A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO SYLLABI

View of reading:

To sum up, R94 presents a view of reading where it is seen as a skill that is necessary for the learning of the different topics presented in the syllabus. However, there is no mention in the syllabus of how teachers are supposed to help their pupils develop this skill. The only thing mentioned specifically about reading is the genres and topics that are to be covered during the course of the year. Based on this it is difficult to present which view of reading that lies behind this syllabus. We can either assume that the pupils are expected to have reached a satisfying level of reading proficiency in lower secondary, or we can assume that reading is a skill left to work on in other classes, such as for instance Norwegian class. Anyway, the lack of clarity makes an interesting point.

If we assume that reading is seen as an important skill in R94 it is definitely a skill left to teachers of other classes to work on. This to me is rather paradoxical; there is quite a lot of reading in English class, and if reading is seen as an important skill, why waste such a golden opportunity to further develop this skill? If, on the other hand, we assume that the pupils are expected to be at a satisfying level of reading proficiency before entering upper secondary school the lack of mention of reading in the syllabus would be quite

understandable.

In LK06, on the other hand, I find it easier to see which view of reading it presents. Here reading is presented as an important skill that needs to be worked on in class, and not just in English class. In fact reading is seen as such an important skill that it is to be worked with across the curriculum. As mentioned above reading is recognized as on of four basic skills that are to be worked on in every school subject. In addition to this we find that reading strategies are specifically mentioned in this syllabus. It is stated in the syllabus that the pupils should be able to select appropriate reading strategies adapted to the purpose, situation and genre (LK06, p. 6). In other words reading is seen a skill more complex than just decoding letters into words and it is clearly stated in the syllabus that this skill is to be worked on in English class, as well as in all other classes.

Amount of reading:

As mentioned briefly above the R94 syllabus specifies an amount of reading necessary to complete the foundation course; however it requires very little. In fact, additional reading is required in order to cover other competence aims mentioned in the syllabus, such as “the pupil shall be able to understand central factual texts in detail” (R94, p. 4).

In LK06, on the other hand, there is no mention of a specific required amount of reading that has to be done in order to complete the foundation course, there is however, as mentioned above, a much clearer overall focus on reading as a skill. Although this lack of a set amount of reading could lead us to believe that there is less focus on reading in the LK06 syllabus, I do not believe that to be the case. This is mainly due to the fact that reading is mentioned as a basic skill for all subjects, which signals that reading is a very important part of all syllabi in LK06, English included. Furthermore, reading is valued in its own right. I believe this should make the pupils following the LK06 syllabus better prepared for higher education, as it is the skills and language knowledge rather than the topics that are important for higher education. However, this depends on the extent that reading instruction is implemented in the EFL classroom.

3.5 Chapter summary

As we have seen in the analysis of the two syllabi above there has been a change in the amount of reading required by the syllabi and the view of reading presented in them. The most prominent difference is that reading is clearly defined in the LK06 syllabus, whereas in the R94 syllabus it is not. This made me curious as to how English teachers work with reading in English class. I wanted to find out whether or not there had been a change in the teaching practice due to the past LK06 educational reform. There were two main questions that I hoped to find an answer to through my survey: Has there been any change in the amount of reading that takes place in class and are the teachers teaching the pupils reading?

This was the background for my survey that will be presented below. To find out about this I asked my informants a number of questions:

1. Do the teachers teach reading in class or is it just assumed that the pupils are already proficient readers?

2. What does the term reading strategies mean to them, and do they work on reading strategies in class?

3. What are their feelings towards reading as a basic skill, and do they think it is something that is important to work on in class?

4. What and how much is read in class?

5. What literary resources are available at school?

6. To what extent do they rely on the textbook?

7. Are they aware that there is a difference in how reading is viewed in the two syllabi, and has that affected the way they work with reading in class?

In addition to this I also wanted to find out how they interpret some of the competence aims in the LK06 syllabus that are directly related to reading and how they work on them in class.

My findings will be presented in chapter 5 below.