Using texts in the EFL classroom

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FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES

Department of Humanities

Using texts in the EFL classroom

A study of English teachers’ use of text types in the lower grades

Victoria Söderlund

2020

Student thesis, Professional degree (advanced), 30 HE English

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Abstract

This essay investigates the usage of text types in the younger English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom among preschool class and grade 1-3 teachers in Sweden. The essay focuses on identifying what type of texts teachers use, why they use them and how they are used. A combined quantitative and qualitative method was used to collect data. 121 teachers responded to the online-survey that was sent out and a virtual

ethnography was conducted by observing two different teaching forums to investigate how teachers use different text types. The findings of the survey showed that the two most commonly used text types are song texts and texts from textbooks. In general, developing the students’ vocabulary was the most common reason why several of the text types were used. Additionally, multiple worksheets which showed how teachers worked with different text types were collected from the virtual ethnography. In this essay, they may be used as inspiration for other teachers who want to expand their use of text types.

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1. Introduction

This essay will investigate teachers’ use of text types in the EFL classroom. Through a combined qualitative and quantitative method this essay will gather data to find out why and how teachers use different types of texts.

Texts are a big part of the everyday lives as they surround people in many different contexts. For example, they can be read out loud, in songs, tell a story, visualize

pictures, be played as a game or, last but not least, be used to communicate. With this in mind, it is clear why texts are a central part of the Swedish curriculum and therefore, texts in English will be the focus of this study.

In the syllabus for English (Skolverket, 2018, pp. 34-35), it is stated that teaching should contribute to the students’ language development through “texts from different sources”. Furthermore, one of the central abilities that students should develop when learning English is to “understand and interpret the content of spoken English and in different types of texts”. Besides this, teachers should give students a chance to acquire language skills related to their interests when dealing with texts. This is specified in the core content for the grades 1-3 in the syllabus for English. For example, the content of communication should involve “[s]ubject areas that are familiar to the pupils, interests, people and places, daily life and ways of living in different contexts and areas where English is used”. This means that the texts teachers choose to use should include content that interests the students. Considering this, investigating why teachers use one type of text may add to the field about the consideration of students’ interests in the EFL classroom.

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traditional, education when language was broken down and divided into its component parts to be taught separate. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in context is meaningful for the students. Therefore, teachers should always consider whether a text type is motivating for the students or not.

It is important for teachers to vary their choices of text types when teaching EFL. Hattie (2012, p. 117) states that one of the most important results of his studies is that when students do not learn the abilities the teacher expects, they usually need something else rather than more of the method that was first used. Considering this, the findings of why teachers use one certain type of text can contribute to research about variety in teaching.

This essay is important as it can add to several orientations of second language research. Previous research about different text types is primarily about how effective they are for students to acquire language abilities. These types of studies are important since The Swedish Education Act states that education should be in line with research and proven experience (SkolL, 1;5). This study will add to the field by investigating if teachers are using text types in line with proven experience and research since this study mainly focuses on the texts teachers actually use.

This study will enrich the field with information about what texts teachers use and why they choose to use them. By researching how teachers use different text types, individual teachers are able to receive new ideas to implement in their EFL classrooms.

1.1 Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to investigate what types of texts English teachers use in the lower grades. The study will also investigate why they use these text types and how the texts are used to teach English as a foreign language.

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• What type of texts do English teachers in Sweden use in the lower grades? • What is the aim of the use of the different text types?

• How are the texts used?

2. Literature review

In this section, the background of the study will be presented. First, a presentation of text types will be displayed. Secondly, research about the impact of the students’ interests in the EFL classroom is presented. Lastly, previous research about teachers’ use of text types will be presented.

2.1 Presentation of text types

In this section previous research about seven different text types is presented. The research presented mainly focuses on the advantages and disadvantages as well as the effects of the use of these text types. Each text type will be presented one at a time.

2.1.1 Textbooks

Textbooks are according to the Swedish National Agency for Education (2012, p. 1) supposed to be a resource for learning. In addition to this, Çakit (2006, p. 13-14) writes that textbooks should provide structure for teachers to help students achieve the goals in the syllabus. In order to do this, textbooks include several different activities for the students. These activities should be sources for learners to acquire a second language. Additionally, textbooks provide a path for teachers to follow which can serve as a guide for teachers with less experience as well as save time for all teachers. Alternatively, textbooks can be used to create a standard for the skills students should acquire in a subject (Skolverket, 2012, p. 1).

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teachers. Apart from this, they write that newer textbooks have a higher standard as they follow the syllabus. Furthermore, newer textbooks often include tools, such as

audiobooks and e-books which can help students with special needs. These tools can help students with dyslexia or hearing and vision disabilities. In conclusion, the

Swedish National Agency for Education (2012) points out the importance of reviewing and renewing older textbooks. One advantage which Pinter (2017, p. 87) suggests is that textbooks might contain good exercises to develop students’ writing abilities. One disadvantage that Keaveney (2019, p. 144) identifies is that textbooks intended for EFL may not necessarily include a wide vocabulary. Another downside about textbooks that Levén (2003, as cited in Englund, 2006 p. 10) illustrates is that the use of textbooks may prevent teachers from using the methods best suited for each individual student. This could mean that textbooks might not fulfill the purpose of being a tool for students to develop language skills.

2.1.2 Multimodal texts

Multimodal texts are texts which are communicated in different modes. One mode that Kaminski (2019, p. 176) presents is the “interplay of pictures and words”. Further explained, this is a text type where a picture is necessary in order to understand the context of the written words. Similarly, the Swedish National Agency for Education (2017a, p. 2) suggests that written words combined with pictures or illustrations constitute multimodal texts.

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declared that multimodal texts used in the classroom can create meaning during classroom talk. Correspondingly, the Swedish National Agency for Education (2017a, p. 7) proposes that multimodal texts create meaning since the pictures can describe much for the reader. By creating meaning, students are able to interpret and discuss the context. As a result, students use the English language and develop their skills

(Skolverket, 2017b, p. 1). In contrast, Hansen (2012, p. 58) states that some multimodal texts have been criticized from individuals outside the classroom due to being too simple or inappropriate. Additionally, Pantelo (2018, p. 244) writes that graphic novels, for example might be too childish and not stimulating enough for some students in elementary school.

