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Angesichts zunehmender gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen wird seit einigen Jahren auch die Forderung nach einer schulischen Implementierung von überfachlichen Querschnittsaufgaben wie z.B. der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) artikuliert. Wenngleich eine Integration derer mit dem Verweis auf den traditionellen Allgemeinbildungsanspruch des Gymnasiums begründet werden kann, wird die curriculare Etablierung und auch praktische Umsetzung durch die fachspezifischen Prüfungsregularien – insbesondere in der Qualifikationsphase der gymnasialen Oberstufe – beschränkt. Nach einer Skizzierung der Ansprüche der Kultusministerkonferenz an die gymnasiale Oberstufe als Ort, der zu einer „vertieften Allgemeinbildung“ führen soll, erfolgt eine kritisch-konstruktive Verknüpfung dieses Anspruchs mit der Behandlung von Querschnittsaufgaben in der Schule und hier dann insbesondere auch mit Blick auf die Querschnittsaufgabe Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (Kap. 1). Im daran anschließenden, zweiten Kapitel werden Befunde aus einer Studie an der Versuchsschule Oberstufen-Kolleg zum fächerübergreifenden Unterricht in Profilen dargestellt und diskutiert. Schließlich erfolgt im dritten Kapitel ein Ausblick zu den Potenzialen fächerübergreifenden Unterrichts für Querschnittsaufgaben wie BNE unter der Perspektive eines kompetenzorientierten Allgemeinbildungsanspruchs. In view of growing societal challenges, the demand to implement cross-curricular issues like Education for Sustainable Development in school has been articulated for several years. Although this integration may be justified with reference to the traditional claim of general education at the upper secondary level, both the curricular implementation and the practical realization are constrained by subject-specific examination rules, especially during the qualification phase at the upper secondary level. After an outline of the requirements of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder for the upper secondary level as place where “deepened general education” shall be conveyed, this article critical-constructively links this claim with the treatment of cross-sectorial issues at school, specifically with regard to the cross-curricular topic Education for Sustainable Development (chapter 1). In the next chapter, the results of a study on cross-curricular teaching in the frame of so-called “profiles” at the Oberstufen-Kolleg are presented and discussed (chapter 2). Finally, in chapter 3, an outlook regarding the potentials of cross-curricular teaching for cross-sectorial issues like Education for Sustainable Education is given from the perspective of a competence-oriented general education.

Die Gewährung von Nachteilausgleich in der gymnasialen Oberstufe ist nicht nur eine persönliche Herausforderung für betroffene Schüler*innen und ihre Lehrkräfte, sondern auch eine ressourcielle für die gesamte schulische Einrichtung. Darf eine Schule für ihre Schüler*innen Nachteilsausgleich in Eigenverantwortung gewähren, so ist die Phase der Entscheidungsfindung zu konkreten Nachteilsausgleichsmaßnahmen besonders für die von standardisierten Leistungsanforderungen geprägte gymnasiale Oberstufe oftmals von Unsicherheit geprägt. Dies sind einige mögliche Gründe dafür, dass das im Kontext der aktuellen schulischen Rahmenbedingungen wichtige und vielfach notwendige Individualisierungsinstrument Nachteilsausgleich in der gymnasialen Oberstufe oftmals nur zögerlich umgesetzt wird. In diesem Beitrag werden auf Basis empirischer Daten Herausforderungen rund um die Gewährung und Umsetzung von Nachteilsausgleich für die gymnasiale Oberstufe aufgezeigt und Anregungen zu ihrer Bewältigung vorgestellt. Im Supplement ist zudem ein Flyer verfügbar, der vielfältige handlungsbezogene Hinweise für den Umgang mit Nachteilsausgleich enthält. Die dort angesprochene fiktive Schülerin Lisa führt die Leser*innen auch durch diesen Beitrag. In upper secondary education, granting disadvantage compensation can be personally challenging for concerned students and present a resource challenge for the entire school. Seeing as the “gymnasiale Oberstufe” in Germany is characterized by standardized curricula and achievement goals, the decision-making process on which concrete measures to apply often is one of uncertainty if schools are allowed to grant disadvantage compensation autonomously. For these and other possible reasons, disadvantage compensation as a measure of individualization, though important and necessary within the current school system framework, is often applied only hesitantly in German upper secondary education. Based on empirical findings, this paper identifies some challenges of granting and implementing disadvantage compensation in the “gymnasiale Oberstufe” and presents suggestions for addressing them. The supplement contains a flyer with a variety of actionable advice on disadvantage compensation. Lisa, the fictitious student who is mentioned there, will also guide readers through this paper.

