Current Affairs and English Teaching

Malmö högskola

Lärarutbildningen

Kultur, språk och medier

Examensarbete

Current Affairs and English Teaching

Nyheter och engelskundervisning

Maria Kehlmeier

Pernilla Svensson

Lärarexamen 270hp Engelska och lärande

Abstract

This degree project investigates how and why current affairs materials are incorporated in English language learning at two Swedish upper secondary schools. The question of what current affairs learning materials are is also answered. We look at current affairs materials from the viewpoint of two teachers and 7 students. We investigate how and why the teachers use current affairs in the ELT classroom through the use of qualitative interviews. Using the same method, we also investigate the students’ experiences of working with current affairs materials in the ELT classroom.

We found that both the teachers and the students are positive towards working with current affairs materials in their ELT classrooms. Nevertheless, one cannot ignore the importance of selecting the appropriate materials. The materials should be authentic, connect to the students’ experiences and also match the teacher’s interests and personality. If fulfilling these criteria, current affairs materials function as a suitable learning material for language learning.

Keywords: current affairs materials, English, learning materials, ELT classroom, authentic

Table of contents

1 INTRODUCTION………

1.1 Background………..7

1.2 Purpose and research questions….……….……….8

1.3 Key concepts……..………..9

Definition of current affairs……….9

Authenticity………...9

Media……….10

Learning materials……….10

Texts………...………...11

EFL and ELT…....……….11

2 LITERATURE REVIEW………..12

2.1 Current affairs and institutionalised settings.……….………12

2.2 Students’ benefits from current affairs teaching………14

2.3 Concluding remarks………...15

3 METHODOLOGY……….16

4 INTERVIEW RESULTS………...20

Description of the teachers……..………..20

Learning materials………...……..21

How to teach current affairs in the ELT classroom………...22

Results and outcomes……….24

4.2 Student interviews………...25

Description of the students……….26

5 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION…..……...………….………30

6 CONCLUSION……….……….36

REFERENCES………..37

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

Since the goals presented for English at a non-compulsory school level are fairly open to interpretation, the subject has great advantages when it comes to deciding what should be discussed or brought up in the language classroom. There are in fact no set rules concerning contents, ways of working or materials. Thanks to the availability of international media, such as television programmes, news programmes and radio shows, it is easy for the teacher to integrate current affairs in the ELT classroom.

As for what the students of English should learn, there are goals to attain described for each course. For instance, the syllabus for English at a non-compulsory school level states that the students should work towards attaining “knowledge about the national minorities’ cultures, languages, religions and history, knowledge about international co-operation and global interrelationships and assess events from Swedish, Nordic, European and global perspectives” (Curriculum for the Non-Compulsory School System - Lpf 94). This quote from the syllabus for English does not in any way say that current affairs must be used in order to achieve the goal. However, since current affairs materials most often deal with issues regarding religions, cultures and significant events from all over the world, we believe that the incorporation of current affairs is an efficient way of reaching some of the goals for English.

There are various reasons for including current affairs materials in the ELT classroom. Firstly, by bringing in current affairs, the students may recognize and have previous knowledge about what is being brought up and discussed in the classroom. Secondly, in today’s society we can find all different types of people with backgrounds poles apart from one another. This may be perceived as something very positive but it can also complicate matters. Differences related to cultural backgrounds and experiences can make it hard to find a common ground where everyone feels included. By incorporating news in the EFL classroom, a common platform can be established. This is best explained by saying that the incorporation of current affairs as

students, irrespective of the person’s background, depending, obviously, on what type of current affairs teachers choose to engage the students in.

As teachers of English, we have a personal interest in what is in the news and are curious about finding out more about what current affairs materials teachers choose to introduce in their classrooms. Furthermore, we wish to see what teaching methods are applied when teachers work with current affairs materials in the ELT classroom. Students’ attitudes towards working with current affairs are also worth investigating to see how the teacher’s perspective functions in relation to the students’ interests and expectations. The connection between teaching that includes current affairs, the syllabus for English and the English National tests is also worth looking at.

We consider it to be the teacher’s responsibility to offer students a learner-friendly

environment where every student is exposed to good, relevant and well-structured learning materials, a classroom where students feel they are supported but also challenged in their learning. In light of the previous research used for this degree project regarding current affairs and the syllabus for English (Lpf -94), we believe that the incorporation of current affairs in language learning has a positive impact on learners provided that the materials are current, relevant and close to the students’ own experiences.

1.2 Purpose and research questions

The purpose of this degree project is to see how two different teachers of English from two upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden incorporate and work with current affairs in their EFL classrooms. Furthermore, students’ experiences of and attitudes towards working with current affairs are also investigated.

Our study aims at answering the following research questions:

 How do two teachers of English at two different upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden use current affairs materials in their EFL classroom?

 What reasons do the teachers have for incorporating current affairs materials in their EFL teaching?

 What are the students’ experiences of and attitudes towards working with current affairs in English?

The first two questions are formulated in order to gain an understanding of the teachers’ working methods as well as their reasons for incorporating current affairs materials in their teaching. Furthermore, we investigate the students’ experiences and opinions concerning using current affairs materials in the English classroom.

1.3 Key concepts

Current affairs

In the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2003), current affairs are explained to be everything that involves “news, containing important political events or other events in society that are happening now” (p. 384). This means that current affairs can be anything from an article taken from the newspaper The Independent to listening to and viewing a news broadcast. These are only two examples of learning materials that can be used when working with current affairs.

Authenticity

As the term authentic is a very broad and complex one, including many different aspects, we have decided to use a definition that places authenticity in relation to current affairs in English teaching. The following quote from An A-Z of ELT provides Thornbury’s explanation of authenticity:

A classroom text is authentic if it was originally written for a non-classroom audience. A newspaper article or a pop song are thus considered authentic, whereas a coursebook drill or dialogue are not. The notion of authenticity was originally introduced to distinguish between artificially simplified texts and unmodified ‘real’ texts. With the advent of the communicative

approach, inauthentic texts were felt to be inadequate, either as models for language use, or as

semi-This means that by bringing in authentic texts as for example newspaper articles, television and radio broadcasts, documentaries and fictional films into the English classroom, the connection between the school, being an institutional setting, and students’ real life becomes more evident. From this perspective, authentic texts are more relevant for students in

comparison to non-authentic texts, but teachers need to make the connection between the school and the outside world visible in order for the students to see the meaning of the tasks set at hand.

