Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies

(Im)mobility, literacies and second language education for adults and adolescents with limited previous education

Annika Norlund Shaswar — 2024-10-10

This special issue draws attention to literacy and basic literacy education for adult and adolescent migrants with limited or no previous school background, who are learning a second language. This introduction addresses issues closely related to literacy education for this group of migrants, namely human mobility and immobility, including both horizontal (geographical and spatial) and vertical (social) mobility, as well as the interrelation between the two. Whereas some people’s mobility is considered a threat that must be regulated and restricted, other people’s mobility is encouraged. While mobility and diversity have always been intrinsic aspects of human societies, it can be concluded that social, economic and technological changes have intensified migration, the movement of artifacts and communication between people over vast distances. As mobility and diversity have increased, theoretical perspectives and research in applied linguistics and education have emerged. In this special issue, we bring together seven studies of second language and literacy education for adolescent and adult second language learners in different contexts, illustrating both similarities and differences between educational domains. The studies were conducted in Canada, Norway and Sweden. We are happy to say that the authors’ efforts have resulted in a body of work that contributes to research on literacies and literacy education for adults and adolescents with limited previous education. It is also our hope that the articles will inspire additional research in the area in the coming years.

Teaching literacy to adult migrants in Norway. An interview study exploring teachers' reflections on professional practices

Lise Iversen Kulbrandstad — 2024-10-09

Through an interview study, this article explores teachers’ reflections on professional practices when teaching Norwegian and literacy to adult migrants with little or no previous formal education. Data were collected from ten experienced teachers at three learning centers. The interviews were individual, based on a semi-structured interview guide and conducted on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic 2021–2022. The study builds on sociological and pedagogical theories of professional practices in which teaching is seen as a profession between macro and micro challenges. The curriculum for teaching Norwegian to adults is a regulation to the Integration Act, which requires teachers to contribute to an “early integration” and “a lasting connection to working life” in addition to transforming the subject content into forms that works for their group of students. Specific language requirements (CEFR B2 level) to obtain Norwegian citizenship add pressure to the teaching situation. The interview study made it possible to explore professional practices as described
by the teachers themselves, from within the profession. The analysis uses Biesta’s (2015) three purposes of education as a lens: qualification, socialization and subjectification. All teachers describe their practices as a matter of balancing between choosing and transforming content and caring for their students. They also act as bridge-builders between the adult migrants in their situation as newcomers and their situation as future citizens of Norway, thus reflecting a strong dedication to their students’ lives as adults in Norway and combining all three of Biesta’s purposes of education in their professional practices.

Towards the adoption of a balanced approach to literacy instruction in LESLLA classrooms in Québec, Canada

Catherine Maynard — 2024-10-09

The current study reports on an action research project taking place in two Quebec adult education centres and aiming to create learning opportunities for LESLLA learners of French to pursue their literacy development journey beyond the
advancement of their technical skills. More specifically, our research objective was to highlight the challenges and affordances faced by the participating teachers during the study in order to show how instructional change in favour of a more balanced approach to literacy instruction can occur during an action research project involving close mentoring for teachers. To do so, we first described the participating teachers’ meaning-focused literacy teaching practices during non-participant observation sessions in four teachers’ classrooms over the course of 6 weeks, totalizing 25 hours of observed teaching practices. Although the vast majority of all practices observed were code-focused, some instances of meaning-focused teaching practices were identified. During two training sessions, these practices acted as a starting point for
exploring new meaning-focused practices that were then piloted with their students. We observed that, in the course of an action research project consisting of iterative cycles of reflection, action, and evaluation, implementing activities aligned with a more balanced approach to literacy instruction seems possible among teachers who typically rely on code-focused activities.

Swedish L2 teacher cognitions of the initial assessment of students' L1 literacy resources

Maria Eklund Heinonen — 2024-10-09

In this paper, we explore second language (L2) teachers’ cognitions regarding the initial assessment of adult learner literacy in their strongest language. Instruction can thus be adapted according to what is stipulated in the curriculum and syllabus. The literacy assessment is conducted in the student’s strongest language with assistance from an interpreter, translated decoding and reading comprehension tasks and concerns assessment of learners with little or no prior education. Questionnaires and interviews with L2 teachers reveal great variation based on four categories of teacher knowledge, namely, Subject matter knowledge, Knowledge of students, Pedagogical knowledge, and Knowledge of educational contexts. These four categories were partly intertwined with each other and both a resource and a deficit perspective emerged. The teachers’ cognitions regarding the concept of literacy, the value of initial L1 literacy assessment and students’ prior literacy and multilingual resources, as well as its potential for instruction planning were diverse. This may have significant implications for what emerges in initial assessments of a student's L1 literacy. In turn, this affects the validity of the assessment and, ultimately, the quality of education.

