnar upp for en textanalytisk litteracitetspraktik.
- Published
- 2019
27. Joining the adventures of Sally Jones – Discursive strategies for providing access to literary language in a linguistically diverse classroom
- Author
-
Pia Nygård Larsson and Robert Walldén
- Subjects
Linguistics and Language ,Language and Linguistics ,Education - Published
- 2022
28. Kommunikativa orienteringar i kunskapsbyggande interaktion : Förhandling om ämnesinnehåll i språkligt heterogena klassrum
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
classroom discourse ,discursive mobility ,systemic-functional linguistics ,primary education ,communicative approaches ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,Didactics ,Learning ,knowledge-building ,Didaktik ,content-based instruction ,Lärande - Abstract
Exploring spoken interaction in the teaching of texts and content knowledge to linguistically diverse Grade 6 students, this article responds to the need of a more nuanced understanding of how different patterns of interaction function in knowledge-building classroom practices. The study is based on observations and transcriptions of recorded classroom interaction in different school subjects. The analysis is based on theoretical frameworks of communicative approaches, knowledge domains and discursive mobility. The result shows how patterns of classroom interaction are connected to important functions, such as building up prior knowledge, reminding students of key disciplinary concepts, reinforcing meanings in disciplinary texts, problematizing different aspects of how subject content is represented and enabling the diverse students to connect the subject content to personal experiences and process it with innovative use of the target language. The result also shows that movements towards a disciplinary discourse can be promoted by grounding the interaction in written texts and hindered by less functional use of everyday language.
- Published
- 2021
29. Envisioning history : Shaping literacy practices in the teaching of the early modern period in Grade 6
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
Linguistics and Language ,classroom discourse ,History ,Literature and Literary Theory ,history teaching ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Didactics ,disciplinary literacy ,Didaktik ,Language and Linguistics ,Literacy ,Education ,primary education ,Early modern period ,Pedagogy ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,classroom interaction ,media_common - Abstract
This article aims to contribute knowledge of how literacy practices are actively shaped in the teaching of history. One teacher and her two groups of Grade 6 students were followed during a content area spanning 12 weeks that focused on the Vasa era in Swedish history. The collected material consists of field notes, transcripts of peer group and whole-class interaction, samples of students’ writing, and documented teaching material. Based on theoretical frameworks of literacy and classroom interaction, the analysis of the findings shows how the teacher, using resources such as texts, images, and one epi-sode of a documentary series, facilitated the students’ initial immersion in the historical period and supported their developed understanding. The teacher is shown to employ a dialogic communicative approach while also introducing more abstract and content-relevant perspectives. Although the teacher positioned the students to consider representations of key historical figures, opportunities to critically analyze texts as historical sources were limited. The implications for shaping literacy practices in ways which promote Grade 6 students’ development of disciplinary literacy in history are discussed.
- Published
- 2020
30. Communicating metaknowledge to L2 learners : A fragile scaffold for participation in subject-related discourse?
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
Linguistics and Language ,Scaffold ,classroom discourse ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Subject (philosophy) ,Didactics ,Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology) ,Metaknowledge ,writing pedagogy ,disciplinary literacy ,Didaktik ,Language and Linguistics ,Education ,second-language instruction ,genre-based instruction ,primary education ,L2 learners ,Mathematics education ,reading strategies ,classroom interaction ,Sociologi (exklusive socialt arbete, socialpsykologi och socialantropologi) ,Psychology ,sociology of education - Abstract
In this article, I highlight how two teachers seek to scaffold second language learners’ use of language and engagement with texts in Grade 1 and 6. The aim is to explore the communication of metaknowledge in classroom discourse, more specifically, the communication of knowledge about language and metacogni-tive reading strategies. Two teachers participated in the study, and data were gathered through observa-tions, voice recordings, and the collection of teaching materials. Bernstein’s sociology of education is operationalized to reveal different aspects of framing during teaching activities in second language teaching and geography. Drawing upon systemic-functional linguistics, I show how metaknowledge was fore-grounded by the teacher in ways that sometimes de-emphasized the subject-related texts and concepts expected to be at the center of the teaching. An important empirical finding is that the foregrounding of metaknowledge such as features of the language and cognitive reading strategies in teaching can result in a pseudo-visible modality of pedagogy that provides insufficient scaffolding for dealing with subject-related texts and participating substantially in classroom discourse. Implications for teaching are discussed.
