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Swedish – An updated school subject?
However, several similarities can be found in the syllabuses concerning the subject
Swedish. The first to be noted here is the overall focus on language rather than literature
in both syllabuses, even though this feature is articulated to a larger degree
in Lgr11. There is a tendency in both documents for the subject of Swedish to be
constructed differently in different sections. In sections which deal with the overall
description and aim of the subject, a combination of the purposes for and context of
language use (layer 3) and a critical perspective (layer 4) are emphasised to a larger
extent than in sections which more directly guide the direction the subject should
take in terms of developing students’ knowledge. In those sections, a combination of
formal aspects of language, speaking, reading and writing (layer 1) and the purposes
for, and context of, language use (layer 3) are stressed much more. A final similarity
to be mentioned here concerns the prominent position of the skills of reading and
writing (layer 1) and the neglecting of a socio-political view on language and languaging
(layer 4) in the early grades.
Swedish – An updated school subject?
As stated in the introduction, changes in society have served as important motives
for discussing an extended view on what could be included in mother tongue education.
In this discussion different types of teaching models (Ball, 1987; Dixon, 1975;
Herrlitz, 1994; Luke & Freebody, 1999) have been identified and contrasted. What is
in focus in this article is the extent to which the current syllabus of the school subject
of Swedish has been updated in relation to such discussions and extended views on
mother tongue education.
Analysis of the syllabus of the school subject Swedish in Lgr11 as well as in Lpo94
shows a change in focus when moving successively from the introductory section
of the syllabus over to the knowledge requirements in Lgr11 and the goals to attain
in Lpo94. Similar results are presented by Lundström et al. (2011) who have also
analysed the syllabus concerning the school subject of Swedish in Lgr11, but with a
focus on literature. Superimposed on this change in focus, it is possible to identify an
expanding movement concerning a socio-political view on language and languaging
(layer 4) in fiction as well as non-fiction texts from the early grades and onwards.
These results will be discussed in more detail below.
Three subjects of Swedish
The incoherence in the syllabus found in the analysis of both Lpo94 and Lgr11 opens
up for the interpretation that the subject of Swedish in fact consists of several subjects.
A first school subject of Swedish with quite a wide scope is found in the introductory
sections where the aim is described in the syllabus, and in Lpo94 an overall description
of the structure and nature of the subject is given. These introductory sections in both
Lpo94 and Lgr11 indicate quite an extensive view by emphasising one or more aspects
of the four layers described by Ivanič (2004), i.e. aspects of a text, meaning-making,
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