Fake news is nowadays part of our everyday lives, especially for those who are exposed to social media. As 8 out of 10 Swedish teenagers mainly read news on social media, this study was conducted to investigate to what extent students are taught to deal with fake news. This was done by examining exercises in English workbooks currently used at the upper secondary level. Skolverket (2021) clearly states that it is part of Swedish teachers’ mission to educate students so that they can orientate and act in a complex reality with a large flow of information, increased digitization and a rapid pace of change. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine how and to what extent workbooks in the Swedish EFL classroom provide students with tasks which can be said to further skills related to source criticism and critical thinking. It also aims to address the possible prevalence of insufficient skills of the above-mentioned kind and its potentially harmful consequences. This was done by investigating how exercises in workbooks can be said to promote an improvement of source criticism and critical thinking. The method of the presented study emanates from the theoretical framework of critical literacy from a pragmatic perspective. The study is qualitative as the examined material is limited. The results show that the workbooks vary in how they enable the ability to detect bias and critical thinking and that the workbooks rely on teachers to elaborate instructions. This indicates that the exercises in the workbooks may not be sufficient to fulfil the mission stated by Skolverket (2021).

In diesem Beitrag wird das aktuelle Forschungs- und Entwicklungsmodell für das Oberstufen-Kolleg dargelegt. Dies geschieht sowohl vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Kritik an der empirischen Bildungsforschung als auch der Ergebnisse eines externen Peer-Reviews, das im Jahr 2016 gemeinsam für die Versuchsschule und die Wissenschaftliche Einrichtung Oberstufen-Kolleg stattgefunden hat. Es wird deutlich, wie die Fragen des internen Transfers, der Verzahnung von Forschung und Schulentwicklung sowie der stärkeren Einbindung von Schüler*innen des Oberstufen-Kollegs in die Forschung und Entwicklung bearbeitet werden sollen.

Ökonomische Bildung soll Jugendliche zu ‹mündigen Wirtschaftsbürgern› erziehen und sie zur Bewältigung ökonomisch geprägter Lebenssituationen befähigen. Aufgrund des föderalistischen Bildungssystems der Schweiz ist zu vermuten, dass sich die curriculare Ausgestaltung der ökonomischen Bildung zwischen den Schulstufen und Schulformen erheblich unterscheidet. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Lehrpläne verschiedener Bildungsgänge auf der Sekundarstufe II in der Deutschschweiz mittels einer Dokumentenanalyse. Es zeigt sich ein heterogenes Bild bezüglich Stundentafel, Strukturierung der Fächer/Lernbereiche, Formulierung der Bildungsziele sowie Auswahl und Gewichtung von Lerninhalten. Ein schulstufen- und schulformübergreifendes Kerncurriculum scheint sinnvoll und notwendig, um eine kompetenzorientierte, multidisziplinäre und lebenssituationale ökonomische Bildung zu ermöglichen. English version Economic Education at Upper Secondary School Level in German-speaking Switzerland: A Comparative Curricula Analysis regarding Educational Goals and Learning Contents Economic education shall form young people to responsible ‹economic citizens› and enable them to handle economic-characterised life situations. Due to Switzerland’s federal education system, it is assumed that the curricular design of economic education varies substantially between school level and school types. This article examines the arrangement of economic education in curricula of various educational programmes at upper secondary school level in German-speaking Switzerland by document analysis. The picture arising is heterogenous regarding timetable, structure of learning fields, formulation of educational goals as well as selection and weighting of learning contents. However, a core curriculum for all school levels and types seems to be reasonable and crucial in order to allow a competence-oriented, multidisciplinary and life-situational economic education. → Zugang zum Volltext bis Ablauf der Embargofrist für PHZH-Angehörige (oder mit Online-Lizenz) mittels DOI: 10.25162/zbw-2021-0002, +repphzhbib2021A

The overall purpose of the dissertation is to identify discourses in law education at the upper secondary level. The studies include an analytical separation of epistemic, predefined knowledge from non-epistemic, moral meaning making. The studies are focused on the meaningful utterances about purposes, content and teaching methods that may be identified in previous research, curricula, teachers’ speech, textbooks and students’ final papers. The dissertation takes its departure in both legal and didactic theory. Theories offered by philosophy of law and sociology of law concerning the relationship between law and morality are of particular interest, along with curriculum theory and pragmatism. Pragmatic discourse analysis has been operationalized for the analyzes. The method starts with the identification and analyzes of meaningful utterances, which are synthesized into discourses. The method ends with reflection on conceivable consequences of the identified discourses. Five discourses about purposes of law education at the upper secondary level have been identified: (1) The social science discourse, (2) The private utility discourse, (3) The academic discourse, (4) The discourse about business purposes, and (5) The criminological discourse. A possible consequence of the most prominent academic and social science discourses is teaching in accordance with the progressivist and reconstructivist educational philosophies. Furthermore, a comprehensive central content in the syllabi for law in Gy11 means a re-establishment of the essentialist philosophy of education. Construction of the subject content in law by a model from sociology of law could make it possible to explicitly relate epistemic knowledge about legal problem-solving to non-epistemic moral meaning making. The model is based om different perspectives on legal questions, both legal and societal norms and practices.