Mishan (2005) emphasises the importance of texts being utilized in language learning conveying a message to its audience. He quotes Morrow in Designing authenticity into

language learning materials, saying that “authentic text is a stretch of real language, produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real message of some sort’ (Morrow, 1977, p.13). Morrow here uses real as an antonym to imaginary. In other words, an authentic text is one written for the purpose of communicating information (Mishan, 2005).

Media

Media is a tool for communication and a channel for conveying information and

entertainment. Media is often associated with mass media such as books, newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. These different media forms convey information and

entertainment to a big audience. Nevertheless some media, like the computer for instance, can also be used between smaller audiences. An example is when two people communicate over the Internet (Nationalencyklopedin, 2008).

Learning materials

The report Läromedlens roll i undervisningen, (Skolverket, 2006) explores the use of learning materials in Swedish secondary schools, and also considers perceptions and ideas of what learning materials are. The report states that the selection of learning materials is vastly connected to the teachers’ own basic pedagogical views. Furthermore, the report provides a definition of learning materials. It states that it not only refers to textbooks or other written materials such as newspaper articles, dictionaries or literature, but also includes for example the Internet and computer programmes, films and art work, the natural world (e.g. animals and plants) and educational visits (p. 15).

According to the report, the most frequently utilized learning materials in Swedish schools are published textbooks (83%), speech on cassettes or CD (56%) and dictionaries (44%)

(Skolverket, 2006, p. 43). However, the report also stresses that teachers must not forget about learning materials such as the Internet, films, computer programmes. An additional important learning material is the newspaper, from where one can find materials not only for language learning purposes but also to attain information from a global perspective that may enhance students’ knowledge about the world.

Texts

In English teaching, one can use a variety of texts, especially when working with current affairs. What the term text refers to is debatable, and people’s perceptions on the matter vary. Lundahl (2009) let a group of ninth graders explain what they meant by the word text. Some of the answers he received were “a piece of writing from where you can learn something”, “for example a book, a newspaper article or a poem” and “something you read or write” (p. 55). These examples of students’ reflections on the word text emphasize the general

perception of what the word means: a written word. However, the term text in fact signifies all “paper-based or electronic (audio or visual) data which can be in graphic, audio or print form and includes video, DVD, television, computer-generated or recorded data” (Mishan, 2005, p. 14).

EFL and ELT

EFL refers to English as a foreign language and ELT means English language teaching. These abbreviations are used frequently in this degree project and it is therefore important to

2 Literature review

2.1 Current affairs and institutionalised settings

In Aspects of Language Teaching (1990), H. G. Widdowson explains that teachers should make use of teaching materials and modify ideas in a principled way that suits them best and that key in with their own experience of teaching. Teaching materials should be looked upon as hypothetical constructs of abstract principles from which pedagogic activities might be developed in the light of certain classroom conditions (ibid., p. 30). Widdowson explains that if teachers want to utilize teaching materials such as textbooks, they can and preferably should modify them and try to make them into their own, so as to better suit their personality and working methods. Similar to Widdowson, we believe that teaching materials, in the form of textbooks, are effective and can bring about learning. However, Widdowson argues that teaching should not be restricted by the textbook. The teacher should exploit the materials so that different learners are exposed to the most appropriate activities for learning, that is, all depending on the type of students and teachers in specific classroom conditions (ibid., p. 31). One way for the students to be exposed to appropriate activities for learning can be by introducing authentic language into the classroom, since everyday English knowledge is concrete and is built on the present, while the school’s knowledge more often is abstract and technical (Lundahl, 2009, p. 38). According to Lundahl, this is one reason why students often claim that they learn more English outside of school in comparison to the ELT classroom. If the teacher wishes to include learning materials other than textbooks, the inclusion of materials related to the outside world are proved to be beneficial for learning since the two varieties of knowledge can be combined and the gap between them bridged. However, as Lundahl further mentions, it can be difficult since teachers in this situation must leave their comfort zone e.g. when introducing a topic that they are not familiar with, experiencing that their students know more about it than they do. It is therefore important that teachers are familiar with the learning materials they select.

Widdowson, in agreement with Lundahl, states that authentic materials are not utilized without complications: “Authenticity of language in the classroom is bound to be, to some extent, an illusion” (ibid., p. 44). He explains this by saying that it does not really depend on the source and how the language is used in a specific text or where it is taken from, but on the learners’ engagement with it. In order to achieve engagement it is important that the teachers feel comfortable with what is being taught and bring in materials that the students are familiar with and find meaningful. Meanings are not contained and achieved in texts, but by human activity where meaning is negotiable (ibid., p. 45).

According to Jarman and McClune (2007), news is an immensely important media form and they explain how science can be taught through current affairs if the appropriate materials are utilized. Jarman and McClune mention how we can have access to news almost wherever we are: on television, on the radio while in the car, we can read the news in a newspaper while having a coffee, download it from the Internet, receive it on our mobile phones and as pod casts on our iPods. Adolescents in particular, are exposed to these media on a daily basis, which is why Jarman and McClune, in accordance with Widdowson, say that teachers should not ignore these media. Although Jarman and McClune provide examples of current affairs teaching methods in science, we believe the use of current affairs is applicable to all subjects, and especially in English language learning.

The core purpose of learning a new language is to be able to communicate with speakers of that language. In order for this to be possible, learners need to be exposed to and take part in communicative activities in the classroom. In brief, the language used in an institutionalised setting such as a classroom, should be authentic. A gap between the English spoken outside of school and the one spoken in the classroom should be prevented as school English may risk being perceived as inadequate and inappropriate to the students. Thornbury (2006) highlights the importance of bringing in authentic texts into the ELT classroom. He says that the

connection between the institutionalised setting and students’ real life will be more evident if authentic texts are used. If the learners’ main purpose is to communicate, there should be no doubt that the best way to meet this need is by the teacher introducing authentic materials in the classroom. Examples of authentic texts can be current affairs materials such as newspaper articles and TV and radio broadcasts.

2.2 Benefits from using current affairs materials

In the article Linking home, school, and community with environmental texts (2000), Glasceta Honeyghan states that “students who are surrounded with print flourish in literacy development and are often successful in school” (p. 3). Honeyghan further states that educators should utilize materials that are important to the students’ immediate life

experiences with relevance to their immediate needs. Mishan (2005) agrees with Honeyghan, stating that a student being involved and engaged in a text, distracts the learner from the basic objective: language acquisition. Thus it reduces the level of anxiety, lowers the affective filter and allows acquisition to take place.

