Literary Form in the Swedish Upper-Secondary ESL Classroom: Policy and Practice : A Critical Study of the National Syllabus for English in Relation to Practical Teaching and Student Learning

Abstract: This thesis presents a critical study of the Swedish national syllabus for upper-secondary English in relation to practical teaching and student learning as pertains to one specific aspect of the central content for English 5 and 6: literary form. Proceeding from the observation that this aspect is conceptually vague, the study investigates how teachers approach it in their teaching, and what student experiences indicate about the learning outcomes of that teaching. Hence, the study uses a qualitative method, albeit with a quantitative element, basing its analysis and discussion on the results of questionnaires distributed to teachers and students at one Swedish upper-secondary school. The results show that literary form is indeed taught – but it seems to be so to varying degrees, with varying underlying conceptualizations (especially as pertains to the relation between form and content), with varying principles of assessment, and with varying learning outcomes. It is taught largely in terms of genre as a primary principle, yet largely not in terms of genre pedagogy with an eye on productive skills, but rather focusing on receptive skills (that is, fostering a deeper ability to appreciate literary texts); thus, in practice, upper-secondary English in Sweden is not taken simply as a language-acquisition subject. However, the results also indicate that the vagueness of the syllabus results in a lack of shared vision among teachers, which together with factors such as gaps in teachers’ practical theories very probably adversely affects course and programme alignment as well as educational equivalency between classes, programmes, and schools.