Fiction used in English language education in Sweden: a multiculturalist inquiry

Abstract: This study is an attempt at mapping out what works of fiction teachers of English in Sweden tend to select in their teaching, as well as how they reflect on working with fiction from a multicultural point of view. These results were compared to the selections and reflections of Swedish teachers in order to discern what differences there are in how fiction is taught in first and second language education respectively. For finding these things out, a survey was conducted in the form of an online questionnaire to which 167 responses were received. The indicated works and answers were compiled and compared, and it was found that, although most teachers value selecting fiction using multicultural criteria, many teachers seem to overestimate their multicultural awareness since they often select fiction which is not in correspondence with the criteria that the teachers indicated that they value.