Eva-Lena Stål: Vuxna andraspråkselever i vård- och omsorgsutbildning: Komplexitet i uppgifter och kunskapskrav samt bearbetning av ämnesinnehåll och deltagande i smågruppsarbete

Abstract

This doctoral thesis investigates the conditions shaping adult second-language learners’ work with subject content in Swedish municipal adult education (komvux) at the upper secondary level, within vocational programmes in health and social care. Situated in linguistically heterogeneous classrooms, the study examines how learners with Swedish as a second language engage with and develop subject knowledge through oral interaction. Drawing on sociocultural and social semiotic perspectives, the thesis analyses the relationship between task complexity, the processing of subject content, and participation in classroom conversations, in educational settings where language functions as a tool for learning. The empirical material consists of 18 written tasks, three course syllabi, and eleven recordings of small-group discussions in three subjects: Medicine 1, Psychology 1, and Ethics and the Human Conditions of Life. The analyses address (1) the complexity articulated in the course requirements and tasks, (2) how second-language learners ex-pand subject content in interaction, and (3) how different group constellations shape participation and opportunities for second-language learners to influence perspectives in small-group conversations. The findings show substantial variation in complexity across the subjects and task types, thereby influencing students’ possibilities to engage with and de-velop subject content. Second-language learners demonstrate an ability to expand subject content, although the nature of these expansions varies across subjects: in Medicine 1, expansions often take the form of reproduction, whereas in Psychology 1 they more frequently involve the production of original formulations. At the same time, similar types of expansions occur in both subjects. Compared to groups consisting solely of second-language speakers, linguistically mixed groups more often manifest asymmetries in interaction. This affects second-language speakers’ opportunities to initiate contributions and to achieve influence of the subject matter in the ongoing interaction. The thesis contributes to didactics research by demonstrating how complexity, subject content, and task design shape students’ engagement with disciplinary content.