- Published
- 2020
31. Genom genrens lins : pedagogisk kommunikation i tidigare skolår
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
Literacy education ,Swedish as a second language ,genre theory ,school literacy ,teaching narratives ,genre pedagogy ,literacy education ,primary school ,systemic-functional linguistics ,Writing instruction ,Humanities and the Arts ,geography teaching ,Bernstein ,Humaniora och konst ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,classroom interaction ,Sociology ,Religious studies ,Second language instruction ,Social studies ,discourse analysis ,second language instruction ,discourse semantics ,writing instruction ,sociology of education - Abstract
The aim of this dissertation is to explore how two teachers communicate content knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge in the teaching of young second language learners. As a qualitative classroom study, it examines how two widely advocated forms of metaknowledge are used in instruction: metalinguistic knowledge, in particular genre knowledge, and reading strategies. Bernstein’s sociology of education theory is synthesized with systemic-function linguistic theory to explore how the participant teachers scaffold and place varying demands on the students. The central concept is pedagogic communication, which is defined as the way in which the teachers use language to communicate instructional content, build and uphold relations and organize information flows in teaching. The materials for the study have been generated through audio recordings, observations and collected teaching materials in school years 1 and 6. The school has a high percentage of second language learners and implements genre-based instruction. The empirical chapters focus on preparations for reading assignments, weekly instances of “sharing time” and a genre-based curriculum area about stories in school year one and a curriculum area about maps and population which integrates geography and Swedish as a second language in school year 6. An important finding is that strongly controlled classroom discourse was associated with introducing and reminding students of abstract concepts in the studied interaction, including metalinguistic and subject-related concepts. Conversely, weaker control tended to promote negotiation of everyday knowledge rather than disciplinary knowledge while also placing implicit demands on students’ participation in the discourse. The study also attends to less-researched features of classroom discourse and scaffolding, such as how the teachers showed solidarity and built engagement through interpersonal resources and managed the information flow through textual ones. A final important finding is that the explicit attention to metaknowledge, such as genre knowledge and knowledge about reading strategies, seemed to come at the expense of encounters with meaningful texts. Therefore, it is argued that such domains of metaknowledge should not become the main instructional content.
- Published
- 2019
32. 'It was that Trolle thing' Negotiating history in Grade 6: A matter of teachers’ text choice
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
classroom discourse ,050101 languages & linguistics ,Linguistics and Language ,Discourse analysis ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Abstract language ,Language and Linguistics ,Literacy ,Education ,Pedagogy ,teaching material ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Relation (history of concept) ,media_common ,Content area ,history teaching ,05 social sciences ,Didactics ,050301 education ,disciplinary literacy ,Didaktik ,Negotiation ,primary education ,School history ,0503 education ,Discipline - Abstract
A crucial issue for literacy research is how teaching practices are shaped to promote diverse learners’ engagement with content knowledge and use of disciplinary language. In this article, based on a classroom study in Sweden, I explore the teaching of two historical events where the participant Grade 6 teacher created opportunities for writing and peer interaction in the content area. Using discourse analysis informed by systemic-functional linguistics, the study contributes to existing research by highlighting the role of teachers’ text choices in the shaping of disciplinary literacy practices in the teaching of history. The texts chosen and rejected by the participant teacher are analyzed and put in relation to transcripts of peer interaction and samples of students’ writing. The results show that the texts chosen – unlike those rejected – largely relied on everyday linguistic resources. As the students’ peer interaction and writing closely mirrored the texts presented to them, their opportunities to use the resources of abstract language commonly associated with school history seemed restricted. Implications for teaching are discussed.
- Published
- 2020
33. Scaffolding or side-tracking? The role of knowledge about language in content instruction
- Author
-
Robert Walldén
- Subjects
050101 languages & linguistics ,Linguistics and Language ,education.field_of_study ,05 social sciences ,Population ,050301 education ,Language and Linguistics ,Linguistics ,Education ,Focus (linguistics) ,Systemic functional linguistics ,Knowledge building ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,Language education ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,education ,0503 education ,Immigrant language ,Discipline ,Curriculum - Abstract
Teachers who teach content to immigrant language learners are often asked to attend explicitly to linguistic features of texts dealing with disciplinary knowledge. This study uses the theoretical frameworks of Systemic-Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory to explore the role of language, more specifically technical terms, grammatical metaphors, and genre structures, in knowledge building. The study is based on observations and voice recordings during a curriculum area about maps and population in grade 6 with the participating teacher employing genre-based pedagogy. The studied interaction shows that an initial focus on technical terms within the field of geography in later phases shifts to features of language: genre structures, logical connections and instances of grammatical metaphors. However, these features of language are modelled in texts and wordings belonging to everyday experience rather than disciplinary knowledge. By closely examining the relationship between field knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge, the study contributes to the discussion about the role of language in content learning.
- Published
- 2019
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