Introduction. Emotions have been proven to have significant impact on cognitive and motivational aspects of learning. Choosing appropriate activities to stimulate learners’ positive emotions can thus greatly promote learning.Aim. The present research is aimed to find out which learning activities induce positive / negative emotions among upper secondary level learners of English as a foreign language and the secondary aim was to identify the emotions experienced.Methodology and research methods. Methodological triangulation applying qualitative research methods (questionnaire, interview and observation) was conducted among 62 learners and their 2 English teachers. A complementary quantitative instrument (scale) was used to detect the subjective emotional comfort of learners during English lessons.Results. The findings revealed prevailing positive habitual comfort of learners and joy as their primary emotion incited mostly by communication activities. Negative emotions of fear and sadness were detected mainly during testing and evaluation.Scientific novelty. The combination of four research methods in a combined research design studying the complex scale of emotions related to learning a foreign language has not been applied yet.Practical significance. Greater understanding of the affective aspect in learning a foreign language which may help foreign language teachers and methodologists select the appropriate activities to effectively address the actual cognitive and affective needs of learners. Введение. Доказано, что эмоции оказывают существенное влияние на когнитивные и мотивационные аспекты обучения. Таким образом, выбор подходящих занятий для стимулирования положительных эмоций школьников может в значительной степени способствовать обучению. Цель. Основная цель исследования заключалась в том, чтобы выяснить, какие виды учебной деятельности вызывают положительные, а какие – отрицательные эмоции у старшеклассников, изучающих английский язык как иностранный. Второстепенной целью было выявление испытываемых эмоций. Методология и методы. Методологическая триангуляция с применением качественных методов исследования (анкетирование, интервью и наблюдение) была проведена среди учащихся (n = 62) и их учителей английского языка (n = 2). Дополнительный количественный инструмент (шкала) использовался для определения субъективного эмоционального комфорта школьников во время уроков английского языка. Результаты. Результаты показали, что у учащихся преобладают позитивный привычный комфорт и радость как ключевая эмоция, вызванная в основном коммуникативной деятельностью. Отрицательные эмоции (страх и печаль) выявлялись преимущественно во время тестирования и оценивания. Научная новизна состоит в том, что впервые применялось сочетание четырех методов в комбинированном дизайне исследования сложной шкалы эмоций, связанных с изучением иностранного языка.Практическая значимость. Лучшее понимание аффективного аспекта в изучении иностранного языка может помочь педагогам и методистам в выборе подходящих занятий для эффективного удовлетворения реальных когнитивных и эмоциональных потребностей учащихся. This work was supported by the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (KEGA 002UKF-4/2020). Статья поддержана Агентством культурных и образовательных грантов Министерства образования, науки, исследований и спорта Словацкой Республики (KEGA 002UKF-4/2020).

Introduction. Emotions have been proven to have significant impact on cognitive and motivational aspects of learning. Choosing appropriate activities to stimulate learners' positive emotions can thus greatly promote learning. Aim. The present research is aimed to find out which learning activities induce positive / negative emotions among upper secondary level learners of English as a foreign language and the secondary aim was to identify the emotions experienced. Methodology and research methods. Methodological triangulation applying qualitative research methods (questionnaire, interview and observation) was conducted among 62 learners and their 2 English teachers. A complementary quantitative instrument (scale) was used to detect the subjective emotional comfort of learners during English lessons. Results. The findings revealed prevailing positive habitual comfort of learners and joy as their primary emotion incited mostly by communication activities. Negative emotions of fear and sadness were detected mainly during testing and evaluation. Scientific novelty. The combination of four research methods in a combined research design studying the complex scale of emotions related to learning a foreign language has not been applied yet. Practical significance. Greater understanding of the affective aspect in learning a foreign language which may help foreign language teachers and methodologists select the appropriate activities to effectively address the actual cognitive and affective needs of learners. © 2021 Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University. All rights reserved., Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic [KEGA 002UKF-4/2020], Ministerstvo školstva, vedy, výskumu a športu Slovenskej republiky; Kultúrna a Edukacná Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR, KEGA: 002UKF-4/2020

