This regional dossier aims to provide a concise description of the European minority language, Sámi in Sweden, in education. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements and support structures, as well as quantitative aspects such as the number of schools,…

Due to increasing numbers of immigrants since 1960, especially Finnish children, Sweden began to establish instructional objectives and policies for immigrant children. Stated aims clearly stress that the primary aim in the teaching of immigrant children in Swedish schools is to promote bilingualism. While the short-term aim is to produce…

This document describes plans for a project investigating the introduction of English as a second language in Swedish schools beginning with the first grade. (English is now introduced as a compulsory foreign language in grade 4.) The primary aim of the Project is "to generally illustrate the effects which occur when the total number of…

Studied secondary language learning and literacy practices for Swedish deaf bilingual students for whom Swedish Sign Language is the primary language and written Swedish is the secondary language. Observations in schools for the deaf over 3 years show how everyday classroom interaction makes available and restricts opportunities for students to…

The longitudinal pilot study described here shows that immigrant children, trained prior to school entry and untrained, have great difficulties in language, though the groups are better able to cope. Results suggest some support for the assumption about the importance of the first language in the acquisition of the second. (Author/HP)

This paper discusses the question of whether, in a multilingual society, the child's first or second language is best as a language of instruction in primary school. Reviewing eight case studies from seven countries in which initial primary schooling was given either in the second or first language, the discussion compares achievement in reading…

Describes a bilingual education program for Finnish children in Sweden. Analyzes some of the factors influencing the school and language achievement of the Finnish pupils and compares their achievement level with other relevant student groups. (EKN)

Semilingualism is discussed as a sociolinguistic concept and is viewed as a mediating variable when the society reproduces the class structure and vocational structure of suppressed minorities. A Finnish group of immigrant children in Sweden is the minority considered. It was found that the longer the Finnish children were educated in Finnish, the…

A study of the native language literacy of Finnish immigrant children in Sweden had as subjects the 81 Finnish immigrant pupils in grades 3-6 of a Swedish industrial city. At the time of the study, about 20 percent attended Finnish-medium classes, 34 percent attended Swedish-medium classes, and about 46 percent attended bilingual classes. Native…

This report presents results of research conducted in conjunction with a Swedish project focused on the bilingual instruction of immigrant children. The main aim of the project was to construct a model for teaching children with a mother-tongue other than Swedish (in this case, Finnish) in a way that would provide them the same educational and…

This study examined whether the level of academic achievement changed when deaf pupils in Sweden were introduced to sign communication at the preschool or kindergarten level. The study compared performance of 40 deaf students, attending a school for the deaf, on a comprehensive testing program (covering Swedish language and mathematical and…