Additionally, Honeyghan explains the importance of literacy events that occur at the students’ homes and how this can have an impact on students’ success in school. Parents who routinely read newspapers as well as other texts can rub off their reading behaviours onto their children. Honeyghan also claims that the best way to bridge the community with the school is by using the newspaper or any other current affairs material. Furthermore, she explains that when children see their parents reading the newspaper and discussing the information in it, they too will appreciate it as a text and realize that reading can be used as a way to relate the world around them and to entertain them. As a consequence, if the newspaper experience is extended to the classroom, similar results are likely to be reached. “Teachers may use the same newspaper […] for literacy development, providing opportunities for the students to connect the learning between the home, school and community” (ibid., p. 3).

Honeyghan explains that when an authentic material such as a newspaper is brought into the classroom, the students will feel that the text serves a useful purpose and that it is something that is part of the students’ everyday lives. If students are exposed to this type of learning materials they will find a greater engagement in reading and handling real books, which will, as a result, lead to authentic meaning-making experiences. When teachers use authentic texts in the forms of newspapers, they are giving the students information that is practical, relevant, significant and most importantly current. This material the students may come across daily and can enrich and enhance their knowledge of the world. When introducing current affairs into the classroom “students are able to appreciate the main purpose of reading, which is to read for pleasure, information, and survival” (ibid., p. 3).

According to Honeyghan, the greatest strength of authentic texts is their ability to provide the latest tools for learning and the most current information to challenge as well as to encourage the reader to a life of reading where the students read for reasons that are significant and relevant to their lives. Despite the fact that Honeyghan writes about current affairs from the viewpoint of L1 learning, we believe that her ideas are applicable to all language learning environments.

2.3 Concluding remarks

In this literature review, we have seen that Widdowson, Lundahl, Jarman and McClune, and Thornbury all highlight how current affairs can be brought into the ELT classroom. They address the importance of the teachers’ roles when selecting materials and how the materials need to be modified so as to better suit the group of learners. They also emphasise the importance of the teacher feeling secure with the topic introduced in order to prevent awkward situations. School English should connect to the English used outside of the classroom. Through the use of different media forms, students may find that their language learning becomes more relevant and meaningful.

As for benefits from using current affairs materials, we have seen how Honeyghan also emphasized the need for the materials utilized in school to be linked to students’ experiences. Newspapers may function as a tool that provide such a link. Furthermore, students’ reading skills and language learning often benefit from using current affairs materials in school as they encourage students to read not only for pleasure but also for information and survival. Authentic materials, such as newspaper articles, are part of students’ real lives and therefore serve a useful purpose that is likely to engage the learners.

Our investigation explores to what extent the possible benefits of using current affairs materials as described in the background literature are in line with the experiences of our teacher and student informants.

3 Methodology

3.1 Method

Two individual interviews were conducted with two teachers of English at non-compulsory school level, along with two focus group interviews with two sets of students from the two schools. We chose to do qualitative interviews since we have adopted an explorative

qualitative approach. The interviews were semi-structured, meaning that we had a number of prepared questions, an interview guide (see appendix II and III) to ask the informants. However, they were of open character, providing us with the possibility to follow up on interesting statements and discussions. In this we were guided by Dörnyei’s description of semi-structured interviews: “although there is a set of prepared guiding questions and

prompts, the format is open-ended and the interviewee is encouraged to elaborate on the issue raised in an exploratory manner” (2007, p. 136). Furthermore, Dörnyei explains that “the interviewer provides guidance and direction, […], but is also keen to follow up interesting developments and to let the interviewee elaborate on certain issues” (ibid., p. 136). Interview guides were utilized at all interview occasions, as they are said to have the function of helping the interviewer “in a number of areas: (a) by ensuring that the domain is properly covered and nothing important is left out by accident; (b) by suggesting appropriate question wordings” (ibid., p. 137).

We did not choose to interview the students individually but in two focus groups. Dörnyei explains that:

the focus group format is based on the collective experience of group brainstorming, that is, participants thinking together […] and reacting to the emerging issues and points. This within-group interaction can yield high-quality data as it can create a synergistic environment that results in a deep and insightful discussion. (ibid., p. 145)

When doing a focus group interview, the informants are likely to respond to each other’s utterances. This should increase the possibility of receiving nuanced answers.

3.2 Sampling

We chose to interview two teachers at two different upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden. One of the schools is a public, fairly old, upper secondary school with the Social Science and Natural Science programmes. One of the directions students can choose from at this school is journalism. The other school is an independent upper secondary school, with three different programmes: Social Science, Business and Services and Travel and Tourism. In selecting our two teacher informants, we took their previous experience of working with current affairs materials into consideration. It was important that the teacher interviewees had experiences to share and a positive attitude to this type of materials in order for us to gain research data as rich as possible from the interviews. We contacted one of the schools where one of our previous peers works, and he suggested a colleague of his that he knew used current affairs materials in his teaching on a regular basis. The other teacher informant was a colleague of one of the supervisors at the school where one of us had the teacher training. The students that we interviewed all attend the two teachers’ classes, and are therefore used to working with current affairs materials in English.

Since part of our aim is to investigate how and why the teachers choose to include current affairs materials in their teaching, it was crucial that they had experience of working with such materials. As a consequence, the teachers’ positive attitudes will reflect our results in this degree project.

3.3 Procedures

Before conducting the teacher interviews, we sent a letter (see appendix I) to the participants, providing them with some information about our degree project and explaining why we wished to interview them. After having sent the letter to the teacher informants, we decided on a day and time to meet, and we first interviewed the teacher working at the public upper secondary school, referred to in this degree project as Mr Andrews. To make the interviews as

did not want to be disrupted, so after introducing ourselves, we sat down in an undisturbed room. The procedure was the same on the day when we interviewed the teacher working at the independent upper secondary school, here referred to as Mr Daniels.

In the letter that had been sent to the teachers, we estimated the interviews to last some 45 minutes. We also informed the interviewees that the interviews would be conducted in Swedish, since it sometimes may be problematic to express oneself in a foreign language, not in the least for student informants. In the letter, a number of questions were also included, in order for the interviewees to be able to consider some of the aspects that later on were to be discussed. This also provided the informants with an opportunity to prepare themselves for the interview.