The aim of this study was to compare practices of assessment with theory. Three teachers on the upper secondary level in English were interviewed. This study contains three research questions, namely, how do teachers work with assessment? To what extent do teachers work with formative assessment in the subject English? In what way do teachers’ perception and experiences of formative assessment relate to current research in the field? The results indicate that formative assessment is an established method in the classroom, which differed from a collegial aspect since most collegial collaborations relate to summative assessment. Teachers used formative assessment to a varied extent and in various ways, which entail a high usage of mapping, defining goals, formal and interactive feedback from teacher to student. The results also indicate small or non-existent usage of peer-assessment, feedback from student to teacher and, self-assessment. The analysis showed that some perceptions between teachers were contradictive, but support from each viewpoint could be found in recent studies. Finally, the results of my study pointed to that formative assessment in practice and theory is a quite ambiguous research field. Some other interesting findings which were not a part of this study’s aim showed that all teachers mention how distance studies due to the coronavirus make summative assessment more challenging. In comparison to summative assessment, formative assessment can somewhat proceed as normal whereas teachers give students formal feedback, but the teachers highlight that the interactive part of feedback disappears. Teachers gave examples of interactive feedback as when students ask for and receive direct feedback in the classroom when working on a written assignment. Teachers reported that students perform better in oral production ever since school had to switch to digital learning, which is also another interesting finding. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka lärares bedömningspraktik för att kunna jämföra dessa med forskningsläget. Tre lärare i engelska på gymnasienivå intervjuades. Studien ämnar sig åt att besvara tre frågeställningar: hur arbetar lärare med bedömning? I vilken utsträckning använder engelsklärare sig av formativ bedömning? Vilka kopplingar finns mellan lärares uppfattningar av formativ bedömning och forskningsläget? Resultaten visar på att formativ bedömning är en etablerad metod på klassrumsnivå, däremot tillbringar lärarna ur ett kollegialt perspektiv huvudsakligen åt summativ bedömning. Lärare använde formativ bedömning i varierande grad och på varierande vis, det visade sig att lärare frekvent använder sig av kartläggning av elevers kunskaper, synliggörande av mål och formell samt interaktiv återkoppling från lärare till elev. Resultaten visar på att kamratbedömning, återkoppling från elev till lärare och främjande av egenbedömning används i mycket liten eller ingen utsträckning. Analysen påvisade att lärarnas uppfattningar skiljdes åt sinsemellan men det visade finnas belägg för varje synsätt i forskningen. Slutligen påvisar denna studie på att formativ bedömning i jämförelse av praktik och teori är tvetydig. Några andra intressanta resultat genererades från studien även fast det var en del av studiens syfte. Lärarna beskriver att distansundervisningen som råder på grund av coronaviruset försvårat den summativa bedömningen. I jämförelse med den summativa bedömningen, kan den formativa bedömningen fortsätta som normalt där lärare kan ge elever formell feedback men lärarna understryker att den interaktiva delen av feedback försvinner. Lärarna gav exempel på interaktiv feedback, ett exempel är när elever frågar och får direkt feedback i klassrummet när de arbetar med en skrivuppgift. Lärarna i denna studie beskrev även att elever presterar bättre i muntliga förmågor i engelska sedan undervisningen har skiftat till distansundervisningen, vilket också är en intressant iakttagelse.

In der Debatte um Kompetenzorientierung und Bildungsstandards bisher zu wenig beachtet ist die Frage nach ihren Auswirkungen auf die Selbstwahrnehmung von Lernenden und auf ihre im Kompetenzbegriff als erlernbar gedachte Fähigkeit zur Selbstmotivierung. Internalisieren sie die ihnen zugesprochene Eigenverantwortung für ihren Lernerfolg – oder ihr Scheitern? Machen sie sich zu „bildungsunternehmerischen Subjekten“, die sich wohlkalkuliert, aber ohne Interesse an Inhalten durch den Schulalltag manövrieren? Und falls ja, wie sind diese Subjekte konstituiert, und welche Konsequenzen ergeben sich für die Beratung in der Oberstufe? Anhand zweier argumentationsmusteranalytischer Rekonstruktionen von Passagen aus Interviews mit Oberstufen-Schüler*innen, die Schwierigkeiten mit dem Fach Mathematik beschreiben, werden im Beitrag zwei Varianten von Subjektivierungsweisen angesichts responsibilisierender Adressierungen dargestellt, die einige Gemeinsamkeiten aufweisen – z.B. die Internalisierung der schulischen Verrechnungslogik –, sich aber auch in zentralen Aspekten unterscheiden, indem einmal Ohnmacht, einmal Unternehmertum im Vordergrund steht. Hieraus leiten sich einige Konsequenzen für die Beratungspraxis in der Oberstufe ab., WE_OS Jahrbuch, Bd. 1 (2018): Diversität, Leistung & Inklusion

