One core aspect of learning a language is developing vocabulary, an endeavor that requires a structured and principled focus in the classroom. As the EFL textbook has a central position in the language learning classroom, it should have an important role to play in structuring vocabulary development. Yet, what guides decisions concerning the…

English proficiency has become pivotal for university admission, particularly at the CEFR B2 level and IELTS band 6-6.5 across Europe. In Nordic universities, the substantial amount of assigned English reading materials requires a strong command of English reading skills, with vocabulary knowledge being a crucial component. This study explores 309…

According to the Simple View of Reading, decoding and linguistic comprehension are essential for reaching efficient reading comprehension. Students with Swedish as a first (L1) or second language (L2) in grades 1-3 might need special support to develop reading comprehension. In order to identify needs in reading in L1 and L2 students, the current…

Purpose: This study reports on the development of an auditory passage comprehension task for Swedish primary school children of cultural and linguistic diversity. It also reports on their performance on the task in quiet and in noise. Method: Eighty-eight children aged 7-9 years and showing normal hearing participated. The children were divided…

Authentic materials such as TED Talks have become an everyday presence in the ELT classroom, often for practice listening and taking notes. However, teachers can struggle to teach the sub-skills that are involved in notetaking, and instead often simply tell students to 'take notes'. This approach lacks the scaffolding required for the complex…

The present study explored data from a survey of students' performance in English at the end of compulsory school in 6 European countries. The aim was to gain deeper knowledge of the internal structure of the test and to discuss similarities and differences between the different settings regarding patterns in language proficiency. The analyses,…

This book provides a rich and unique longitudinal account of content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The chapters report on the findings from a large-scale, three-year research project undertaken at senior high school level in Sweden. The ecological perspective, with quantitative and qualitative methods, gives voice to both learners and…

Today, playing digital games is an important part of many young people's everyday lives. Claims have been made that certain games, in particular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide L2 English learners with a linguistically rich and cognitively challenging virtual environment that may be conducive to L2 learning, as…

In the present investigation, 15 first term university students were faced with 80 context-based idioms in English (L2) and Swedish (L1) respectively, 30 of which were in the source domain of animals, commonly used in both languages, and asked to explain their meaning. The idioms were of varying frequency and transparency. Three main research…

Tertiary education in many countries is increasingly bilingual, with English used in parallel with the national language, particularly as a reading language. This article describes the results of a survey of student attitudes toward, and reading practices regarding, English language textbooks. Over 1,000 students at three Swedish universities…

The project Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE) has studied the longitudinal effects of an early foreign language (FL) start in seven European contexts. This article presents a sub-study of ELLiE that investigates the impact of out-of-school factors on learners' listening and reading skills in year four of formal FL instruction. More…

The 23rd EUROCALL conference was held in Cyprus from the 24th to the 27th of August 2016. The theme of the conference this year was "CALL Communities and Culture." It offered a unique opportunity to hear from real-world CALL practitioners on how they practice CALL in their communities, and how the CALL culture has developed in local and…

Proposes that second language instruction should give priority to the receptive skills of listening and reading and describes a project conducted in Sweden which sought to realize the development of these skills in a short course. (AM)

Focuses on English-language education in the Swedish compulsory school, where the framework and foundation for the achievement of English fluency is established. Oral skills and practical aspects of English learning are emphasized in the compulsory school curriculum. (Author/VWL)