Swedish Curriculum
Although trained in the United States, I currently live and work in Stockholm, Sweden with a completely different education system and grading criteria. I am also living in a much more diverse and multicultural place than where I lived and completed my practicum in the United States. One aspect of schools in Sweden (that can be beneficial or detrimental depending on the school and teachers involved) is that yes we have a curriculum, but it is basically up to the school, department, and teachers on how it is used. It is up to them for how we help the students reach the goals the curriculum sets. This sounds amazing in the sense that educators have so much freedom in their lessons and can use different aspects of bilingualism education. However, with the fact that you don’t need to be a qualified teacher to even work at a school in Sweden, this can create a huge complication with how and why things should be taught in certain ways (communicative approaches versus drills and memorization, for example).
Even though classrooms can be individually different, some of the overarching school systems when it comes to bilingualism are similar throughout Sweden. For example, overall, my school uses a mostly CLIL program (even if it is not called that specifically or it is not explained to the teachers like that). My school (which is part of a larger company, called IES, International Engelska Skolan) uses CLIL through teaching subjects in the target language. For example, maths, science, music, art, physical education, are all taught in English. Though, it does get a little bit foggy when I think more about it, because while these are technically taught in English by English speaking teachers, the worksheets, projects, even national tests can be done in Swedish, English, or (sometimes) a mix. I’m not sure if that is still under the CLIL program, but this now opens the door for me to ask more questions to the academic managers and heads of departments at my school to see what language they expect from the students and how they approach translanguaging in their own classrooms (since this seems to set it up quite nicely for students to use that), since it can be so different in each class and with each teacher. Overall, I see this as a mix of flexible convergence and flexible multiplicity, as mentioned in the course slides. In the following section this becomes more clear with the idea of code-switching occuring (flexible convergence) while also building on new bilingual skills and encouraging students to use their full linguistic repertoire (flexible multiplicity).
Mother Tongue
In the Swedish curriculum, mother tongue is a right for all students, no matter your age, background, status, or length of time in Sweden. In fact, Skolverket (translated roughly to “The School Agency”) says that “The aim of the teaching is to give the student the opportunity to develop knowledge in and about their language. The mother tongue is of great importance for children's language, identity, personality and thought development. A well-developed mother tongue provides good conditions for learning Swedish, other languages and other subjects” (Skolverket, 2022). This shows how important it is for every individual here to celebrate and continue their native languages. In my other blog post, Multilingualism within IES Sundbyberg, I go into more specifics about the mother tongue layout in my own school context.
Translanguaging: From class forum
I don’t think translanguaging in the classroom can lead to fossilization or to the creation of a kind of Lingua Franca, because it depends on the languages of each individual’s repertoire. If it is not something that most individuals have, then it cannot become fossilized or into a Lingua Franca.
In terms of translanguaging in the classroom, I think it can be an extraordinary tool for students (and teachers) to use. This really highlights the communicative approach since the importance is the communication aspect and not necessarily the languages themselves. If translanguaging helps students in my English classes to communicate and better understand each other, why not let them explore this? I understand what Ofelia Garcia was saying in her video about the external and internal perspectives because this can shape how translanguaging is used and viewed in the classroom (MiDuLe2017, 2017). For example, I would like to encourage translanguaging in the classroom, while the English national test students will take in Year 6 in Sweden requires them to only use English. If they use any words in Swedish (even saying “vad heter det” (what’s it called) or “hur säger man” (how do you say) in passing) they cannot receive full marks on their tests, which could result in a different grade at the end of the year, ultimately deciding which high school they can get into. As Garcia says, both are important, which I understand. Finding the balance will be difficult, though!
Translanguaging: Interview from school context
Because of my current school context, as described above, I wanted to reach out to other teachers at my school to see how translanguaging or code-switching is used within their own classroom. I discussed questions with an individual at my school who teaches two subjects, one that is a language class (German) and the other being more flexible with the target language (Home Economics).
In both of these classrooms (with the same teacher), language is used in a variety of ways. Within the German classroom, German is indeed the target language, though Denglisch (a mix of German and English) is accepted within the classroom. The teacher uses mostly German but sometimes will translanguage and code-switch. While they are explaining concepts as they happen, explanations or words are spontaneously used, while assignments and projects that are made have this thought out beforehand. Students will also translanguage and code-switch within the German lessons, though when the conversation is between student and teacher it is done in German and English, while when students speak with each other it is done in German and Swedish. Students can use the languages in their repertoire in order to achieve understanding and communication within the classroom setting.
In the Home Economics classroom, with the same teacher, the main language used is English (which is the teacher’s mother tongue). Though, Swedish is used to complete commutative competency. It doesn’t matter if the students complete an assignment in English or Swedish. They have more of a choice when it comes to language use, compared to their German lessons. The teacher here also translanguage and code-switches to achieve communication goals. They will say “You need timjan” instead of “You need thyme,” when students don’t understand it in English.
I hope in the future to discuss with more teachers who teach English through a subject (CLIL) since that’s mainly how my school is set up. It would be really helpful to look at language learning through other teachers’ perspectives and lenses based on how they use language in their classrooms, no matter the subject.
References:
MiDuLe2017. 2017, October 11. Ofelia Garcia- Translanguaging. [Video]. https://youtu.be/5l1CcrRrck0
Skolverket. 2022, June 22. https://www.skolverket.se/regler-och-ansvar/ansvar-i-skolfragor/ratt-till-modersmalsundervisning