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Speaking French, German and Spanish in Swedish lower secondary school : A study on attained levels of proficiency

Granfelt, Jonas LU orcid ; Erickson, Gudrun ; Bardel, Camilla ; Sayehli, Susan ; Ågren, Malin LU and Österberg, Rakel (2023) In Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies 17(2). p.91-121
Abstract
This study investigates levels of oral proficiency in French, German and Spanish attained by Swedish speaking students in lower secondary school. A total of 122 students performed two tasks: one production task and one interaction task. The oral performances were rated using scales from the Common European Framework of Referencefor Languages. The rating was done in successive steps by researchers in the project and external raters. The results show that slightly less than half of the students’ performances were rated at or above the expected proficiency level at the end of lower secondary school (A2.1). While there was no difference in rated levels between the two tasks, ... (More)
This study investigates levels of oral proficiency in French, German and Spanish attained by Swedish speaking students in lower secondary school. A total of 122 students performed two tasks: one production task and one interaction task. The oral performances were rated using scales from the Common European Framework of Referencefor Languages. The rating was done in successive steps by researchers in the project and external raters. The results show that slightly less than half of the students’ performances were rated at or above the expected proficiency level at the end of lower secondary school (A2.1). While there was no difference in rated levels between the two tasks, the performances by the students of German were significantly more often rated at or above the A2.1 level than the performances by students of French and Spanish. In the article, we discuss the results in relation to the few previous studies available on the topic, as well as some aspects of the learning conditions that might contribute to the interpretation of the results. In addition, certain structural phenomena regarding language education in Sweden are briefly considered in relation to equity at a general level (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sweden, lower secondary school, oral proficiency, assessment, second foreign languages, French, German, Spanish
in
Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies
volume
17
issue
2
pages
31 pages
publisher
University of Jyväskylä
ISSN
1457-9863
DOI
10.47862/apples.127819
project
Learning, Teaching and Assessment of Second Foreign Languages - an Alignment Study on Oral Language Proficiency in the Swedish School Context
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
20c85de8-f1f1-42a2-aace-3d643b92e054
date added to LUP
2023-10-04 14:47:06
date last changed
2023-10-05 11:44:54
@article{20c85de8-f1f1-42a2-aace-3d643b92e054,
  abstract     = {{This  study  investigates  levels  of  oral  proficiency  in  French,  German  and  Spanish attained  by  Swedish  speaking  students  in  lower  secondary  school.  A  total  of  122 students performed two tasks: one production task and one interaction task. The oral performances  were  rated  using  scales  from  the  Common  European  Framework  of Referencefor Languages. The rating was done  in  successive steps  by researchers  in the  project  and  external  raters.  The  results  show  that  slightly  less  than  half  of the students’ performances were rated at or above the expected proficiency level at the end  of  lower  secondary  school  (A2.1).  While  there  was  no  difference  in  rated  levels between   the   two   tasks,   the   performances   by   the   students   of   German   were significantly  more  often  rated  at  or  above  the  A2.1  level  than  the  performances  by students of  French and  Spanish. In the article, we discuss the  results in  relation to the few previous studies available on the topic, as well as some aspects of the learning conditions  that  might  contribute  to  the  interpretation  of  the  results.  In  addition, certain  structural  phenomena  regarding  language  education  in  Sweden  are  briefly considered in relation to equity at a general level}},
  author       = {{Granfelt, Jonas and Erickson, Gudrun and Bardel, Camilla and Sayehli, Susan and Ågren, Malin and Österberg, Rakel}},
  issn         = {{1457-9863}},
  keywords     = {{Sweden; lower secondary school; oral proficiency; assessment; second foreign languages; French; German; Spanish}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{91--121}},
  publisher    = {{University of Jyväskylä}},
  series       = {{Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies}},
  title        = {{Speaking French, German and Spanish in Swedish lower secondary school : A study on attained levels of proficiency}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.47862/apples.127819}},
  doi          = {{10.47862/apples.127819}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}