When conducting the interviews, we brought our interview guides, functioning as checklists for us to follow, and made sure that we covered all necessary aspects. Notes were also taken during the interviews. In addition, we used a dictaphone to record what was said during the interviews. Dörnyei (2007) explains that one needs to record semi-structured interviews because “taking notes is simply not enough as we are unlikely to be able to catch all the details of the nuances of personal meaning; furthermore, note-taking also disrupts the interviewing process” (ibid., p. 139). The research material was then selectively transcribed and kept until the completion of the degree project.

The interview with Mr Andrews lasted for about an hour and 10 minutes. This included Mr Andrews’ demonstration of a few examples of current affairs materials that he recently had used in his teaching. The interview with Mr Daniels lasted for approximately 50 minutes. At the end of each teacher interview, we asked them whether they approved of letting us

interview students from their classes.

The first student interview was with students from Mr Daniels’ group. We chose to do focus group interviews with the students as we hoped that they would enter into discussion with one another. We also thought it would be easier if the students helped each other to answer the questions posed. The first focus group consisted of three students: two girls and one boy. When presenting the interview results, we refer to them as Victoria, Rebecca and Brian. The interview was carried out one morning at their school. We met in a smaller office where we would not be disturbed, and the interview lasted for approximately 35 minutes.

The focus group interview with the students from Mr Andrews’ group was conducted in the afternoon and lasted roughly 40 minutes. That group consisted of four students, all from the same class. In the interview results these students are referred to as Carl, Thomas, Linda and Peter.

3.4 Ethical aspects

In the letter we sent to the teacher informants, we stated that their identity would be protected. Furthermore, we made it clear that the recordings would only be listened to by us as writers of the degree project. When conducting the student interviews we informed the informants about the ethical aspects of their participation, namely that their real names would not occur in the degree project. We also asked for their permission to record the interview.

4 Results

4.1 Teacher interviews

The interview results are presented according to the following four typologies:  the teachers’ background

 learning materials

 teaching current affairs in the ELT classroom  results and outcomes

The reason for selecting these four typologies is because they all have an impact on teaching current affairs in the ELT classroom. The teachers’ backgrounds, the type of learning

materials they select along with their personal teaching methods all contribute to the outcomes the teachers receive when working with current affairs. This will be apparent in this chapter.

Description of the teachers

Mr Andrews works at a public upper secondary school in a vocational programme for journalists. He has been a teacher for 33 years, and he teaches Swedish and English. He is in favour of incorporating current affairs in his ELT classroom because he believes “it makes the classroom more alive and current”. He has previously worked at an upper secondary school that educates students in photo, graphic design, film production among others. Mr Andrews is very fond of his work and finds it necessary to vary his teaching. His own great interests in the media and his previous experiences of working at the school with a direction in media have undoubtedly affected his ways of teaching. Mr Andrews said “I follow the news every single day, both in Swedish newspapers and on English websites”. The teacher’s personal interest in current affairs, his teaching methods and collections of materials are closely linked to one another.

During the interview, Mr Andrews shared an anecdote with us which helped develop his personal viewpoint of the importance of working with current affairs materials:

A few years ago I was in London, accompanied by two colleagues of mine. One day, we were in a taxi on our way to the hotel when we started conversing with the taxi driver. After a while the taxi driver asked:

- How come you speak such good English? I answered:

- We are teachers of English from Sweden.

-Oh, I see. Swedes are known here as being excellent speakers of E nglish. However, the funny thing is that no native speaker of English uses the language you do.

Mr Andrews said that the taxi driver was not offending them but rather complementing them on their English. Although the experience was quite funny, it made him realise the importance of acknowledging and teaching the language native speakers of English actually make use of. Mr Daniels works at an independent upper secondary school, with three different

programmes: Social Science, Business and Services and Travel and Tourism. He has been a teacher for three years, and his subjects are Swedish and English. He uses current affairs in his teaching “because it is authentic material”. Mr Daniels is used to handling different types of media and computers in particular. He frequently makes use of the computer as a learning material both inside and outside of the classroom. In the school where he works, computers are easily accessible and in nine out of ten lessons the students are using their computers during their English classes. Mr Daniels further states that “often there is a need for the students to use computers when doing their homework since their task can be to read an article on a certain webpage”. He further claims “there are no difficulties in providing such a task since there are always computers available”. Mr Daniels’ possibilities to provide his students with computers, along with his own personal interest in computers and current affairs, bear a strong resemblance to his ways of teaching.

Learning materials

The learning materials that Mr Andrews uses in his teaching are films, newspapers, news from the web, textbooks, non-fiction literature and novels. Students’ curiosity does not last very long, which is why, according to Mr Andrews, there is a need for a variety of learning

the materials they use in order to learn”. The term is therefore very broad. In his teaching, Mr Andrews makes a conscious choice of what types of current affairs materials he includes in his teaching depending on the types of learners. He explains that “the material you choose to present to your students needs to be suitable for the learners”. For example he chose to present a text about the human brain to the science students. By including the text about the human brain, Mr Andrews aimed at receiving positive responses from the students since “it was a topic they could relate to and have some previous knowledge about”.

Mr Daniels makes regular use of learning materials such as the Internet (for example the website youtube.com), articles from newspapers, films, and literature. He does not recognise the textbook as a necessary learning material. However, he claims that:

[…] sometimes I use extracts from different textbooks since they e.g. can offer helpful information regarding how to design an essay or what to consider when giving an oral presentation. I find it necessary and beneficial to make use of the materials available which contribute to a diverse teaching that positively affect the learning environment in the ELT classroom.

Another issue Mr Daniels wanted to highlight concern the National tests. Although he

realized that the National tests are important to the students and their final grades, he claimed that they are not the most important documents to assess and should therefore not alone determine the students’ final grades.

How to teach current affairs in the ELT classroom

There are many ways of working with current affairs. Our teacher informants Mr Andrews and Mr Daniels provided us with some examples of how current affairs materials can be used and put into practice in the ELT classroom.

Mr Andrews showed us a number of articles taken from the English newspapers The

Independent and The Guardian. The first article he presented was The author and the coup he didn’t have to invent (Pitman, 2009), taken from The Independent. The article is about the author Frederick Forsyth finding research for a novel set in Guinea-Bissau. Forsyth believes there is no need to invent or exaggerate incidents “because the world is so weird and so scary, you might as well use the real ones”. Mr Andrews’ reasons for using this article were for the

students to read the article and understand its content. He found the article important since “it was authentic and described life in Guinea Bissau”. Mr Andrews emphasized the impact an authentic text can have on students. The task that Mr Andrews designed for the text concerned filling in some missing words.