2.1.3 Authentic texts

The definition of an authentic text is, according to Badger and MacDonald (2010, pp. 579-580), a text that is created for another purpose than in-classroom use. The authors describe authentic texts as something a teacher brings to the classroom from the world outside for the students to use the second language. However, authentic texts should not primarily be the base for developing language skills since authentic texts might contain informal language. Furthermore, Crystal and Davy (1975, as cited in Gilmore 2007, pp. 98-99) propose that this text type can be used to teach more informal language which textbooks usually do not include. According to Forrest (1993, p. 4), some examples of authentic texts are newspapers and magazines.

One main advantage that Keaveney (2019, p. 175) suggests regarding texts from outside the classroom is that they are motivating. Texts outside the classroom could be commercials, logos and other signs that the students can see outside of school.

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Moreover, Gilmore (2007, p. 160) also indicates that authentic texts may be more interesting for students since this text type is created for another reason than in-classroom use. This is interesting because it makes the language more real for the students. In addition, authentic texts can help students to develop critical thinking skills as they have to evaluate the source and what the texts say (Forrest, 1993, p. 4). On the other hand, authentic texts can be complicated with many unfamiliar words and phrases. Therefore, it is important to go through the texts before bringing them into the

classroom (Gilmore, 2007, p. 108).

2.1.4 Song texts

Song texts are a unique form of language. They are partly poem and speech. Similar to these, song texts can give a special feeling to the reader or listener. According to Urgilez and Lupercio (2013, p. 17) songs have the power of making each listener feel special, as if the texts were created for them.

Urgilez and Lupercio (2013, p. 17), propose that an effective strategy to teach new vocabulary to students is to use songs. Song texts are often easy to relate to and by choosing the right songs, students may become very enthusiastic about an activity which includes song texts. The right songs could be popular or modern songs that the students listen to. Another advantage of song texts is shown in Pavia et al.’s (2019, p. 762) study which showed that the use of song texts in the EFL classroom increased the students’ vocabulary. In addition, the study also showed that the students developed their listening comprehension. Song texts could also be a tool to enhance language skills such as grammar and syntax (Urgilez & Lupercio, 2013, p. 20). In contrast, one

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2.1.5 Children’s literature

Children’s literature is often narrative stories created for children

(Nationalencyklopedin, 2020). This text type includes several sources for learning a language. Hughes (2010, pp. 180-181) notes that stories can be used to teach vocabulary since they cover plenty of the everyday language that students are surrounded with. She also states that children’s literature might be motivating for the students because they can relate the content to their everyday lives. Another tool to motivate the students with children’s literature is to consider the choice of book wisely. Keaveney (2019, p. 90) states that the students’ interests are vital when choosing a book.

According to several studies, children’s literature is advantageous to use when teaching EFL. For example, Keaveney (2019 p. 144) writes they might include a wide vocabulary for the students to be exposed to. In addition to this, the same phrases are often used repeatedly in children’s literature which is an important part of acquiring a new language. Even though repetition might become boring for the students, Hughes, (2010, pp. 182-185) notes that repetition in children’s literature usually does not bore the students. Studies show that the ability to speak and use the language can be

developed through children’s literature. As children’s literature includes a lot of topics and pictures to discuss, participating students are able to practice their English

proficiency (Keaveney, 2019, p. 90)

2.1.6 Rhymes and chants

Rhymes and chants are two sorts of poems for children, often based on some sort of rhythmic counting without logical meaning (Nationalencyklopedin, 2020). The

rhythmical feeling of rhymes is something that Prosic-Santova, (2015, pp. 27;39) states help students to develop intonation. In addition, she presents several different

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grammar skills and pronunciation are a few examples. Additionally, she proposes that young students enjoy rhymes which make learning easier. In addition, Garcia and Juan (2015, p. 88) state that rhymes and chants add fun to the EFL classroom. They claim that students who enjoy learning are motivated and interested in further learning of the language. Furthermore, rhymes could be beneficial for students with low language confidence as they can be used in choral teaching. This would allow students to practice the content they feel insecure about together (Keaveney, 2019, p. 62).

One disadvantage that Prosic-Santova (2015, p. 33) points out is that some rhymes may be outdated and include words that are not appropriate in today’s society. The author stresses that it is important to consider the choice of rhymes in order to include all students and not let anyone be excluded as this can lead to a non-including classroom environment. The consequences of a non-including classroom environment are, for example, language anxiety and reduced motivation which could inhibit the learning of a new language (Keaveney 2019, p. 15). Moreover, some rhymes could also include incorrect grammar. Students who are exposed to incorrect grammar in the early years could acquire faulty language (Prosic-Santova, 2015, p. 39).

2.1.7 Fixed dialogues, “Chunks”

Fixed dialogues or chunks have the same definition. Wray and Perkins (2000, p. 1) describe them as “a sequence, continuous or discontinuous, of words or other meaning elements, which is, or appears to be, prefabricated: that is, stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar”. Some examples of chunks are “Hello, how are you?”, “I’m fine thank you.”, “what’s your name?” “My name is…”.

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of language. In addition, Hughes (2010, p. 184) states that chunks are a good way to acquire and develop students’ abilities. One part of producing new language is learning new words. This is something Orlik (2017, pp. 21-22) notes that young second language learners do while working with chunks. In contrast, she mentions one disadvantage in her study which is that some students who learn chunks tend to learn the context, but they do not understand the words that are included in the chunk.

2.4 Previous research about the impact of students’ interests in EFL

Children today are exposed to an excessive amount of English outside of school. According to Sundqvist and Olin-Scheller (2015 p. 54;60) elementary school students learn a lot of authentic language from things they find interesting, such as TV-shows, computer games, music etc. This type of English is called extramural English (EE). The authors write that teachers who use their students’ EE in their EFL classrooms may increase their students’ motivation to learn a new language. The authors state that if the gap between EE and regular “school English” becomes too wide students become demotivated.

