Extramural English in The Classroom : An Attitudinal Study of Swedish English Language Teachers in Grades 4-9

Abstract: This study explores Swedish English language teacher’s (ELT’s) attitudes towards EE, their reasons for or against its inclusion in their classrooms, and how these views affect their planning, instruction and assessment. Themes for investigation are established through thorough review of literature in the field in a Swedish context and explored through thematic analysis of interviews and a survey study. The ELTs in this study view EE as a positive contribution to students’ language development and a good source of authentic materials. Inclusion of EE is seen as a way to increase student engagement. However the causal relationship between EE and language proficiency is questioned. EE and ELTs’ attitudes towards it can be clearly seen to affect lesson planning, classroom activities and assessment. Inclusion of students’ EE is used by some ELTs as a tool to bridge differences caused by heterogenous levels of proficiency and authenticity gaps. Lastly, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teachers viewed inclusion of EE as a critical aspect in their instruction. Municipal teachers saw inclusion of EE primarily as a method to increase student engagement.