Another example of current affairs materials that Mr Andrews has used in his teaching was the newly elected President Obama’s victory speech. The four-page-long article had been printed from the BBC. The teacher then provided the students with a wordlist containing 33 English words, which were translated into Swedish. Mr Andrews’ intention with this article was that the students should be exposed to a well-structured speech. Another reason for bringing in this particular speech into the ELT classroom was because the presidential election of the United States, or more precisely Obama, at that time dominated broadcasts worldwide. Mr Andrews said that “the speech was a good example of a topic that affected my students since they were already familiar with it”.

An additional current affairs material that Mr Andrews utilizes on a regular basis is BBC’s weekly quiz. It consists of questions on news from the BBC. The task is for the students to work in smaller groups trying to answer the questions by selecting the appropriate answer. The aim for the students is to recognize the topics in the quiz and moreover increase their vocabulary. Below are two questions from the BBC news quiz:

1. Scientists say a male chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo demonstrated an ability to plan for future events. What exactly did the chimp do?

a) He collected stones to attack zoo visitors

b) He hoarded peanuts, in order to treat his fellow chimps to a feast

c) He rehearsed a chest-thumping display in private, until it was good enough to put on in public 2. What are the names of Barack Obama’s daughters?

a) Malia and Sasha b) Malia and Michelle c) Michelle and Sasha

Mr Andrews was aware of the possible difficulties the students might come across when answering the quizzes, “since not all topics previously have been brought up in class”. Even

he explained that above all “the students develop their language skills when they are exposed to authentic text, and additionally they increase their general knowledge”.

Mr Daniels said he believes in using current affairs in his ELT classroom constantly, “since it is necessary to teach topics that are modern, current and relevant to the students”. Mr Daniels said that one can make a traditional task modern by relating it to something in the news and from there further develop the task.

When I asked my students to write a paper about an English speaking country, I did not want the students to write only about traditional information like geographical facts or the country’s constitution. My goal was for the students to find information about the country and what was going on there right now”. Mr Daniels explained: “when studying current information, the students may find connections to the past and the country’s historical backgrounds.

When working with current affairs there may be a risk of conducting isolated lessons that only touches upon a topic quickly, and that lacks a red thread. Therefore, Mr Daniels claims:

[…] it is necessary to work thematically, extending a piece of news into a series of lessons. An example was when working with Obama, where we included materials on the history of the United States, for example on the Civil Rights Movement.

Mr Daniels stated that this working method is applicable to most situations where current affairs are used. However, the effect or response received from the students may nevertheless vary.

Results and outcomes

When introducing current affairs materials such as newspaper articles, Mr Andrews had found the students’ feedback to be mostly positive. He does not always get positive comments, but when for example Obama’s speech was presented in class, most of the students were pleased because the topic was familiar to them. In Developing Scientific Literacy (2007) Jarman & McClune show evidence of students’ views when using news as a learning material. One of the students interviewed in their study said: “It’s a bit more interesting and practical than reading a textbook. It will apply more to real life than other stuff. It’s more relevant” (ibid., p. 8). This quote is in agreement with Mr Andrews’ thoughts on the students’ perceptions when working with current affairs materials in the ELT classroom.

On the whole, Mr Andrews had received positive feedback, but even so, the students had not always recognized all current affairs materials included in the classroom. As previously mentioned, this had happened when working with the quiz. If the news being presented in the classroom did not have a strong “local” perspective, it could be difficult for the students to understand and acknowledge it (ibid., p. 8). Furthermore, he estimated that the majority of the students read Metro but only some ten students in every class read a morning newspaper like Sydsvenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter on a regular basis.

Mr Daniels found his way of working very successful. The feedback he had received from his students had justified his working methods. He worked strictly according to the goals for English and said that:

I always try to use working methods that are in agreement with the goals. I acknowledge the difficulties of measuring the students’ level of engagement but still estimate that there is greater engagement when students are exposed to texts related to current affairs.

He explained that working in this manner gives “the opportunity to pick only the best material, a little from here a little from there” and this avoids a feeling of restriction and limitations to only one type of learning material. Having said this, Mr Daniels acknowledged the need for the news to relate to the students’ own experiences and consequently tried to use materials and topics that students come across in their spare time. Mr Daniels stated that his teaching works best when the students take part in deciding on what materials to use and topic areas to consider.

4.2 Student interviews

This section shows the results from the student interviews and includes a description of each student informant. Firstly, questions concerning present and future education, opinions on the English language as a subject and English and spare time are answered. Secondly, the

from each interview is presented separately, beginning with the interview results from the students in Mr Andrews’ group, followed by the results from the students in Mr Daniels’.

Description of the students

The following four students we interviewed attend a public, fairly old upper secondary school in the south of Sweden. They are in their second year taking English B. They all attend the Natural Science programme, where Mr Andrews is their teacher of English. The names of the students mentioned in this degree project - Carl, Thomas, Linda and Peter - are not their real but fictive ones.

After Carl has finished his upper secondary studies, he wishes to continue studying science at for example the University of Lund or at the University of Stockholm. He likes the English classes, since he believes English is a good language to know. However, he further claimed that he “does not learn any new English in school, but only preserves and makes use of the knowledge he already possesses”. Carl has decided not to sign up for English C, which is an optional course in upper secondary school. In his spare time, Carl is exposed to the English language through television, films and music.

Thomas expressed that he was happy with his choice of science studies, but he also realized that it will be hard to find a future employment without further studies at university level. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of learning English: “Since English is utilized quite often, it is a good language to know”. Similar to Carl, Thomas did not plan on taking the optional course English C in year three. In his spare time, Thomas also comes across the English language through television, films and music.

Even if Linda still has a year to go before graduating from upper secondary school, she expressed certainty that she will carry on studying at university level, preferably something connected to science. Linda likes English as a subject, but claimed “that it is one of those subjects where you do not feel that you learn anything”. She said that what you know is what you make use of, and that the learning of English occurs passively. In her opinion, in order to learn new vocabulary and expressions, one needs to be exposed to the English language like the one spoken in for example English films or the written English in literature. This is what she considered to be passive learning. Linda plans to take the optional course English C in year three. Like Carl and Thomas, Linda is fond of watching films, and believes that films can be seen as an efficient tool for language learning.

Similar to Carl, Thomas and Linda, Peter will continue studying at university level. To him, English is an important subject, but he is nevertheless not planning to continue studying English at a higher level than English B. Peter believes his skills in English are satisfactory for now and for his future career in science. Although he also considers films being a good learning material, he said that “one cannot only watch films every day if the goal is to improve your English”.