Alastair and Thorsen (2018, pp. 258-258) performed a study on 112 Swedish EFL teachers in secondary school. They investigated which teaching sources the teachers used in their classrooms and which they believed their students thought were

motivating. Forty-two teachers described the use of authentic material as motivating for their students and only one teacher described the use of textbooks as motivating for the students. Twenty-nine teachers described that popular culture, for example popular literature and songs was motivating for their students.

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who were taught EFL. The study showed that the schools which teach students to develop language abilities relating to interests influenced the students’ motivation.

The classroom environment is something Keaveney (2019) states is important for motivation. She writes that, in order to perform a positive classroom environment, students should be able to express their opinions and talk about their experiences.

2.5 Previous research about teacher usage of different text types

Brophy (1982, p. 2), performed a study on elementary teachers’ influence of the education in the USA. The results showed that especially experienced teachers use textbooks to pick and choose specific texts or topics from, whereas teachers with less teaching experience tend to work strictly with textbooks. Additionally, another study on textbooks was conducted by Levén in 2003 (referred to in Englund, 2006, p. 6) in which around 85% of teachers in grades 1-6 in Sweden claimed that they used textbooks regularly. This research focused on textbooks in general and not only on textbooks for the English subject.

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discussed them together. Another teacher worked with newspapers in themes. The teacher set a topic and gave the students homework to find newspaper articles related to the topic. The students later practiced building sentences from the visual pictures found in the newspapers. One teacher worked with authentic texts by creating brochures with factual texts for the public to read.

Lin (2013, pp. 70-75) researched elementary English teachers’ usage of song texts and music in the classroom. According to her study, 3% of the 103 respondents answered that they never used songs or music and 34% answered they rarely used it when teaching English. In contrast, 28% claimed that they used it often or very often. When measuring the correlation between the usage and the years of teaching

experience, no patterns were discovered. The author also investigated which language skill was most common to practice during a session with songs or music. The most common language skill was vocabulary, the second being speaking fluency and the third reading. Apart from this, the respondents were asked to answer how they use songs or music in their English classrooms. The most commonly used method was to sing along to the songs. The second most common method was to listen to the song texts.

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In a study conducted by Fojkar et. al. (2013, p. 23), 50 EFL teachers were asked how frequently they used children’s literature and textbooks in their EFL classrooms. The results showed that 52% claimed that they use children’s literature often.

Additionally, 33% answered that they use children’s literature rarely (once a month or less). Lastly, 78% of the respondents declared that they use textbooks when teaching English.

EFL classrooms in Kuwait were researched by Shuqair and Dashti (2019) to

investigate teachers’ use and the effectiveness of children’s literature. The study showed that 78.8% of the teachers use children’s literature in their EFL classrooms. When comparing the results to the number of years with teaching experience, the result showed that teachers who were most recently educated tended to use children’s literature more often than the teachers who had more experience. The results also showed that 91% of the respondents answered that they used children’s literature to develop the students’ ability to read. Lastly, 90% of the responding teachers believed that children’s literature was efficient for teaching new vocabulary to the younger students.

3. Method

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texts do teachers use?” and “What is the aim of the use of the different text types?” and a qualitative method will be used to answer the last research question “How are the texts used?”. First of all, the material used will be presented. Secondly the participants will be presented, then the procedure of the study. Lastly, the analysis will be discussed.

3.1 Materials

This section presents the primary sources in the study. First, the survey is presented and then the virtual ethnography will be explained.

3.1.1 Surveys

A survey was used to collect data to answer the first and the second research questions. A survey was chosen because it is an effective way of collecting quantitative data. Similar to what Bryman (2008, p. 229) states, it was inexpensive and gave a greater variation of respondents since the survey was sent out to a wider geographical area, compared to if interviews had been conducted in the researcher’s nearby area. The respondents’ answers were not affected by the researcher which they could have been during an interview. Additionally, a web survey gave the respondents an opportunity to complete the survey whenever they had the time.

Some disadvantages were considered while collecting data through a survey. For example, the possibility of receiving false information or that the questions used would not provide enough data for the study were considered (McKay, 2006, p. 36). A survey does not make it possible for the researcher to ask supplementary questions or answer questions the respondents might have about the survey (Bryman, 2006, pp. 230-231).

The survey was self-administered online via a web-survey created with Google Forms. This tool was free to use, and it was possible to create as many questions as the researcher needed. It was also mobile user friendly, giving the respondents the

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Google Forms has is the possibility to respond to the survey several times. The only function Google had to ensure that the respondents only answered once was by asking them to enter their google e-mail address before opening the survey. To ensure

confidentiality this function was not added to the survey.

3.1.2 Virtual ethnography

To understand how teachers use different texts types a virtual ethnography was conducted. According to Bryman (2018 pp. 378;) data may be collected through ethnography by listening to conversations and collect written sources from the groups that have been selected. Ethnography is often conducted by the researcher in a physical place. In contrast, the author states that ethnography may be conducted online. By viewing cyberspace as an actual place, it is possible to conduct a virtual ethnography.

Written sources in the form of teaching materials and teaching ideas were collected to gather qualitative data to understand how teachers use different text types. The term teaching material is used for worksheets or textbooks. The term teaching ideas includes explanations of how to teach something which does not need any worksheets or

textbooks. Both material and ideas were collected from a teaching website and a Facebook forum designed for sharing materials with other teachers. A sample of convenience (McKay, 2006, p. 37) was used to choose a forum and a website to

observe. The forum was chosen because there was only one forum started for discussing English in grades 1-3 on Facebook. The website was chosen because it allowed

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used. Therefore, it cannot be generalized for the population of preschool class and grades 1-3 teachers in Sweden.

