Explain and engage: linguistic resources in Swedish as a second language textbooks to support academic writing

Abstract

Upper secondary school textbooks are widely used as educational material. Textbooks can, however, differ greatly, for example in the choice of linguistic resources. Comparing textbooks can therefore highlight how students will have access to different kinds of support in their learning process. This study explores the support found in textbooks for upper secondary Swedish as a second language students as they prepare for a high-stake writing test. Six textbooks are analysed regarding two types of linguistic resources, for explaining writing and engaging the students. Systemic functional linguistics are employed to examine explaining resources (lexical and conjunctive cohesion) as well as engaging resources (addressing the reader and appraisal). The results display how the varying presence of such resources influences the range of potential support available to the students and how teachers need to use textbooks in a conscious and critical manner. To strengthen teachers’ professional judgement as textbook users, the article presents a toolbox of linguistic resources for explaining and engaging in the classroom.