Definithet, bestämdhet och artikelbruk – en missad svårighet i L2-svenska?
(2023) In Acta Didactica Norden 17(4).- Abstract
A well-known difficulty for learners of L2 Swedish is the complexity of definiteness in form and meaning, together with article use. Several studies have indicated that learners lacking morphological definiteness in their L1 struggle more with structures within this area although learners with corresponding structures in their L1 also have issues. This article describes how this area’s complexity is presented in Swedish teaching materials for learners with varying L1 (in total seven book series) and Finnish teaching materials intended for Finnish-speaking teenagers learning Swedish (in total six book series). The CEFR levels of the teaching materials vary between A1 and B1. The results show that the complexity of definiteness and... (More)
A well-known difficulty for learners of L2 Swedish is the complexity of definiteness in form and meaning, together with article use. Several studies have indicated that learners lacking morphological definiteness in their L1 struggle more with structures within this area although learners with corresponding structures in their L1 also have issues. This article describes how this area’s complexity is presented in Swedish teaching materials for learners with varying L1 (in total seven book series) and Finnish teaching materials intended for Finnish-speaking teenagers learning Swedish (in total six book series). The CEFR levels of the teaching materials vary between A1 and B1. The results show that the complexity of definiteness and article use is unaddressed in their entirety in all of the teaching materials. The Finnish teaching materials deal with this problem in more detail than the Swedish ones – for instance the form of a noun preceded by an adjectival pronoun – probably because definiteness is a notorious source of difficulty for Finnish-speaking Swedish learners. In addition, the fact that Swedish grammar is contrasted with Finnish in the Finnish teaching materials supports this assumption. What the teaching materials have in common is that direct anaphor is given more weight than the different types of definite meaning, which does not align with definite meaning in the real language use, and that the relationship between form and meaning is unaddressed. A consequence of this simplification of the definiteness problem is that it can make learning harder, regardless of whether the learners have equivalents in their L1 or not.
(Less)- Abstract (Swedish)
- En välkänd svårighet för inlärare av L2-svenska är komplexiteten kring definithet, bestämdhet och artikelbruk (DBA). Flera studier har indikerat att inlärare som saknar morfologisk bestämdhetsmarkering i sitt L1 har svårare för strukturer inom DBA, men att även inlärare med motsvarande strukturer i sitt L1 har rapporterats ha svårigheter. I denna artikel redogör vi för hur den komplexitet som DBA utgör i svenskan presenteras i svenska Sfi-läromedel för inlärare med varierande L1 (sju bokserier) och finländska läromedel avsedda för finskspråkiga tonåringar som lär sig svenska i grundskolan och gymnasiet (sex bokserier). De olika läromedlens CEFR-nivåer varierar mellan A1 och B1. Resultaten visar att den komplexa helheten i DBA inte... (More)
- En välkänd svårighet för inlärare av L2-svenska är komplexiteten kring definithet, bestämdhet och artikelbruk (DBA). Flera studier har indikerat att inlärare som saknar morfologisk bestämdhetsmarkering i sitt L1 har svårare för strukturer inom DBA, men att även inlärare med motsvarande strukturer i sitt L1 har rapporterats ha svårigheter. I denna artikel redogör vi för hur den komplexitet som DBA utgör i svenskan presenteras i svenska Sfi-läromedel för inlärare med varierande L1 (sju bokserier) och finländska läromedel avsedda för finskspråkiga tonåringar som lär sig svenska i grundskolan och gymnasiet (sex bokserier). De olika läromedlens CEFR-nivåer varierar mellan A1 och B1. Resultaten visar att den komplexa helheten i DBA inte adresseras i något av läromedlen. De finska läromedlen behandlar fler detaljer kring denna problematik än de svenska – till exempel substantivets form efter adjektiviska pronomen – troligen på grund av att DBA utgör en notorisk svårighetskälla för finskspråkiga svenskinlärare. Även det faktum att svensk grammatik kontrasteras med den finska stöder detta antagande. Gemensamt för läromedlen i båda länderna är att direkt anafor får mer utrymme än de olika typerna av definit betydelse, vilket inte stämmer överens med hur vanlig den är i svenskan samt att förhållandet mellan form och betydelse inte tas upp. En konsekvens av denna förenkling av DBA-problematiken är att det i stället kan försvåra inlärningen, oavsett om inlärarna har motsvarigheter i sitt L1 eller inte. (Less)
- author
- Mattsson, Anna Flyman LU and Nyqvist, Eeva Liisa
- organization
- alternative title
- Definiteness and article use – a neglected source of difficulty in L2 Swedish?
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- complexity, definiteness, L2 Swedish, learning materials
- in
- Acta Didactica Norden
- volume
- 17
- issue
- 4
- article number
- 3
- publisher
- Universitetet i Oslo
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85180566669
- ISSN
- 2535-8219
- DOI
- 10.5617/adno.9800
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © Acta Didactica Norden.All rights reserved.
- id
- 6419b8f5-2223-4924-8306-77828b9366d1
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-05 10:30:45
- date last changed
- 2024-02-05 10:32:33
@article{6419b8f5-2223-4924-8306-77828b9366d1,
abstract = {{<p>A well-known difficulty for learners of L2 Swedish is the complexity of definiteness in form and meaning, together with article use. Several studies have indicated that learners lacking morphological definiteness in their L1 struggle more with structures within this area although learners with corresponding structures in their L1 also have issues. This article describes how this area’s complexity is presented in Swedish teaching materials for learners with varying L1 (in total seven book series) and Finnish teaching materials intended for Finnish-speaking teenagers learning Swedish (in total six book series). The CEFR levels of the teaching materials vary between A1 and B1. The results show that the complexity of definiteness and article use is unaddressed in their entirety in all of the teaching materials. The Finnish teaching materials deal with this problem in more detail than the Swedish ones – for instance the form of a noun preceded by an adjectival pronoun – probably because definiteness is a notorious source of difficulty for Finnish-speaking Swedish learners. In addition, the fact that Swedish grammar is contrasted with Finnish in the Finnish teaching materials supports this assumption. What the teaching materials have in common is that direct anaphor is given more weight than the different types of definite meaning, which does not align with definite meaning in the real language use, and that the relationship between form and meaning is unaddressed. A consequence of this simplification of the definiteness problem is that it can make learning harder, regardless of whether the learners have equivalents in their L1 or not.</p>}},
author = {{Mattsson, Anna Flyman and Nyqvist, Eeva Liisa}},
issn = {{2535-8219}},
keywords = {{complexity; definiteness; L2 Swedish; learning materials}},
language = {{swe}},
number = {{4}},
publisher = {{Universitetet i Oslo}},
series = {{Acta Didactica Norden}},
title = {{Definithet, bestämdhet och artikelbruk – en missad svårighet i L2-svenska?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5617/adno.9800}},
doi = {{10.5617/adno.9800}},
volume = {{17}},
year = {{2023}},
}