3.2 Participants

The survey was sent to teachers teaching English in preschool class (F) and grades 1-3 in Sweden. To create a random sample (McKay, 2006, pp. 37;12), The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket, 2020) statistics tool was used to retrieve data of teachers teaching English in preschool class and the grades 1-3 in Swedish municipalities during the school year 2018/2019. The municipalities were arranged in alphabetical order and every fifteenth municipality was chosen. A second batch of respondents was chosen by rearranging the municipalities by their codes and choosing every twentieth municipality. In total 48 municipalities with a total of 1,979 teachers were chosen. In total 121 teachers responded to the survey. Sending the survey to randomly selected participants, rather than sending it to, for example, Facebook forums for teachers, gives a better representation of the population (McKay, 2006 p. 37), in this case preschool class and grades 1-3 teachers in Sweden.

The survey was sent to the principals of all the chosen schools, both public and private and they were asked to distribute them to the teachers who were teaching English in preschool class and the grades 1-3.The results of the study were shared with the participants who showed interest (McKay, 2006, p. 25). Ethical considerations were taken by keeping the survey completely anonymous. No information that the

respondents entered in the survey could be linked to them.

3.2.1 Characteristics of the participants

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years of experience. Additionally, 20% respectively 21% had been teaching for 20+ years and 16-20 years. Lastly, 18% had been teaching for 11-15 years.

Figure 1

Figure 1, years of experience of the participating teachers.

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Figure 2

Figure 2, age of participants. The responding teachers’ age.

3.3 Procedure

The procedure for both the survey and the virtual ethnography will be presented below.

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The survey, and information about it, was distributed to the principals of the chosen schools by email (see Appendix 1). They were asked to distribute the letter to all

teachers working in preschool class and grades 1-3 in their school. The email included information about the study, the importance of responding and why the school was selected. The information letter included an email address belonging to the researcher. The respondents were asked to send questions if they had any or teaching materials they wanted to share. As Bryman (2008, p. 231) proposes, the respondents were guaranteed confidentiality before starting the survey. Another reason behind this was because anonymous respondents are more likely to give honest answers.

The questionnaire was written in Swedish, making it easier for Swedish teachers to understand and interpret the survey (McKay, 2006, p. 39). The original questionnaire is found in Appendix 2. The survey was divided into three sections with a total of thirteen questions. The first section consisted of two questions. The first question was based upon the first research question. “What types of texts do you use when teaching

English?” The question had seven options of text types. The options were chosen based on text types presented in previous research and coursebooks for EFL teachers. To be certain that no text types were forgotten it was possible to enter additional options by using the “other” option. It was possible to choose one or more option (see Appendix 2). The options were prepared beforehand instead of asking open questions. If the

respondents would have entered their own options, several of the text types the teachers actually use could have been forgotten and this essay would not have measured what text type teachers actually use.

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were available. These options were based on the syllabus for English for grades 1-3. Lastly, one open question was asked: “Why do you use another text type?” The

respondents were asked to specify in their own words if and why they use another type of text. This question was not mandatory.

The third section gathered information about the teachers. They were asked to fill in what education they have, how old they are and how many years they have been

teaching in preschool class and grades 1-3.

When the respondents finished the survey and sent it in, a message was shown giving thanks for attending and informing the respondents to only send in one answer. The reason behind this was, as mentioned earlier, that Google Forms had the feature of allowing the respondents to send in several answers. This could have led to an incorrect number of respondents. The respondents were able to answer the survey from when it first was sent out on 19 February until it closed on 13 March. A reminder was sent out after seven days.Sending out reminders is, according to Bryman (2008, pp. 231-232), a central aspect of improving the response rate of a survey.

The virtual ethnography was conducted on 6-10 March. The posts in the chosen Facebook forum were observed. Some posts consisted of lesson plans, ideas or tips. The aim of other posts was to ask for ideas on different themes or in some cases text types in the classroom. Data in the form of some chosen worksheets were downloaded and summarized in a table. Data in the form of teaching ideas were summarized in the same table. The data in the table was categorized into the seven different text types presented in the survey (See Appendix 10).

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and preschool class and the grades 1-3 were chosen. In the search field “text” was written which gave a total of 64 results. Three worksheets were chosen. To retrieve more results, other search words were used but the inclusion criteria were not changed. “Ramsor” (chants) gave three results. Two of them were relevant to the study and were downloaded. The third result was a term planner and did not contain any worksheets or lesson plans. The choices were based on relevance to the text types presented in this study: texts from textbooks, multimodal texts, authentic texts, song texts, children’s literature, rhymes or chants and chunks. In addition to this, the choices from Lektion.se were based on how many thumbs up each post had. The limit of at least 50 thumbs up were chosen to be certain several teachers used that text type. A wider sample increases the reliability because it is possible to generalize the results with a greater number of users.

3.4 Analysis

The analysis of the results of the survey will be divided into four parts. The first part is about the teacher usege of text types. This part was aimed to answer the first research question: “What type of texts do you use when teaching English?”. First of all, a diagram of what type of texts the teachers claimed that they used was analyzed by comparing the text types to each other and finding out which text types were used the most and the least. The option “other” where 12 respondents typed in their own

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result, it was not analyzed further. One teacher mentioned “self-created material” which was unclear, and therefore, not analyzed further. One teacher mentioned “letters” but the aim of the letters was unclear and therefore it was not analyzed further.

The second part, regarding why teachers use a certain text type, investigated why the teachers used the text types they claimed that they used. The second question in this part was misinterpreted by some respondents. This became clear when their answers to the first question ‘What type of texts do you use?’ were compared to their answers to the questions about why they use the different text types. Several teachers claimed that they did not use a text type in their answer to the first question but then answered the question on why they used that text type. By conducting this comparison, it was possible to create a table for each text type and fill it in by hand after reading each respondent’s answers. When this was finished it was possible to analyze the results by investigating and comparing the reasons why teachers claim they use each text type to previous research.

The third part includes the characteristics of the participants. The categories used in the survey, age, education and years of experience, were used for the analysis. The categories were included in diagrams in order to clearly see how many teachers are represented in each category. The characteristics were also analyzed by comparing the years of teaching experience with the most commonly used text type to see if there were any differences between the groups in the usage of text types.

