Vägar in i Arbete: -En etnografisk studie om nyanländas språkinlärning

Sammanfattning: An ethnographic study was conducted through film recordings and observations in an attempt to investigate the methods Vägar in i Arbete used when conducting exercises in second language acquisition. Vägar in i Arbete is a labor market policy program with the goal that the participants will improve their ability to speak Swedish, as well as attain a concise plan for their future financial prospects. The intent of the project was to facilitate learning by having the participants engage with the language in an informal, non-educational context. The study investigated the methods used at the project during exercises related to the participants’ second language acquisition, as well as how the participants’ progression was evaluated. The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent the programs context could be perceived as informal. Furthermore, the validity of the assessment was investigated in an attempt to establish if the evaluation of the participants’ progression were accurate. In order to investigate the context, two methods for language acquisition were used as comparisons. Krashen’s Natural Approach was included to represent a more informal approach, and this was contrasted with the more formally structured Audiolingual method. These methods were then compared to the exercises at Vägar in i Arbete to determine to what extent the environment could be considered informal. The results indicate that the exercises closely resemble the construct of the exercises favored by the Audiolingual method. Certain aspects of the Natural Approach are greatly present in the daily activities. However, these aspects do not become explicitly apparent in the linguistic exercises. Furthermore, a significant discrepancy which puts the validity of the summative assessment in question was observed.