Using texts in the EFL classroom : A study of English teachers' use of text types in the lower grades

Sammanfattning: 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.