Mother tongue education – marginalised but viable

Carla Jonsson, professor of pedagogical work at the Department of Language Studies.

ImageMattias Pettersson

“Giving children and pupils the opportunity to preserve and develop their languages is central to their success at school and to the school's democratic mission,” says Carla Jonsson, professor of pedagogical work at the Department of Language Studies.

One of several challenges that is common to mother tongue teaching, and which the research project has studied, is what it means that mother tongue activities are characterised by great heterogeneity.

“For pupils to receive mother tongue teaching, it is required, among other things, that the mother tongue is part of the pupil's daily social language at home. Pupils belonging to one of the national minorities have a stronger right and for them there are no requirements of prior knowledge. For all groups of pupils, this means that there is a wide variation in prior knowledge and that teachers need to adapt exercises for different levels.”

Translanguaging is a way of looking at language use that allows pupils to utilise all their language resources.

The research project studied how teaching can be designed to use the diverse experiences of children and pupils as a resource for learning.

“Translanguaging is a way of looking at language use that allows pupils to utilise all their language resources. Teachers can design tasks that encourage students to move between and beyond different languages. This could include exercises where pupils are asked to translate words or proverbs, or to compare similarities and differences between languages. Teachers and students can also compare grammatical constructions in different languages. In addition, language and translanguaging can be visualised by displaying multilingual poems or other texts on classroom walls.”

Half of those entitled to mother tongue teaching receive it

Mother tongue teaching was introduced in Sweden in the late 1960s but was initially a voluntary commitment by the municipalities. The Home Language Reform (swe. Hemspråksreformen) introduced in 1977 meant that the municipalities were obliged to offer mother tongue teaching provided that certain conditions were met. For national minorities, there is a more extensive right, which means that the school is obliged to organise mother tongue teaching if a pupil wants it. In the year 2023/2024, nearly 319,000 primary school pupils received mother tongue teaching.

The work of mother tongue teachers is incredibly important. Even though mother tongue teaching has been marginalised and questioned, it is viable.

“About half of those entitled to mother tongue teaching receive it. This is partly because parents are not informed that their child has this right, and partly because there are in-built barriers, for example, there are municipalities where pupils need to apply every year for mother tongue teaching, which no one is expected to do in any other school subject.”

For pupils who receive mother tongue teaching, it takes place outside regular school hours and may mean travels to take part in the teaching.

“Teaching may also clash with leisure activities or socialising with friends. This can lead to some pupils opting out of mother tongue teaching.”

Teaching without classrooms and textbooks

In the year 2023/2024, just over 5 760 people were employed as mother tongue teachers, corresponding to just over 3 000 full-time positions. Most of the full-time positions were found in Arabic, Persian and Somali. Carla says that one thing many teachers have in common is that they often lack things that are taken for granted in teaching other subjects.

“It is unusual for mother tongue teachers to be part of a teaching team and to have an office. Nor is it a given to have a classroom to teach in – I have met teachers who have had to teach in craft rooms and libraries. Having textbooks is not a given, so the mother tongue teachers often must create their own material, which the teachers we met do in a fantastic way. The work of mother tongue teachers is incredibly important. Even though mother tongue teaching has been marginalised and questioned, it is viable," concludes Carla Jonsson.