Modersmålsundervisningens status i den svenska politiken
Author
Summary, in English
Mother tongue tuition (MTT) has been part of the Swedish educational system since 1977, with now almost 30 per cent of elementary school students eligible for the subject. With an increasingly globalized world, as well as expectations from the EU of all their member states’ citizens learning at least three languages, MTT could work as a means to meet the goal of a more linguistically knowledgeable population. However, the efficiency and purpose of the school subject has been widely discussed ever since its implementation.
This thesis aims to analyze ideas and attitudes expressed by the Swedish Parliamentary parties towards MTT, as written in motions presented to the Committee of Education during the last five Parliament sessions, 2015/16 – 2019/20. This is done through a functional idea-analysis, using a theoretical framework with a focus on language and identity as well as the dichotomy between pluralism and nationalism. In addition to this, the analysis will address the language goals set by the EU, and whether the parties connect their own ideas to those of the Union.
My conclusions from this analysis is that the Parliament parties that have submitted motions regarding MTT differ in how closely they connect mother tongue languages to the creation of identity. However, they all regard language as a sociocultural tool connected to the individual, rather than an objective structure. Furthermore, most analyzed parties express pluralist ideologies, with the exception of the Swedish Democrats that define themselves as a nationalist party. Lastly, I came to the conclusion that none of the parties mentioned the goals set by the European Union regarding multilingualism. This might be because of the long history of the school subject, meaning that the support from the EU policy is not needed as long as the subject is not directly threatened, but is not something I can draw conclusions about based on my results.
This thesis aims to analyze ideas and attitudes expressed by the Swedish Parliamentary parties towards MTT, as written in motions presented to the Committee of Education during the last five Parliament sessions, 2015/16 – 2019/20. This is done through a functional idea-analysis, using a theoretical framework with a focus on language and identity as well as the dichotomy between pluralism and nationalism. In addition to this, the analysis will address the language goals set by the EU, and whether the parties connect their own ideas to those of the Union.
My conclusions from this analysis is that the Parliament parties that have submitted motions regarding MTT differ in how closely they connect mother tongue languages to the creation of identity. However, they all regard language as a sociocultural tool connected to the individual, rather than an objective structure. Furthermore, most analyzed parties express pluralist ideologies, with the exception of the Swedish Democrats that define themselves as a nationalist party. Lastly, I came to the conclusion that none of the parties mentioned the goals set by the European Union regarding multilingualism. This might be because of the long history of the school subject, meaning that the support from the EU policy is not needed as long as the subject is not directly threatened, but is not something I can draw conclusions about based on my results.
Department/s
Publishing year
2020
Language
Swedish
Document type
Student publication for Bachelor's degree
Topic
- Languages and Literatures
Keywords
- Mother tongue tuition
- Swedish Parliament
- functional idea analysis
- EU
Supervisor
- Sanimir Resic (Associate Professor)