Master's thesis in Literacy Studies This qualitative study has investigated the teaching and learning of reading in English in five Norwegian upper secondary schools. More precisely, the study has focused on teachers’ and pupils’ experiences of reading instruction from the mandatory Vg1 English course in the Programmes for General Studies, with Specialisation in General Studies and Specialisation in Sport and Physical Education. The aim was to find out how reading was taught in these EFL upper secondary classes, with a focus on what, how, and how much the pupils in these classes read English, whether they were helped to develop reading strategies in English, and to what extent the pupils’ motivation to read English was taken into consideration by their teachers. The study incorporated five teachers from five different upper secondary schools and a group of five or six of their pupils. The teachers were interviewed using individual, semi-structured interviews and the five groups of pupils, 27 altogether, were interviewed using focus group interviews. The validity of the study was increased by including both the teachers’ and the pupils’ perspectives. In terms of what the pupils read, four of the five participating teachers employed textbooks widely in their lessons. Many of the teachers reported using the textbook extensively despite not being content with its quality or noting that it was outdated. In addition to reading the textbook, four of the five teachers assigned one novel for their pupils to read during the Vg1 English course, and only one teacher assigned more than one novel for them to read. Moreover, the pupils reported not being able to choose reading materials themselves. Four of the five interviewed teachers were dissatisfied or unaware of the selection of English books at their respective school library and only a few pupils at one of the schools reported using their school library. In sum, relatively little reading was required by the pupils in all but one of the participating classes. In terms of how the pupils read, the research showed that three of the teachers allowed their pupils to spend much time reading individually in class. Pupils from all but one of the classes were also allowed to read or work with texts in pairs or in groups in class. Pupils reading aloud was not a common practice in the participating teachers’ classes. On the other hand, playing texts on audio files, mainly textbook texts, was an activity that was used to a great extent by all the interviewed teachers. One of the teachers also reported reading aloud to her pupils. The research further showed that none of the teachers reported teaching reading strategies explicitly. There was also varying and limited focus on reading strategies in the lessons. Surface-level strategies were generally focused on more than deep-processing strategies. Hence, the majority of the pupils in the study were only helped to develop reading strategies to a little extent. The interviews also revealed that the pupils’ motivation to read was not sufficiently taken into consideration by the teachers in most of the classes. The majority of the teachers only had a few ideas about how to accommodate for their pupils’ motivation to read. Additionally, they did not seem to take the pupils’ wishes about reading into consideration. Many of the pupils wished to be able to choose reading materials themselves and to read more interesting texts in order to increase their motivation to read, but were not given the opportunity to do so. This thesis has added to the research on reading in English at the upper secondary level in Norway by shedding light on what and how pupils are instructed to read in the Vg1 English course. The study has also incorporated the teachers’ consideration of their pupils’ motivation to read English. It has approached the topic from a much wider range of perspectives than related studies of EFL reading at this level. The thesis has also contributed to knowledge about whether and how the teaching of reading in English at the upper secondary level has evolved after LK06. The current study, although limited in scope, indicates that the teaching of EFL reading at the upper secondary level in Norway has not evolved as positively during the LK06 period as might have been expected.

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird aufgezeigt, dass die Phänomene Diversität, Leistung und Inklusion seit der Gründung des Oberstufen-Kollegs zentrale Topoi für die Forschungs- und Entwicklungsarbeit der Versuchsschule darstellen. Auch wenn sich die Terminologie in den letzten Jahrzehnten gewandelt hat, so hält die Beschäftigung mit diesen Phänomenen an. Die im Jahrbuch enthaltenen Beiträge werden entsprechend vor diesem Hintergrund mit Blick auf die Entwicklungen der Versuchsschule und ihrer Wissenschaftlichen Einrichtung Oberstufen-Kolleg kommentiert., WE_OS Jahrbuch, Bd. 1 (2018): Diversität, Leistung & Inklusion

Master's thesis in Literacy This qualitative case study investigates the teaching and learning of writing in English in Norwegian upper secondary level elective English classes, namely International English, Social Studies English and English Literature and Culture, with a focus on expository and persuasive writing. According to a report by Lødding and Aamodt (2015), university students in Norway struggle to write academic texts. The aim was to find out to what extent and how expository and persuasive writing was taught in the elective English subjects in the light of poor writing skills reported amongst first year university students. It was also to find out how the students experienced the teaching of writing and expository and persuasive writing. The case study comprised five upper secondary schools in Rogaland county. The subjects were five English teachers and a sample of their students. Including both the teachers’ and the students’ perspectives increased the validity of the study. The study used two different methods, namely semi-structured interviews with the teachers and focus-group interviews with the students. The data included information about how the students were instructed in writing expository and persuasive texts, their strategies when writing, the feedback they received, and how they were assessed. The teacher interviews revealed that only one of the five teachers explicitly taught expository and persuasive writing. The other teachers taught the essay or the five-paragraph essay, which supports the findings of Horverak (2015). Most of the interviewed teachers taught the essay instead of expository and persuasive writing in order to make writing easier for their students. Other findings were that the teachers seemed to focus on the structure of the text when teaching writing and the majority of the students deployed writing strategies that were related to this. Furthermore, the norm was for the teachers to give written post-product feedback. None of the students had participated in process writing thus far in the course, thus supporting the studies of Bø (2014) and Vik (2013), who found that process writing was seldom practised in English at the upper secondary level. In terms of feedback, there was a discrepancy between the teachers, on the one hand, who claimed that they gave extensive feedback, and many students, on the other hand, who felt that the feedback lacked specificity and depth. All the teachers used example texts when instructing writing, which was deemed beneficial and valuable by the students. This thesis has added to the research on English writing at the upper secondary level in Norway, with its focus on expository and persuasive writing in the elective English classes. It has provided insight into how writing is instructed at this level of English in the sample schools, from the perspectives of both the teachers and students, and this contributes to understanding how writing is taught in the elective English classes.

