Why are all dogs male?

Studies conducted over the past sixty years have reported stereotypical gender representation in school materials. Initiatives to counteract sexism have led to improvements, and the most overt gender-biased examples are less visible today.  Despite this, studies still report gender imbalances. Since language has an enormous impact on how normative perceptions are created, increased knowledge about how we communicate and create knowledge about gender is needed. This study focuses on gender in EFL textbooks used in Swedish primary school. To reveal patterns of representation, a corpus was constructed and tagged to enable searches. The study reveals both equal and unequal representations. Equal patterns are shown in the numerical representation of proper names, and in verbs and adjectives collocating with females and males. However, animals and fantastic characters identified as either male or female in the books show traditional gender representations, with male characters not only occurring more frequently than equivalent female characters but also being represented as more active and innovative. The pronoun he is also considerably more common than she in the material

Varför kokar vi av ilska?

Godkänd; 2008; 20081212 (andbra

Cold and Dangerous Women : Anger and Gender in Sensation Fiction

Based on humoural doctrine, male anger has historically been viewed as a hot emotion associated with rationality and stability. Female anger, on the other hand, has traditionally been ascribed the opposite traits that is, coldness, emotionality and instability. Typically male anger has been defined as a temporary loss of control, whereas anger expressed by women has been perceived as lasting longer, and therefore often viewed as a matter of feminine nature. Thus, female anger has been viewed as a less refined form of anger. Sensation fiction of the 1860s suggests that the ancient view of understanding female anger as closely connected with the female nature and as a consequence more deceptive, colder and more dangerous than male anger persisted in nineteenth-century England. Victorian women, as depicted in the literature of the day, are defined as more emotional than male characters, at the same time as most forms of female emotionality are presented as a break against ideal femininity. The contradictory conception of emotionality, as outlined by ancient philosophers, continued to inform the common view of anger and gender, although the belief in humoural theory and its supposed influence on human characteristics was less pronounced.Validerad; 2009; 20091027 (ysko)</p

Revisioning the Value of Cold

Validerad; 2009; 20091027 (ysko)</p

Vocabulary in EFL teaching materials for young learners

Vocabulary is a key factor in successful language acquisition and as thetextbook is central in the teaching of English, ideas behind vocabularyinput in teaching materials should be based on research findings. Thepresent study is an analysis of seven teaching materials used for younglearners in Sweden. The results show that only a limited amount of thevocabulary students encounter in textbooks features in the exercises,with the focus placed on practising words already occurring with highfrequency in the textbooks. Most exercises have an incidentalvocabulary-learning focus and also require students to deal withlanguage only in a mechanical way. This suggests there is nopedagogical thought behind the vocabulary input and that theinadequacies of textbooks are not properly addressed in workbooks. Aconclusion to be drawn is that many teaching materials intended foryounger learners in Swedish schools are questionable from a language learning perspective.Validerad;2020;Nivå 1;2020-01-24 (johcin)</p

Accounting terminology and translation : a linguistic challenge

This article focuses on linguistic comparability and the understanding of accounting terms between languages in the context of international standardization of accounting principles. By analyzing the translations of the American English term income in bilingual dictionaries (English/Swedish and Swedish/English), the complexity of translating accounting terms, and the risk of miscommunication involved in the process, is highlighted.The study shows that non-technical uses of terms are commonly confused with technical uses, and that the information presented in bilingual technical dictionaries may be both incorrect and misleading. The research demonstrates the fuzzy nature of language, and shows that linguistic and cultural aspects in accounting communication cannot be ignored in the on-going work of standardizing accounting world-wide.Validerad; 2013; 20130801 (cano

“Words are picked up along the way” : Swedish EFL teachers’ conceptualizations of vocabulary knowledge and learning

Vocabulary is a core feature of language proficiency, requiring explicit attention in the language classroom. As teachers’ conceptualizations influence their teaching, their understanding of vocabulary deserves closer attention. Yet, few teacher cognition studies focus on vocabulary, and even fewer on non-native teachers’ conceptualizations of vocabulary. This paper presents an interview study with Swedish EFL teachers at secondary school level. Fourteen teachers were interviewed about their beliefs and practices in relation to vocabulary development in the classroom. The study shows that despite a general understanding of the importance of vocabulary in language learning among the teachers, vocabulary was not seen as a learning objective in its own right. Closely connected to this understanding, the teachers showed a great reliance on incidental vocabulary learning, where words were understood as “picked up along the way” while doing other things, such as reading and playing games. It was also found that although the teachers showed an awareness of the many aspects involved in word knowledge, they mentioned few methods to work with them. The study suggests a need for a more explicit focus on vocabulary instruction in the language learning classroom

“The text comes first” – Principles guiding EFL materials developers’ vocabulary content decisions

One core aspect of learning a language is developing vocabulary, an endeavor that requires a structured and principled focus in the classroom. As the EFL textbook has a central position in the language learning classroom, it should have an important role to play in structuring vocabulary development. Yet, what guides decisions concerning the vocabulary content in textbooks has not been thoroughly studied. This paper presents an interview study with eight Swedish materials developers of frequently used EFL teaching materials aimed at school years 7–9. The results show that the materials developers focus primarily on providing engaging texts and base the vocabulary content on end users’ opinions and their own intuition. The study also indicates that word lists are construed as a tool primarily for reading comprehension rather than for vocabulary learning. The study concludes that vocabulary research findings appear to have a limited impact on decisions about vocabulary content

Do textbooks support incidental vocabulary learning? – a corpus-based study of Swedish intermediate EFL materials

Learning vocabulary is a central but yet complex aspect of learning a language. Hence, researchers stress the importance of facilitating vocabulary development via a structured approach to target words and recycling. While teaching materials have the potential to provide this structure to all students in a classroom, few studies have investigated the vocabulary component of textbooks and the learning opportunities they provide. In the present study, the texts in five series of EFL materials aimed at intermediate learners in Swedish secondary school (years 7–9) were investigated, using corpus-based methods. The results indicate that the texts encompass a suitable amount of unknown vocabulary for vocabulary learning from reading and provide exposure to mid-frequency vocabulary. However, it was also found that these items are not recycled sufficiently. Rather, the materials mainly recycle lexical items that students are likely to know already. It is therefore concluded that although the materials offer input suitable for the target students, they are not structured in a way that supports vocabulary development