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3.5 Reliability and validity

To create reliability, the results of a study should be stable and if a similar study should be conducted the results should be similar. To be certain that this would be the case it is possible to conduct a test-retest (Bryman, 2018 pp. 72;206). In this study, measures were taken in order to create reliability by conducting a pilot study. The pilot study was only conducted on a small sample. Due to the lack of time it was not possible to do any further studies regarding a test-retest. To achieve reliability during the virtual ethnographic observation the forums should have been observed for a longer time. Considering the time aspect, this was not possible in this study.

In order to establish external validity in a study the results should be possible to generalize (Bryman, 2018 p. 74). This study was conducted on a small sample of the whole population of teachers in preschool class and grades 1-3. Therefore, it is hard to generalize the results for the whole population. According to Bryman (2008) results from a small study can only be valid on the ones who actually responded to the survey. In order to generalize the results and achieve external validity, a greater sample would have been necessary. In this study there was not enough of time to send out the survey to a greater sample.

To construct internal validity the researcher needs to make sure that the study has measured what it was supposed to measure and as a result, be able to draw conclusions (Bryman, 2018 p. 74). In order to be certain that this study measured what was

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answer rate. That could instead have affected the external validity. The choice of conducting a survey instead of doing interviews meant that the respondents were not affected by the research which they could have been during an interview. This could have led to that the respondents answered something else than they would have done if the researcher was not present. Additionally, the options for the questions were prepared beforehand instead of asking open questions. If the respondents would have entered their own options, several of the text types the teachers actually use could have been forgotten. This could have affected the internal validity since the study would not have measured what text type teachers actually use.

3.6 Method discussion

It is hard to compare the results of this essay to a similar study since this essay contains several different text types. Most previous research has been done on specific text types in other countries or in other teacher groups. This makes it hard to guarantee external validity of this essay.

Validity was created by predesigning options of text types in the survey for the responding teachers. Reviewing the results, it is clear that only nine respondents answered “other” on the question “what text types do you use?” indicating that most of the categories were covered by the survey.

All the questions of the survey were mandatory to answer. This could mean that some respondents could make up their answers or refusing to answer which could have led a smaller number of respondents or answers that was not true.

4. Results

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of teachers who use that particular text type, not the total number of respondents in the survey. The respondents were able to choose more than one option on all the questions that are presented in this section. In total, 121 teachers responded to the survey.

4.1 Survey

This section will present results related to the first and second research questions. What types of texts do English teachers in Sweden use in the early years? What is the aim of the use of the different text types?

Figure 3 shows that the most commonly used text type among teachers in preschool class and grades 1-3 is song texts. The results of the first question show that song texts are used by 105 (87%) of the respondents. The second most frequently used text type is texts from textbooks, 93 (77%) of the responding teachers claimed that they use

textbooks. The least common text type, authentic texts, were only used by 4 (0.3%) of the respondents. Multimodal texts were used by 87 (72%) of the respondents.

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Figure 3

Figure 3 The number of users of different text types (121 responses). X axis = number of participants.

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different types of texts. One teacher mentioned the importance of structure for some students.

Figure 4

Figure 4: The aim of the use of textbooks. The reasons why teachers use textbooks and the number who claimed that they do not use textbooks. X-axis = number of participants.

The results in Figure 5 shows that multimodal texts are mainly used to develop the students’ vocabulary. According to question one in the survey, 87 out of 121 (72%) claimed that they use multimodal texts. In total, 82 (94%) of the respondents who first claimed that they use multimodal texts, claim that they use them to develop the

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were, for example, to see other types of texts, to individualize for the students and to practice searching information in different text types.

Figure 5

Figure 5: The aim of the use of multimodal texts. The reasons why teachers use multimodal texts and the number who claimed that they do not use multimodal texts. X-axis = number of participants

Authentic texts are hardly used at all among preschool class and grades 1-3

teachers. Only 4 out of 121 (3%) answered that they use authentic texts in question one of the survey. Figure 5 shows that 4 (100%) of the teachers who claimed that they use authentic texts say that they use them to develop the students’ ability to listen, write and read. Additionally, 3 (75%) claimed that they use authentic texts to develop the

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Figure 6

Figure 6: The aim of the use of authentic texts. The reasons why teachers use authentic texts and the number who claimed that they do not use authentic texts. X-axis = number of participants

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Figure 7

Figure 7 The aim of the use of song texts. The reasons why teachers use song texts and the number who claimed that they do not use song texts. X-axis = number of participants

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Figure 8

Figure 8: The aim of the use of children’s literature. The reasons why teachers use children’s literature and the number who claimed that they do not use children’s literature. X-axis = number of participants

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Figure 9

Figure 9: The aim of the use of rhymes and chants. The reasons why teachers use rhymes and chants and the number who claimed that they do not use rhymes and chants. X-axis = number of participants

Figure 10 shows that fixed dialogues or chunks are primarily used to develop the students’ ability to speak. In total, 62 of 121 (51%) of the responding teachers claimed that they use fixed dialogues. 59 (97%) out of the teachers who claimed that they use fixed dialogues or chunks stated they use it to develop the students’ ability to speak. The second most common reason to use this text type was to develop the vocabulary, 52 (85%) answered that they use it to develop that ability. The least common reason to why teachers uses this text type was to give students an opportunity to develop language abilities relating to their interests. Only 22 (36%) answered they use it for this reason. Furthermore, 51 (84%) teachers specified that they use it to develop the students’ ability to listen and 45 (74%) of the respondents claimed that they use it to develop the

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Figure 10

Figure 10: The aim of the use of fixed dialogues. The reasons why teachers use fixed dialogues and the number who claimed that they do not use fixed dialogues. X-axis = number of participants

Table 1 presents the usage of text types compared to the years of experience that the responding teachers had. Teachers who have taught for 11-15 years tend to use

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experience. Lastly, chunks are mostly used by teachers with 6-10 years of experience and least used by teachers with 0-5 years of teaching experience.