Victoria, Rebecca and Brian attend the independent upper secondary school, with three different programmes: Social Science, Business and Services and Travel and Tourism. Although the students belong to different programmes, they all study English B where Mr Daniels serves as their teacher.

Victoria stated that she loves the subject English and that she uses the language actively outside of school. In her spare time she regularlyvisits English websites like

www.fanfiction.net. After graduating from upper secondary school she would like to continue her studies in tourism at a university in the United Kingdom.

Rebecca is also very positive towards English and is well aware of its significance for her future career in tourism, working as a tour guide abroad. Outside of school she comes across the English language when reading English novels and listening to music. Every now and then she visits websites, for example CNN, to read about the latest news.

Brian fully agreed with the girls’ positive opinions of English as a subject, saying that he loves it. He uses English more than Swedish in his spare time since he spends most of his time communicating on the Internet when playing computer games and talking to friends on Skype. He wants to work as a game designer in the future since he has a great interest in online gaming.

Students’ views on current affairs as a learning material

The following section presents the students’ point of views on learning materials in their classroom.

Learning materials in Mr Andrews’ teaching

Mr Andrews’ students had found that learning materials must be used with variation and that teaching should not be restricted to any textbook. They said that their classes are mostly based on other materials such as newspaper articles, films, and quizzes. Three out of the four

interviewed students said that they are positive towards working in this way whilst one claimed that “there is a need for a textbook, since it is designed and controlled by professionals”.

When working with current affairs materials, the students said:

We need to feel affected by the topic in order to find an interest in the material. One example of a text that affected us, and that we felt was relevant, was when we studied Obama’s speech.

Obama winning the presidential election was an enormous piece of news that affected the entire world. Therefore, the students were familiar with the topic brought into the classroom. They stated that the learning materials on Obama were good and meaningful not only for language learning purposes but also for their general knowledge.

Learning materials in Mr Daniels’ teaching

The learning materials that Mr Daniels utilizes in his teaching are the computer, The New York Times, vocabulary lists, dictionaries and literature. On their computers the students can access newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts, You tube and dictionaries online. The students said that they often do project work during a series of lessons and the most recent project they had was one on South Africa and apartheid. All students agreed that the variety of learning materials used in the ELT classroom brings about more diverse learning.

Brian expressed his wish of working with the textbook more frequently, and stated that:

Texts in textbooks are easier to understand as there is a glossary list included for each section. Texts on current affairs are sometimes complicated because of their structure, content and language.

The other two students, Victoria and Rebecca, agreed with Brian that a prepared glossary list would be convenient as provided in the textbooks. They stated that a glossary list “would decrease the workload and save time”.

The students all agreed that everything they do in their English classes is meaningful and of significance. They expressed:

Everything we do in class is taken into consideration in our final grade of the course. We also feel that Mr Daniels works strictly according to the goals for English. At times it can become a bit repetitive, but still it is good because then we know that we are on the right track in striving towards the goals for English.

5 Analysis and discussion

The purpose of this study was to find out how two teachers of English from two upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden incorporate and work with current affairs in their EFL classrooms. Furthermore, students’ attitudes towards working with current affairs were investigated. We specifically focused on learning more about what current affairs materials the teachers in question introduced in their classrooms and what teaching methods they applied when working with current affairs. We also investigated some students’ attitudes towards working with current affairs.

By choosing this area of investigation for this degree project, our ambition was to increase our own understanding and ease our curiosity regarding what significance and effects working with current affairs can have in the English language learning classroom. Throughout writing this degree project we were driven by a practical motive through collecting as much useful current affairs materials as possible, learning about ways of working with current affairs, as well as learning about students’ experiences of and attitudes to working with such materials. All in all, we hope that the insights we have gained will help us as future teachers of English to use current affairs in our language teaching.

The students’ and teachers’ views on learning materials utilized in their ELT classrooms correspond to each other rather well. The learning materials used in Mr Andrews’ teaching are mostly newspaper articles, but also TV and radio broadcasts, films and novels. The teaching is not bound by the textbook, though the textbook is used occasionally.

One of the students in Mr Andrews’ class expressed his wish to work more frequently with the textbook. He articulated the reason that professionals have produced and analysed the material thoroughly in order for it to be of the highest quality possible. Therefore, he saw no reason for not using it, and further claimed that the textbook includes aspects of the English language one needs to know in order to pass the National tests. He said that “what is in the textbook is what is examined in the National tests at the end of each course”. All the students

agreed that one’s results on the National tests, and the conclusive grade you receive on the tests altogether correspond to the grade you receive on the entire course.

Considering the material Mr Andrews provided us with and the text, The author and the coup he didn’t have to invent (Pitman, 2009), we believe it to be evident that Mr Andrews’ learning materials correspond no less to the National tests than the textbooks. The main purpose of using the text by Pitman was for the students to be exposed to an authentic text dealing with real problems in the world. In order to be able to fill in the blanks throughout the text, the students needed to understand the content of the article. One part of the National tests concerns reading comprehension, a section consisting of several smaller examinations: reading a text and answering open-ended questions, filling in gaps in independent sentences and also reading a text and answering questions by finding the correct answer among a number of alternatives. Mr Andrews’ material was closely linked to the National tests as it had the same structure as in the examination part where the students are to fill in gaps in independent sentences. However, the students did not recognize the link between the two. As previously shown, Peter explained how the textbook is the only reliable source of learning materials that can guarantee successful results in the National tests.

What we see as a problematic factor when using a text like the one written by Pitman, is that it probably does not sufficiently affect the students so that they can take a personal interest in the text. It does not seem to be all that closely linked to their life experiences. This makes it more difficult for the students to relate to it. As Mishan (2005) explains, the processing of the material will be deeper and more rapid if texts are related to learners’ personal concerns and interests. From the teacher’s perspective, we acknowledge the link between the article by Pitman and the examinations in the National tests. On the other hand, from a student perspective, we understand that the link between the two is less evident.

As previously mentioned, when introducing current affairs materials into the ELT classroom, it is important to choose appropriate materials. Generally, teachers who work with current affairs in their classrooms tend to select current affairs materials that have a geographical and cultural proximity to the students’ experiences (Jarman & McClune, 2007, p.19). When Mr Andrews included the text about the human brain to a group of science students, he received

Looking at the text by Pitman and considering previous research, we realize the importance of having texts that are closer to the students’ immediate needs. Therefore, the text about the brain had successful outcomes.