Master's thesis in Literacy studies The given thesis is a study of motivational strategies used by teachers when teaching English Writing in an upper secondary school in Norway. Writing is an important part of L2 learning, the skill that is complicated and hard to acquire. The ability to express oneself in writing is one of the five basic skills in the Norwegian LK06 English subject curriculum. However, some Norwegian studies (e.g. Lehmann 1999; Nygaard 2010) indicate that Norwegian students’ English writing skills are questionable. Writing skills are mostly acquired at schools so it is important to investigate how English Writing is taught at schools and how to improve pupils’ writing proficiency using motivational techniques and strategies. According to Dörnyei, motivational strategies are methods and techniques used to generate and maintain learners’ motivation (2001: 2). According to Guilloteaux and Dörnyei, the teacher’s use of motivational strategies is generally believed to enhance student motivation, yet the literature has little empirical evidence to support this claim (2008: 55). The data was collected from the questionnaires given to pupils and the interviews with three teachers of English who work in Norwegian schools with pupils from the 8th and 9th grades. The study investigates both pupils’ and teachers’ experiences and attitudes to motivation in English subject and English Writing, which makes the given research useful for further studies in both motivation and teaching Writing in the Norwegian context. The thesis looks into how teachers provide a motivational environment during classes and what pupils consider motivating. The mixed research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, are used in the given research, namely semi-structured interviews with three teachers, and questionnaires answered by 100 pupils. The summarized results of teachers’ interviews showed that the teachers have a more or less similar attitude to motivation, emphasizing its importance in the long process of L2 learning. They tend to use similar motivational strategies during their Writing lessons. However, the teachers did not always use the most beneficial strategies due to the limited amount of time given to teaching Writing in English lessons. The results of the pupils’ questionnaires showed that the majority of the learners are quite motivated in studying the English language and Writing in particular. It is as well possible to conclude that self-motivated pupils who have a genuine interest in L2 learning are more interested in the positive result than the students motivated by teachers, parents or for some other reasons. However, the results as well indicate that the language teachers’ motivational practice is linked to the levels of the learners’ motivated learning behaviour as well as their motivational state. This thesis intends to make a contribution to the research on English Writing teaching in upper secondary schools in Norway with the focus on motivation and to provide insights into the experiences and attitudes of teachers and pupils.

Parents and students from different socioeconomic backgrounds value differently school characteristics, but the reasons behind this preference heterogeneity are not well understood. In the context of the centralized school assignment system in Mexico City, this study analyzes how a large household income shock affects choices over high school tracks exploiting the discontinuity in the assignment of the welfare program Oportunidades. The income shock significantly increases the probability of choosing the vocational track vis-a-vis the other more academic-oriented tracks. The findings suggest that the transfer relaxes the financial constraints that prevent relatively low-ability students from choosing the schooling option with higher labor market returns.