When analyzing what text type teachers use the most, depending on years of experience, Table 1 shows that teachers with 0-10 years of experience tend to use multimodal texts the most. The most commonly used text type among teachers with 11-15 years of experience is textbooks. For teachers with 16-20 years of experience song texts is the most used text type. Teachers who have worked for more than 20 years use both song texts and rhymes and chants the most. All of the categories use authentic texts the least, followed by children’s literature

Table 1

Percentage of users of each text type compared to years of experience.

0–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years 16–20 years 20+ years

Textbooks 63% 83% 90% 72% 83%

Multimodal texts 84% 100% 59% 72% 75%

Authentic texts 0% 5% 9% 0% 4%

Song texts 78% 94% 86% 88% 87%

Children's litterature 37% 50% 36% 40% 33%

Rhymes and chants 68% 83% 54% 64% 87%

Chunks 40% 66% 54% 48% 54%

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4.2 Virtual ethnography

This section will present results based on the third research question “How are the text types used?” Each text type will be presented one at the time. See Appendix 10 for the data noted in a table.

Textbooks were mentioned several times in the Facebook forum, mostly to promote a certain brand or to describe to other teachers what books they used and preferred. In one post, two teachers mentioned that they use textbooks to pick and choose exercises they enjoyed. One teacher mentioned that she worked strictly with textbooks and the compatible websites in her EFL classroom.

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class enjoyed. Kahoot is an online website where it is possible to create quizzes. The quizzes are often built upon a picture asking what the picture is.

Authentic texts are used in EFL classrooms as factual texts. On the teaching website Lektion.se, two factual texts about students’ familiar contexts were found. One factual text was about animals (see Appendix 3). It had 76 thumbs up, indicated that it was used by several teachers. The other text was about great white sharks (see Appendix 4) and it had 376 thumbs up. They were both used to practice the students’ reading

comprehension and writing ability.

Teachers use song texts by listening to songs, singing songs and translating song texts. In the Facebook forum, several teachers describe how they sing, listen and translate song texts with their students. Several teachers in the Facebook forum also claimed that they used song texts that the students enjoyed. One teacher mentioned that her class worked with “Melodifestivalen” (a Swedish singing contest) as a theme in several subjects. In English, they worked with the meaning of the text and worked with translation exercises. YouTube was mentioned by many teachers as a source to find songs to use in the classroom.

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suggested using the website Unite for Literacy library. Another teacher mentioned that some students in her grade with higher proficiency had been very enthusiastic about reading books in English which they had previously read in Swedish, for example the books about Lasse and Maja, written by Martin Widmark. One teacher in the Facebook forum used short stories by printing them out and dividing them into smaller pieces letting the students puzzle the sentences together to form the correct storyline (see Appendix 5).

Traditional rhymes and tongue twisters are common in the younger EFL

classrooms. In the Facebook forum, rhymes and chants were frequently mentioned. One teacher mentioned that they used this text type by rhyming along to well-known rhymes in YouTube videos. Another teacher mentioned that they practiced rhymes that were created and used for rope skipping in English speaking countries. She described that the students enjoyed working with rhymes as she had observed them on their brake rhyming while skipping at the playground. On Lektion.se, one worksheet with tongue twisters was found. It consisted of several tricky rhymes that teachers use for choral teaching or for working in pairs. The worksheet had 77 thumbs up, indicating that it was used by several teachers (see Appendix 6).

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books”. They were used by letting the students copy short chunks they had been taught earlier into word bubbles they had in a booklet (see Figure 11).

Figure 11

Figure 11, Talking books.

The same teacher who worked with the “Talking books” also sent a document where she described how she worked with chunks by inviting a hand puppet or mascot who only spoke English. The mascot taught the students chunks and spoke to them. One teacher in the Facebook forum let her students work with chunks on their

computers or tablets in an online game on the website Elevspel.se. The game was based on translating familiar chunks.

5. Discussion

The research questions of this study were: What type of texts do English teachers in Sweden use in the lower grades? What is the aim of the use of the different text types? How are the texts used? In this unit the results of the survey and the virtual ethnography will be discussed to answer the research questions.

5.1 Surveys

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the teachers Lin (2013) observed. According to her results, only 3% of the teachers answered that they never used songs in their classrooms. She also studied the

correlation between the usage of song texts and years of teaching experience and found no patterns. The results of this essay show that 86-88% of the teachers who have 11 or more years of experience use song texts. Teachers who have taught for 6-10 years have a proportion of 94% of users of song texts while 78% of teachers with 0-5 years of experience use song texts. This is partly in line with what Lin’s study says, as almost half of the population of the participants in this essay show no different patterns in the usage of song texts, but the other half does show that there are small differences in how many years of experience teachers have.

Previous studies conducted by Urgilez and Lupercio (2013) indicate that the use of songs and music has several advantages when being used in the EFL classroom. For example, students enjoy music and can relate to the context of song texts. Studies show that students who are able to influence the choice of song texts are more motivated to learn a new language. Considering this, it is interesting that only 34% of the

participating teachers in this study claim that they use song texts to give students an opportunity to develop language skills relating to their interests.

As mentioned previously, the Swedish school should be in line with research and proven experience (SkolL 1;5). Considering this, Pavia et al.’s (2019) study shows that the use of song texts in the classroom may increase the students’ vocabulary and their listening comprehension. With this in mind, it is clear that at least 88% of the

participants in this essay who claim they use song texts to teach vocabulary do it in line with previous research and proven experience.

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unexpected that this text type is in the second place of the most commonly used text types. In total, 82% of the participating teachers in this essay claimed that they use textbooks when teaching EFL. This is similar to Levén’s (2003) results of the usage of textbooks where 85% of the teachers in grades 1-6 claimed that they used textbooks in their classrooms. Additionally, it is also similar to the results of Fojkar et al.’s (2013) study where 78% of the teachers answered that they use textbooks in their EFL classrooms.

Comparing the results of this essay to Brophy’s (1982) study on the use of

textbooks depending on experience, the results differ. In his study, experienced teachers used textbooks rarely and unexperienced teachers worked strictly with textbooks. The experienced teachers in this essay have a higher frequency of the use of textbooks compared to teachers with less experience. Only 63% of teachers with 0-5 years of experience use textbooks compared to teachers with 11-15 years of experience where 90% of the teachers use textbooks.

