The Impact of Different Proficiency Levels of Swedish as L2 on Vocabulary Acquisition of English as L3 : Cross-linguistic influences between Swedish as L2 and English as 3 at Upper-Secondary School

Abstract: The fact that English is not only a widespread foreign language,a recognized lingua franca in Sweden but even one of the major subjects at Swedish secondary school promotes its acquisition at all levels of everyday life. The increasing mobility of the world population has resulted in a unique situation when English is acquired as L3 by many students. In secondary schools English teachers daily meet students whose native language is not Swedish. The palette of the students' native languages is colourful and diverse: Polish, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Croatian, etc.-- all in one classroom. Teaching English in multicultural classes is a more complex and flexible process than it was two decades ago.The problem a teacher of English faces now is that English has to be taught not only as L2 to native Swedish speakers but as L3 (and even L4) to non-native ones. Both learning and teaching L3 differs in many ways from teaching and learning L2. This task becomes even more complex if one takes into account the diversity of proficiency levels of Swedish as L2 among students. Better understanding of cross-linguistic interferences between L2 and L3 would provide teachers with better understanding of processes that non-native Swedish students undergo while acquiring English as L3 and provide them with necessary scaffolding.