Det verkar finnas en allmän uppfattning om att matematiska texter är så speciella att man måste få lära sig en särskild typ av läsförmåga för att förstå sådana texter. Denna uppfattning verkar dock inte vara baserad på forskningsresultat eftersom det visar sig inte finnas mycket forskning genomförd som behandlar läsförståelse inom matematik. Huvudsyftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka om det krävs speciella kunskaper eller förmågor för att läsa matematiska texter. Fokus ligger på studerandes läsning av olika typer av texter som behandlar matematik från grundläggande universitetsnivå. Detta studeras utifrån två olika perspektiv, dels ett kognitivt, där läsförmågor och ämneskunskaper studeras i relation till läsförståelse, och dels ett metakognitivt, vilket innefattar uppfattningar och hur man som läsare avgör om man förstått en text. I avhandlingen ingår tre empiriska studier samt teoretiska diskussioner som bland annat utgår från två litteraturstudier, den ena om egenskaper hos matematiska texter och den andra om läsning i relation till problemlösning. I de empiriska studierna jämförs dels läsning av matematiska texter med läsning av texter med annat ämnesinnehåll och dels läsning av olika typer av matematiska texter, där speciellt symbolanvändningen och om innehållet berör begrepp eller procedurer studeras. Dessutom undersöks hur studerande uppfattar sin egen läsförståelse samt läsning och texter i allmänhet inom matematik, och huruvida variationer i dessa uppfattningar kan kopplas till läsförståelsen. Resultat från studierna i denna avhandling visar att de studerande verkar använda en speciell sorts läsförmåga för matematiska texter; att fokusera på symboler i en text. För matematiska texter utan symboler utnyttjas en mer generell läsförmåga, det vill säga en läsförmåga som används också för texter med annat ämnesinnehåll. Men när symboler finns i texten läses alltså texten på ett särskilt sätt, vilket påverkar läsförståelsen på olika sätt för olika typer av texter (avseende om de berör begrepp eller procedurer). Jämfört med när den generella läsförmågan utnyttjas, skapas sämre läsförståelse när den speciella läsförmågan används. Det verkar finnas ett behov av att fokusera på läsning och läsförståelse inom matematikutbildning eftersom resultat visar att kurser på gymnasiet (kurs E) och på universitetet (inom algebra och analys) inte påverkar den speciella läsförmågan. De nämnda resultaten påvisar dock att det primärt inte nödvändigtvis handlar om att lära sig att läsa matematiska texter på något särskilt sätt utan att utnyttja en befintlig generell läsförmåga också för matematiska texter. Resultat från det metakognitiva perspektivet påvisar en skillnad mellan medvetna aspekter, såsom avseende uppfattningar och reflektion kring förståelse, samt omedvetna aspekter, såsom de mer automatiska processer som gör att man förstår en text när den läses, där också metakognitiva processer finns aktiva. Speciellt visar det sig att uppfattningar, som undersökts med hjälp av en enkät, inte har någon tydlig och oberoende effekt på läsförståelse. Utifrån de texter som använts och de studerande som deltagit verkar det som helhet inte finnas någon anledning att betrakta läsning av matematiska texter som en speciell sorts process som kräver särskilda läsförmågor. Studerandes utveckling av speciella läsförmågor kan istället handla om att de inte upplevt något behov av (eller krav på) att läsa olika typer av matematiska texter där likheter med läsning i allmänhet kan uppmärksammas och utnyttjas. There seems to exist a general belief that one needs to learn specifically how to read mathematical texts, that is, a need to develop a special kind of reading ability for such texts. However, this belief does not seem to be based on research results since it does not exist much research that focus on reading comprehension in mathematics. The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether a reader needs special types of knowledge or abilities in order to read mathematical texts. Focus is on students’ reading of different kinds of texts that contain mathematics from introductory university level. The reading of mathematical texts is studied from two different perspectives, on the one hand a cognitive perspective, where reading abilities and content knowledge are studied in relation to reading comprehension, and on the other a metacognitive perspective, where focus is on beliefs and how a reader determines whether a text has been understood or not. Three empirical studies together with theoretical discussions, partly based on two literature surveys, are included in this dissertation. The literature surveys deal with properties of mathematical texts and reading in relation to problem solving. The empirical studies compare the reading of different types of texts, partly mathematical texts with texts with content from another domain and partly different types of mathematical texts, where focus is on the use of symbols and texts focusing on conceptual or procedural knowledge. Furthermore, students’ beliefs about their own reading comprehension and about texts and reading in general in mathematics are studied, in particular whether these beliefs are connected to reading comprehension. The results from the studies in this dissertation show that the students seem to use a special type of reading ability for mathematical texts; to focus on symbols in a text. For mathematical texts without symbols, a more general reading ability is used, that is, a type of ability also used for texts with content from another domain. The special type of reading ability used for texts including symbols affects the reading comprehension differently depending on whether the text focuses on conceptual or procedural knowledge. Compared to the use of the more general reading ability, the use of the special reading ability creates a worse reading comprehension. There seems to exist a need to focus on reading and reading comprehension in mathematics education since results in this dissertation show that courses at the upper secondary level (course E) and at the university level (in algebra and analysis) do not affect the special reading ability. However, the mentioned results show that this focus on reading does not necessarily need to be about learning to read mathematical texts in a special manner but to use an existing, more general, reading ability also for mathematical texts. Results from the metacognitive perspective show a difference between conscious aspects, such as regarding beliefs and reflections about comprehension, and unconscious aspects, such as the more automatic processes that make a reader understand a text, where also metacognitive processes are active. In particular, beliefs, which have been examined through a questionnaire, do not have a clear and independent effect on reading comprehension. From the texts used in these studies and the participating students, there seems not do be a general need to view the reading of mathematical texts as a special kind of process that demands special types of reading abilities. Instead, the development of a special type of reading ability among students could be caused by a lack of experiences regarding a need to read different types of mathematical texts where similarities with reading in general can be highlighted and used.