When analyzing the reasons why teachers use textbooks, 92% of the teachers claimed that they use them to develop the students’ vocabulary. In contrast, previous research shows that textbooks might not include a wide vocabulary (Keaveney, 2019). The least common reason why teachers use textbooks is to develop the students’ ability to write. 64% of the users of textbooks claimed that they use it to develop writing skills. Reviewing previous research about textbooks, Pinter (2017) suggests that textbooks might include good writing exercises. In conclusion, some teachers might not use texts from textbooks in the most effective way, according to research.

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students’ vocabulary. This corresponds with the findings in Kaminski (2019). She claims that students who were exposed to multimodal texts did learn new vocabulary. Almost the same number of teachers say that they use multimodal texts to develop the students’ ability to read, listen and speak. This again, might be since multimodal texts are communicated in several different modes, giving the teachers a greater chance to vary their teaching when using multimodal texts in the EFL classroom.

Multimodal texts are the text type in which teachers seem to consider the students’ interests the most. Two teachers in the Facebook forum claimed that they let their students be a part of choosing themes and certain contexts while working with multimodal texts. Even considering this, it does not seem that the main reason why teachers choose to use multimodal texts is related to the students’ interests. In contrast to these results, Oga Baldwin and Fryer (2018) refer to a number of studies which indicate that teachers have a high chance of motivating the students by using their interests in the classrooms.

Rhymes and chants are used by almost as many teachers as multimodal texts. Similar to the majority of the other text types, teachers claim that they use this text type to increase students’ vocabulary. Almost as many teachers who claimed this also answered that they use it to develop the students’ ability to speak. Previous research done by Prosic-Santova (2015) confirms that rhymes and chants are good sources for improving vocabulary as well as intonation, grammar skills and pronunciation.

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Half of the respondents of this essay claimed that they use fixed dialogues or chunks. The use of chunks has, according to previous research, several advantages for improving the students’ ability to speak. For example, Wray and Perkins (2000) state that some effects are developed fluency, intonation and increased production of language. Additionally, Orlik (2017) states that chunks can be a tool to learn new words. In total, 97% of the teachers who say they use chunks answered that they do it to develop the students’ ability to speak. Considering this, it is clear that their choice is in line with research and proven experience.

Teachers who use their students’ Extramural English (EE) in the EFL classroom have a higher chance of motivating their students to learn English (Sundqist & Olin-Scheller, 2015). Considering this and that chunks are prefabricated by the teacher, and therefore easy to design and focus on the students’ interests (Wray and Perkins, 2000), it is interesting that the results of this essay shows that only 36% of the teachers who claim they use fixed dialogues or chunks say they use the students interests to develop their language abilities.

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children’s literature compared to 33% of the teachers who have worked for more than 20 years.

Previous research indicates that children’s literature covers plenty of everyday language which can help the students to improve their vocabulary (Keaveney, 2019). Bearing this in mind, it is obvious that teachers who use children’s literature to teach vocabulary to their students do it in line with research and proven experience. In total, 93% of the teachers who claimed that they use children’s literature say that they use it to develop the students’ vocabulary. This is similar to Shuqair and Dashti’s (2019) results, in their study 90% of their respondents say that they use children’s literature to teach vocabulary. In contrast, the most common reason to use children’s literature was to develop the students’ ability to read. 91% of their respondents answered that they use this text type for that reason. In this essay, 73% of the responding EFL teachers

mentioned developing the ability to read as one reason for using children’s literature in their classroom.

The use of children’s literature is not very common, yet it is (according to previous research) a favorable method for motivating students since they can relate to the context in children’s books (Hughes, 2010) and also give input on which book would be

interesting to read (Keaveney, 2019). Even considering this, few teachers claimed that they use children’s literature related to the students’ interests.

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classroom is, according to the author, motivating and meaningful for the students. Moreover, Oga Baldwin and Fryer (2018) state that students who are interested and motivated to learn a new language perform better.

One reason why so many teachers do not use authentic texts could be due to the disadvantages which Gilmore (2007) states is the fact that authentic texts may include several unfamiliar words and phrases. As a consequence, it takes time for the teachers to go through and prepare authentic texts before being able to bring them in to the EFL classroom.

It is possible to see a trend that teachers do not use different types of text for the students to develop language skills related to their interests. This category has a low answer rate in every text type. This is very interesting since it is mentioned in the syllabus that the content in the EFL classroom should be in line with students interests.

Comparing the different groups of years of experience, it is not really possible to see any larger trends between them. Additionally, the groups are not even as for example 26% of the respondents have had 0-5 years of experience while only 15% of them have 6-10 years of experience. Therefore, it is hard to compare the groups and draw any conclusions that one certain group uses a text type to a larger extent than another group. There are indicators which show that teachers with 0-5 years of

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5.1 Virtual ethnography

In this section the virtual ethnography will be discussed to answer the research question “How are texts used in the young EFL classroom?” Each text type will be discussed one at the time.

During the virtual ethnography, it was found that teachers use textbooks to pick and choose parts they enjoy as well as working strictly with the textbook and a website which was connected to the particular textbook. These results correspond with what Brophy (1982) found in his study. He found that especially experienced teachers tend to pick and choose specific themes or texts from the textbooks they use. He also found that less experienced teachers seem to work strictly with the textbooks.

The teachers who used multimodal texts seemed to use them mostly lo teach

vocabulary and practice speaking by looking at pictures and saying or reading the words integrated with the picture out loud. This corresponds with the results that Kaminski (2019) presents. The ethnography conducted in this essay did not find any teachers who used multimodal texts to start discussions which Flewitt (2006) suggested teachers should do when using multimodal texts.

The results of the survey showed that authentic texts are not commonly used by teachers. This is probably the reason why there were very few examples of how teachers use authentic texts.