As future teachers we wonder why these four students saw the textbook as the only trustworthy learning material. It is important that the students feel comfortable with the materials and working methods that the teacher selects and there should be no insecurity about whether the materials are good enough and suitable for language learning purposes. The students should trust that their teachers are as professional as writers of textbooks and trust their judgement and ability to select suitable learning materials. Mishan (2005) explains that “the authenticity approach is materials-centred and upholds the importance of materials design not only as a professional skill applied by coursebook writers, but as one used by individual teachers in individual teaching contexts” (ibid., p. 10). Even though Mishan is referring to authentic materials, we believe it is also important, when working with textbook materials, to choose texts that suit the specific learners in a classroom. In accordance with Widdowson, we claim that the teacher preferably should modify the learning materials and try to make them into their own to better suit the teacher’s personality and working methods. We believe this provides the learners with the most efficient and appropriate tools for language learning.

Carl, Thomas and Linda agreed with Peter that the textbook is the best learning material to use in order to learn English. The students had therefore not come to see any reason for including current affairs material in the ELT classroom. The reason was that they did not connect such materials to the syllabus. When we asked the students if they were familiar with the goals for English, the response we received from all four students was “aren’t they the same as in 9th _{grade? So far, we have not worked much with the goals for English at this} school.” This statement demonstrated the students’ lack of knowledge regarding the goals for English. Consequently they did not see a clear reason for working with the materials

presented to them. However, we assume that the students’ attitudes towards working with a textbook were more positive because then the link between the material and the syllabus was much more evident to them. This was because they believed that the textbook consisted of the “right things that one needs to know”. Since Mr Andrews’ students did not have a good understanding of the goals for English at the non-compulsory school level, it would therefore

be necessary to present the goals to them. Maybe then the students would more easily see the link between the news article by Pitman, the goals for English and the National tests.

The three students that attend Mr Daniels’ classes were positive towards working with current affairs and said that such materials offer variation where they are exposed to authentic

language that is used not only in the school environment but by all people in society. This language, by Lundahl (2009) referred to as everyday English, is concrete and built on the present in comparison to the school’s knowledge which is abstract and technical. We find it necessary for the teachers to demonstrate the link between the English used in school and the English used outside. When this happens, students will probably acknowledge the relevance of learning the English language in school in order to bring it with them and make use of it outside of the institutionalised setting. Furthermore, introducing authentic language in the classroom, current affairs, such as news, as a learning material also provides the students with new information that aims at increasing their knowledge about the world.

In Mr Daniels’ English classes, learning materials such as the Internet, articles from newspapers, films and literature are used. He referred to the textbook as a good source of information to use on how to structure an essay or a speech, but apart from such uses, Mr Daniels admitted that he does not use any textbook on a regular basis. When we posed the question how the students felt about using alternative types of learning materials, all three students claimed that a textbook at times could be used as a time saver since in most cases there are already prepared wordlists. Only Brian said that he could miss the textbook at times since he found these texts easier to understand than the authentic news texts that his teacher usually uses. Mr Daniels claimed that he does not use textbook materials since he finds the contents dull and not current. Additionally, he stated that you can access new and current materials by only turning on your computer, which offers a variety of texts that that are useful for English language learning purposes. We understand both points of views. However, if Mr Daniels were to use modified texts from textbooks along with the current affairs materials, perhaps Brian’s wish could be fulfilled and Mr Daniels’ could feel more positive towards textbook materials.

directly to the goals presented in the syllabus for English, and making the students attentive of the goals’ importance and meaning, the students may recognize the reasons for completing the tasks. We were given the impression that the three interviewed students attending Mr Daniels’ group understand a lot about how learning goals can be achieved and therefore feel no stress when working with materials other than the textbook. You tube is an example of untraditional learning materials. According to Mr Daniels, all the materials he selects for his ELT

classroom is checked by him before he makes them available to the students, along with the corresponding goals from the syllabus.

Although students’ level of engagement is difficult to measure, both Mr Andrews and Mr Daniels emphasised the importance of students’ engagement in the learning materials utilized. They believed that the feedback they receive from the students when presenting a text or a task, gives them a sense of whether the students are engaged in the text/task or not. As Mishan puts it:

Engagement is another factor that has been claimed as essential to successful learning. Being involved or engaged in a text and/or activity distracts the learner from the basic objective (language acquisition), thereby reducing anxiety, lowering the affective filter and allowing acquisition to take place. Engagement in a text/learning activity also presupposes some degree of empathy, either with the topic under discussion, the interlocutor, or whatever the activity entails, and this has always proved a forceful argument in favour of using authentic materials […]. Little et al. (1989: 5-6) claim, in fact, that engagement and empathy with the learning text actually have a direct affect on the language learning process: ‘The more texts are related to learners’ personal concerns and interests the deeper and more rapid the processing will be’. (2005, p. 43)

Mishan expresses exactly what we also believe, namely that the materials utilized in the ELT classroom must be thoroughly selected and suitable for the specific class. As Peter asserted in the student interview, the materials will not have an impact on the students if it is not of relevance to them. The materials have to be of relevance to the students, and as they expressed it themselves, “they need to be either of great importance to the world, such as Obama winning the presidential election in the United States, or other topics we find familiar and that are of relevance to our everyday lives”.

To clarify and summarize what has been discussed in this chapter, our findings are presented in brief:

 Current affairs materials can be used as an efficient tool and learning material when working towards achieving some of the goals for English at a non-compulsory school level

 Teachers need to thoroughly select materials they find appropriate for their particular students

 Teachers need to be familiar with the material they bring into their classroom

 The link between the material and the syllabus for English needs to be presented to the students in order for them to see the connection between the two

 It is teachers’ responsibility to show the students the connection between learning materials, the syllabus for English and the National tests

 The gap between the home and the institutionalised setting needs to be bridged, which easily can be done when working with current affairs

 Through the use of current affairs, students’ knowledge about the world increases  Working with current affairs materials in the ELT classroom leads to language

acquisition, due to the fact that the material is relevant and of significance to the students

6 Conclusion

By conducting this investigation, we have experienced different ways of how one can work with current affairs in the ELT classroom. The results we have collected from the two teacher informants along with the student informants are central and crucial for this degree project since it could not have been completed without their cooperation.