Det verkar finnas en allmän uppfattning om att matematiska texter är så speciella att man måste få lära sig en särskild typ av läsförmåga för att förstå sådana texter. Denna uppfattning verkar dock inte vara baserad på forskningsresultat eftersom det visar sig inte finnas mycket forskning genomförd som behandlar läsförståelse inom matematik. Huvudsyftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka om det krävs speciella kunskaper eller förmågor för att läsa matematiska texter. Fokus ligger på studerandes läsning av olika typer av texter som behandlar matematik från grundläggande universitetsnivå. Detta studeras utifrån två olika perspektiv, dels ett kognitivt, där läsförmågor och ämneskunskaper studeras i relation till läsförståelse, och dels ett metakognitivt, vilket innefattar uppfattningar och hur man som läsare avgör om man förstått en text. I avhandlingen ingår tre empiriska studier samt teoretiska diskussioner som bland annat utgår från två litteraturstudier, den ena om egenskaper hos matematiska texter och den andra om läsning i relation till problemlösning. I de empiriska studierna jämförs dels läsning av matematiska texter med läsning av texter med annat ämnesinnehåll och dels läsning av olika typer av matematiska texter, där speciellt symbolanvändningen och om innehållet berör begrepp eller procedurer studeras. Dessutom undersöks hur studerande uppfattar sin egen läsförståelse samt läsning och texter i allmänhet inom matematik, och huruvida variationer i dessa uppfattningar kan kopplas till läsförståelsen. Resultat från studierna i denna avhandling visar att de studerande verkar använda en speciell sorts läsförmåga för matematiska texter; att fokusera på symboler i en text. För matematiska texter utan symboler utnyttjas en mer generell läsförmåga, det vill säga en läsförmåga som används också för texter med annat ämnesinnehåll. Men när symboler finns i texten läses alltså texten på ett särskilt sätt, vilket påverkar läsförståelsen på olika sätt för olika typer av texter (avseende om de berör begrepp eller procedurer). Jämfört med när den generella läsförmågan utnyttjas, skapas sämre läsförståelse när den speciella läsförmågan används. Det verkar finnas ett behov av att fokusera på läsning och läsförståelse inom matematikutbildning eftersom resultat visar att kurser på gymnasiet (kurs E) och på universitetet (inom algebra och analys) inte påverkar den speciella läsförmågan. De nämnda resultaten påvisar dock att det primärt inte nödvändigtvis handlar om att lära sig att läsa matematiska texter på något särskilt sätt utan att utnyttja en befintlig generell läsförmåga också för matematiska texter. Resultat från det metakognitiva perspektivet påvisar en skillnad mellan medvetna aspekter, såsom avseende uppfattningar och reflektion kring förståelse, samt omedvetna aspekter, såsom de mer automatiska processer som gör att man förstår en text när den läses, där också metakognitiva processer finns aktiva. Speciellt visar det sig att uppfattningar, som undersökts med hjälp av en enkät, inte har någon tydlig och oberoende effekt på läsförståelse. Utifrån de texter som använts och de studerande som deltagit verkar det som helhet inte finnas någon anledning att betrakta läsning av matematiska texter som en speciell sorts process som kräver särskilda läsförmågor. Studerandes utveckling av speciella läsförmågor kan istället handla om att de inte upplevt något behov av (eller krav på) att läsa olika typer av matematiska texter där likheter med läsning i allmänhet kan uppmärksammas och utnyttjas. There seems to exist a general belief that one needs to learn specifically how to read mathematical texts, that is, a need to develop a special kind of reading ability for such texts. However, this belief does not seem to be based on research results since it does not exist much research that focus on reading comprehension in mathematics. The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether a reader needs special types of knowledge or abilities in order to read mathematical texts. Focus is on students’ reading of different kinds of texts that contain mathematics from introductory university level. The reading of mathematical texts is studied from two different perspectives, on the one hand a cognitive perspective, where reading abilities and content knowledge are studied in relation to reading comprehension, and on the other a metacognitive perspective, where focus is on beliefs and how a reader determines whether a text has been understood or not. Three empirical studies together with theoretical discussions, partly based on two literature surveys, are included in this dissertation. The literature surveys deal with properties of mathematical texts and reading in relation to problem solving. The empirical studies compare the reading of different types of texts, partly mathematical texts with texts with content from another domain and partly different types of mathematical texts, where focus is on the use of symbols and texts focusing on conceptual or procedural knowledge. Furthermore, students’ beliefs about their own reading comprehension and about texts and reading in general in mathematics are studied, in particular whether these beliefs are connected to reading comprehension. The results from the studies in this dissertation show that the students seem to use a special type of reading ability for mathematical texts; to focus on symbols in a text. For mathematical texts without symbols, a more general reading ability is used, that is, a type of ability also used for texts with content from another domain. The special type of reading ability used for texts including symbols affects the reading comprehension differently depending on whether the text focuses on conceptual or procedural knowledge. Compared to the use of the more general reading ability, the use of the special reading ability creates a worse reading comprehension. There seems to exist a need to focus on reading and reading comprehension in mathematics education since results in this dissertation show that courses at the upper secondary level (course E) and at the university level (in algebra and analysis) do not affect the special reading ability. However, the mentioned results show that this focus on reading does not necessarily need to be about learning to read mathematical texts in a special manner but to use an existing, more general, reading ability also for mathematical texts. Results from the metacognitive perspective show a difference between conscious aspects, such as regarding beliefs and reflections about comprehension, and unconscious aspects, such as the more automatic processes that make a reader understand a text, where also metacognitive processes are active. In particular, beliefs, which have been examined through a questionnaire, do not have a clear and independent effect on reading comprehension. From the texts used in these studies and the participating students, there seems not do be a general need to view the reading of mathematical texts as a special kind of process that demands special types of reading abilities. Instead, the development of a special type of reading ability among students could be caused by a lack of experiences regarding a need to read different types of mathematical texts where similarities with reading in general can be highlighted and used.