Teaching and learning English in vocational education programmes in a Norwegian upper secondary school. Some vocational teachers’, English teachers’ and specialized workers’ evaluation of teaching and learning in the school subject English

Abstract

The goal for this thesis is to study how teachers and specialized workers evaluate teaching and learning in the school subject, English, through upper secondary school, and, in answering this, to contribute to the question regarding the relevance of English in the workers’ profession. The study has a qualitative research design. Semi-structured focus-group interviews were conducted with the teachers, as well as in-depth interviews with the specialized workers. A theoretical framework, based on earlier studies about vocational teaching and learning, is presented. The findings have also been investigated from a perspective of pragmatic learning, sociocultural learning theory and situated learning. The findings in this study illuminate two perspectives: firstly, what skills the specialized worker believes s/he needs proficiency in and, secondly, what skills the teacher believes the specialized workers need proficiency in. Lastly, the findings explore how the vocational teachers and the teachers in English co-operate to vocationalize their teaching. The specialized workers favour proficiency in communicative, productive and receptive skills. They consider themselves to show a clear distinction in proficiency between productive and receptive skills. The findings also indicate that the most beneficial tool for a vocational pupil is learning strategies. The teachers assert that the pupils need training in productive and receptive skills but focus largely on writing. Vocationalization is important but difficult to achieve. The teachers also state the importance of contributing to the self-cultivation of the pupil. They show examples of co-operation regarding vocationalizing but also emphasize different obstacles. The study concludes with a need for a stronger focus on productive skills, especially proficiency in speaking skills. There is also a need for a greater focus on creating situations in which the pupils imitate, impersonate or simulate situations that they will encounter in their profession, as this will also lead to a greater understanding of the relevance for the pupils. Vocationalization and co-operation receive considerable attention from the teachers but are hindered by circumstantial factors. The teachers and specialized workers evaluate the teaching and learning in the school subject, English, to be in some accord with what the specialized worker encounters in his/her working life. They find relevance in learning strategies, everyday English, and vocationalization; the specialized workers state a need for more training in the productive skills.