“I feel like I cannot manage without her”

Anna Winlund — 2024-10-09

This study explores how a teacher at a Swedish language introductory school is perceived as a literacy mediator or literacy broker (Brandt, 1998) by a group of migrant adolescents with limited prior formal education. Beyond traditional language acquisition elements like grammar and vocabulary, these students are navigating emergent literacy in a second language while adapting to a new society (Gee, 2005). My research is guided by two main questions: (1) How do the students report that their teacher supports their engagement in literacy practices? (2) What do the students think about the fact that certain literacy practices seem to be enabled while others are hindered? Conducted during the 2017/18 school year as an ethnographic case study in an introductory language class, the investigation utilizes field notes, recorded interactions, field conversations, and formal interviews with nine students. The analysis reveals the students’ appreciation for the teacher’s support in meeting new literacy standards, while also highlighting their acceptance of the devaluation of some prior literacy practices as a strategic choice to facilitate engagement in
mainstream society’s literacy practices (Nocon & Cole, 2009; Janks, 2010). The study also discusses the students’ opportunities to express themselves, both in interviews and within the classroom, in connection to these findings. Additionally, the concept of literacy sponsorship is explored in relation to these discussions.

Multiliteracies and translanguaging pedagogy in the adult L2-classroom

Åsa Wedin — 2024-10-09

In this article, we study space for multiliteracies in basic literacy education for adult second language learners of Swedish for Immigrants (SFI). The teaching observed was categorised as translanguaging pedagogy, and the study was part of an action research project with Linguistic Ethnography as the methodological framework. The material used comes from classroom observations in three schools and consists of fieldnotes, recordings of teaching, photographs, handouts and other artefacts. Hornberger’s (2003) continua of biliteracy was used for the analysis. Findings show there to be space for multiliteracies in these classrooms; however, since most students in these classes have limited literacy skills in their earlier languages, the written texts used in class are mainly in Swedish. Findings also show that teaching includes practices from all points on the continua, which Hornberger (1989) highlights as important for biliterate development, in this case to a lesser extent for written language. The shuttling between the ends of all continua is particularly important for students in SFI, Study Path One, who tend to have low status in, for example, the workforce and society. Findings also show that images tend to be used as tools rather than as objects for interpretation. Our conclusion is that space for
multiliteracies varies depending on the earlier literacy skills of students, the number of students in a group who understood a particular language and the availability of study guidance assistants in the students’ mother tongues.

Teaching materials for use in French classes for immigrants enrolled in Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults in Quebec

Vincent Bédard — 2024-10-09

Le personnel enseignant travaillant avec les personnes adultes immigrantes en
apprentissage de la langue et de la littératie (PAIALeL) est confronté à plusieurs
défis concernant la disponibilité et l’utilisation de matériels didactiques. Pour
dresser le portrait du matériel utilisé dans les classes de français pour PAIALeL au
Québec (Canada) et mieux comprendre les différents enjeux liés à l’utilisation de ce matériel, nous avons interrogé des enseignant·e·s en utilisant un questionnaire en ligne (n=53) et des entrevues individuelles (n=7). Nos données, analysées à l’aide de la théorie de l’activité (TA) révèlent un manque de matériel adéquat ainsi que des enjeux liés à l’adaptation et à la création de matériel ainsi qu’à l’hétérogénéité des profils des PAIALeL. Des implications pédagogiques sont aussi présentées.

Teachers working in the field of literacy education and second language learning for adults (LESLLA) face several challenges related to the availability and use of appropriate teaching materials. To provide an overview of the materials used in Quebec’s French L2 classes and to better understand the challenges related to these materials, we collected data from teachers both through an online questionnaire (n=53) and individual interviews (n=7). Analysed through the lens of Activity Theory (AT), our data highlight a lack of suitable materials and issues related to the heterogeneity of students’ background. Pedagogical implications are also presented.

Classroom work with literature in basic literacy and second language education for adults

Annika Norlund Shaswar — 2024-10-09

This article examines classroom work with literature in the Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) programme in which adult migrants study Swedish at a basic level. The participants were a teacher and a group of students with limited previous education. The study explores practices that the participants applied during classroom work with an easy-to-read novel. The theoretical and analytical framework includes the four resources model, transactional theory and the concepts of translanguaging and embodied literacy practices. Data for the study were collected in a large action research and linguistic ethnography project by means of classroom observations and focus group conversations with teachers. Findings show that decoding and meaning-making practices were most prominent, while text-using and text-analysing practices were scarcer. Aesthetic reading and efferent reading were in different ways integrated with the different families of practice. Aesthetic reading was connected to multimodal aspects and embodied literacy practices. Efferent reading was found at many levels in the reading and was interconnected with all families of practice. Translanguaging practices often intersected with meaning-making practices.