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teacher in their study mentioned that the students did create their own factual texts, which is similar to what some Swedish teachers do when they work with authentic texts.

Teachers claim that they use song texts by listening, singing and translating them in the EFL classroom. One teacher mentioned she worked with “Melodifestivalen” (a Swedish singing contest) as a theme in several subjects because this was something her students enjoyed. According to Urgilez and Lupericio (2013), students might get enthusiastic when basing the choice of theme on song texts they enjoy.

The involvement of the choice will, according to Kevaeney (2019), motivate them. As “Melodifestivalen” is a TV-show that students watch outside of school this means that the teacher who uses song texts this way takes advantage of the students’ EE which reduces the gap between EE and regular “school English”. This leads to more motivated students (Sundqvist & Olin-Scheller, 2015). In addition to “Melodifestivalen”, several teachers mentioned YouTube as a source when they worked with songs. This will, according to Keaveney (2019), make it easier for the students to get involved and decide what song texts should be used. This, again, helps teachers to take advantage of the students’ EE (Sundqvist and Olin-Scheller, 2015).

Children’s literature is not very commonly used according to the results of the survey. Even considering this, the ones who claim they use it in different forums present several different ways of using children’s literature in the EFL-classroom. Just like Keaveney (2019) suggests, some teachers claim they start discussions and ask questions during book reading. In contrast, one teacher mentioned she used a familiar story which she divided into short sequences which the students put together. This is one example of repeating language, which Hughes (2010) suggests children’s literature can contribute with.

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vocabulary but it is also favorable for students with low language confidence. Several teachers mentioned on Lektion.se that they used rhymes and chants together with all the students. One example that was used together with the class was a worksheet with tongue twisters. According to Keveney (2019) this might help students to become more confident in speaking and not expose them to the rest of the class if they are afraid to pronounce or say something wrong. One teacher mentioned she taught her students skipping rope rhymes. She stated the students enjoyed it so much that she saw them use it on their recess. This confirms what Garcia and Juan (2015) write that rhymes and chants add fun to the EFL classroom. As mentioned previously, students who are exposed to their EE in the classroom are more motivated than the ones who are exposed to “school English” only (Sundqvist & Olin-Scheller, 2015).

Fixed dialogues or “chunks” are similar to children’s literature being used in many different ways. One teacher used a worksheet every morning where she showered her students with basic phrases which they learned quickly. Another teacher explained how the students dramatized chunks in front of the other students and a third teachers explained how her students were exposed to a mascot in the classroom who only spoke English. Doing this corresponds with the previous research about fixed dialogues which Wray and Perkin (2000) present. They write that some effects of using chunks is

increased production of language, developed intonation and fluency.

6. Conclusion

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type among the teachers in preschool class and grades 1-3 who responded to the survey. The results also show that the most common reason why teachers in preschool class and grades 1-3 who responded to the survey use different text types is to develop the

students’ vocabulary. This essay presents a small selection of teachers. In order to generalize any results, further research needs to be done. Additionally, further research could be done to investigate the effects of each text type. By doing that more teachers are able to ensure that their education is in line with research and proven experience. Additionally, further research could be done to investigate to what extent teachers use their students’ interests in order to develop their language skills.

The results of how teachers use each text type are individual and cannot be generalized for the whole population of preschool and grade 1-3 teachers. The results can give a view of how texts could be used and perhaps inspire other teachers to try something new. Further research could collect more teaching material, perhaps by classroom observations, interviews or by conducting surveys in line with previous research about different text types and how they could be used. For example, several coursebooks for EFL teachers present many ideas on how to work with different methods.

References

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Brophy, J. E. (September 1982). How teachers influence what is taught and learned in classrooms. The elementary school journal, 83(1), pp. 1-13.

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Fojkar, M. D., Skela, J., & Kovač, P. (2013, May 8). A Study of the Use of Narratives in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Young Learners. English Language Teaching, 6(6), pp. 21-28.

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Appendix 1

Hej, jag skulle var tacksam om du skulle kunna vidarebefordra informationen nedan till de lärare som undervisar inom F-3 på den eller de skolor du arbetar på.

Vänliga hälsningar Victoria Söderlund

______________________________ Hej!

Är du nyfiken på hur texter används i undervisningen i engelska för de lägre åldrarna? Enligt läroplanen ska olika typer av texter användas redan i de lägre

åldrarna vid undervisningen i engelska. Vilka texttyper används och vad är syftet med användningen?

Kommunen du arbetar i har blivit slumpmässigt utvald att delta i denna studie vars syfte är att undersöka vilka typer av texter lärare använder och varför de används i undervisningen i engelska för årskurs F-3. Du som deltar i undersökningen får ta del av resultat och slutsatser som rör engelskundervisningen. För att den ska bli så trovärdig som möjligt är det av stor vikt att just Du deltar i undersökningen.

Enkäten består av 13 frågor och tar ca 5 minuter att genomföra. Det är frivilligt att delta och du är helt anonym. Svara gärna så snart som möjligt eller senast 6/3. Du hittar enkäten här: https://forms.gle/nqAhY6d4hua3ipKd7

Maila mig på victoria.soderlund@outlook.com om du... … har frågor eller funderingar.

… har något material du använder när du arbetar med texter i engelska som du vill dela med dig av.

… vill ta del av studiens resultat. Om mig

Jag heter Victoria Söderlund och studerar sista terminen på grundlärarprogrammet med inriktning mot F-3 på Högskolan i Gävle. Det engelska språket intresserar mig mycket och jag vill gärna lära mig mer om hur lärare arbetar med olika metoder inom just ämnet engelska.

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Dorthe Nicklasson, Hallenborgskolan, Rydsgård – www.lektion.se

ANIMALS

Read the text and translate.

Draw a line between the correct text and the

correct animal.

This animal is very tall. It has four long legs and a very long neck. This is a very big animal. It is grey. It has big ears and a very long nose.

This animal has two arms, two legs Two hands, two feet and a long tail. It can climb trees.

This animal is red and blue. It has two legs and two wings. It can fly.

Using texts in the EFL classroom

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES