English for Academic Purposes at Swedish universities: Teachers' objectives and practices
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In a parallel-language environment the use of textbooks in English in courses\notherwise in the local language is naturalized and not widely discussed or\nquestioned. The aim of this study was to elicit the attitudes and syllabus\ninfrastructure that underlie the practice. A large-scale survey was carried out and\nanswers were obtained from over 20% of teachers at Swedish universities.\nResults confirmed that a majority regarded English as important during and/or\nafter university studies and showed that they considered the use of Englishlanguage\ntextbooks as providing a useful opportunity for incidental language\nlearning. In strong contrast to the situation in a content and language integrated\nlearning environment, only a small minority of courses were reported to have\nany specified learning outcome related to English. Open answers showed\nawareness of the benefits and risks of parallel-language practices, but no interest\nin making aims explicit. In our view, there is no contradiction between incidental\nlearning and explicit aims, and course aims which remain implicit make rational\nplanning and constructive alignment more difficult. They also inhibit discussion\nof appropriate methodology.
Source: DiVA (Stockholm University)
Authors: Diane Pecorari, Philip Shaw, Aileen Irvine, Hans Malmström
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
Funder: Vetenskapsrådet
OpenAlex ID: W1768403718