English education for newly arrived immigrants in Sweden

Project description

A high level of English is prerequisite for academic studies and working life in Sweden. The Swedish National Agency of Education describes the English language and its role in Sweden in the following manner:

The English language surrounds us in our daily lives and is used in such diverse areas as politics, education, and economics. Knowledge of English thus increases the individual’s opportunities to participate in different social and cultural contexts, as well as in international studies and working life. (The Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011)

LIP is an individual transit program mainly organized around progress in the subject of Swedish as a Second Language. The main purpose of LIP is to ensure a fast transit to the job market or future studies at for example upper secondary school. This dissertation aims to seek answers to questions related to school organisation related to individual education at LIP. In addition, the thesis will investigate language ideologues correlating with English education at LIP and evaluate how English education is planned, carried out and evaluated to secure equal education.

The method for data collection is ethnographic fieldwork including interviews and observations. The data collection is located at two different upper secondary schools during one school year.  The organisation of the dissertation is a compilation thesis focusing on organisation, ideology, and equal education.

I hope that my research can help to enhance focus on the importance of English education at LIP and inspire to long-term improvements of the English education at LIP.

Department

The Department of language studies

Supervisors

Carla Jonsson, professor

Annika Norlund Shaswar, associate professor

Key words

Newly arrived immigrants, English education, Language Introduction Program, organisation, ideologies, equal education.