One of the most important things that we have learned throughout the process of working with this degree project is that if teachers want recognition from the students they must introduce subject matter that the students feel is relevant to them in their everyday lives and that they can relate to. As confirmed by the students in Mr Andrews’ class, they felt a greater interest in working with the text on the human brain than they did working with the Pitman text.

Furthermore, the students requested more texts dealing with topics that are relevant to their own interests and study direction. Working with current affairs in the ELT classroom can easily be done, but teachers need to be aware of the different factors that play a central role in whether current affairs incorporation becomes successful for language learning purposes or not. The teachers should not only include current affairs materials as a way of bringing in the outside world into the institutionalised setting because they feel obliged to do so. If teachers do not feel comfortable with certain topics, they should not include them in their teaching as it may risk creating an awkward classroom situation. As the results from the interviews showed us, the link between the learning materials and the goals for English must be clear so that students understand why they should complete certain tasks. We believe that, as long as the teachers show a clear connection between texts, tasks and the syllabus for English, the

students will more easily rely on their teachers’ ability to select appropriate learning materials that will enhance the students’ English skills and make them achieve the goals stated in the syllabus for English. Working with current affairs in the ELT classroom should be seen as a way of creating a bridge between the home, the school and the community, providing students with relevant, significant and current information that may affect the students and their

References

Literature

Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford:Oxford University Press. Jarman, R & McClune, B (2007). Developing scientific literacy. Berkshire: Open University

Press.

Johansson, B & Svedner, P. (2006) Examensarbetet i lärarutbildningen. Uppsala: Kunskapsföretaget.

Longman, (2003). Longman dictionary of contemporary English. Ed: Stephen Bullon. Lundahl, B. (2009). Engelsk språkdidaktik. Lund, Studentlitteratur.

Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect books.

Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan Education. Trost, J. (1997). Kvalitativa intervjuer. Lund, Studentlitteratur.

Widdowson, H.G. (1990). Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Electronic sources

Honeyghan, G. (2000, December). Linking Home, School, and Community with Environmental Texts. The Florida Reading Quaterly, vol. 37, No. 2. Available:

http://csaweb106v.csa.com.support.mah.se/ids70/view_record.php?id=4&recnum=1&log =from_res&SID=k6iifgidadlpbh0d27706tir80&mark_id=search%3A4%3A10%2C0%2C5 Nationalencyklopedin. (2008). Available: http://www.ne.se/media/1186260

The Swedish National Agency for Education (1994). Curriculum for the non-compulsory School System, Lpf –94. Available: www.skolverket.se

Oral sources

Interview with “Mr Andrews” 2009-03-19 Interview with “Mr Daniels” 2009-03-25

Interview with “Victoria”, “Rebecca” and “Brian” 2009-04-16 Interview with “Carl”, “Thomas”, “Linda” and “Peter” 2009-04-24

Appendices

Appendix I: Letter to teachers

Malmö 2009-03-16

Dear Teachers of English,

We are two students from Lärarhögskolan and we are now in the process of writing our degree project (examensarbete). The project is about the importance of including current affairs (in this study meaning news that contain important political events or other events in society that are happening now) in the English teaching classroom.

We believe that the school where you work is in favour of bringing in current affairs/news as a complement to other learning material. That is why we have a great interest in finding out more about how you work with this type of material in your English classes.

In order to be able to proceed with this degree project, we are dependent on experienced teachers who are in favour of working with current affairs materials. For that reason, we would very much appreciate an interview with you. We predict that the interview will take some 30-45 minutes. Although this document is in English, the actual interview will be conducted in Swedish, according to the standards of Malmö Högskola.

We will only use the materials we gather for the purpose of our research and nothing else. Of course, your identity will be protected.

If it is possible, please have a look at the following questions as they can serve as a

preparation for the upcoming interview. Perhaps there is a chance you have some material that has been used in your teaching which you can share with us. If possible, a copy of your work would be very much appreciated.

Respectfully yours,

Pernilla Svensson & Maria Kehlmeier

LL041073@stud.mah.se/LL041215@stud.mah.se

Interview questions to consider:

o What do current affairs mean to you as a teacher of English? o How do you use it in your classroom?

o What type of current affairs materials do you choose to include in your teaching? o Through what media do you normally collect and present your material (TV, the

Internet, News Magazines, etc.)?

o What do you believe are the benefits of working with current affairs in the ELT classroom?

Appendix II: Interview guide to student interviews

1. Är ni bekanta med målen för Engelska?

2. Vad gör ni på engelsklektionerna? Vad arbetar ni med?

3. Stämmer ert sätt att arbeta överens med målen? (visa kopia på målen) 4. Vad betyder läromedel för er? Vad är läromedel?

5. Kan ni ge några exempel på läromedel?

6. Vilka läromedel använder X i sin undervisning? 7. På vilket sätt används dessa läromedel?

8. Vad tycker ni om att använda dessa sorters läromedel? 9. Är det något ni föredrar? I så fall vilket? Varför? 10. Vad tycker ni om ämnet engelska?

11. Har er uppfattning/åsikt förändrats när det gäller engelska under tiden ni haft X och hans sätt att arbeta? I så fall, positivt eller negativt?

Appendix III: Interview guide to teacher interviews

1. Hur länge har du arbetat som lärare?

2. Hur länge har du arbetat som lärare på denna skolan? 3. Din ålder?

4. Tidigare yrkeserfarenhet, var eller med vad har du arbetat tidigare? 5. Vad använder du för lärobok?

6. Vilka andra slags läromedel använder du i din engelskundervisning? 7. Förklara gärna varför du använder dessa andra läromedel?

8. I vilken utsträckning använder du dessa olika läromedel?

9. Vad innefattar nyheter (current affairs=aktuella frågor) för dig?

10. Varför använder du nyheter i din undervisning? Kan du ge exempel på vilka fördelar samt vilka eventuella svårigheter/begränsningar som du kan stöta på?

11. På vilket sätt/hur arbetar du med dina olika nyhetsmaterial? Exempel! 12. Varifrån hämtar du ditt material?

13. Vilka nyhetsresurser har din skola som du särskilt vill framhäva?

14. För att kunna arbeta med nyheter på engelska, saknar du då några resurser på skolan (programvara)?

15. Hur upplever du elevernas engagemang?

16. I vilken utsträckning upplever du att dina elever läser dagstidningar och följer nyheterna i andra media på sin fritid?

17. Hur ser du på förhållandet mellan elevernas fritidskonsumtion av nyheter och användning av nyheter i skolan i engelskundervisningen? Koppling?