Nyanlända elevers litteracitetspraktiker i skolan

During the last decade, the number of recently arrived immigrant pupils has increased in Swedish schools. This has entailed great challenges for the educational system, not least concerning how these pupils can acquire written language skills in a second language. Against this backdrop, we have investigated the literacy practices of two recently arrived pupils. The two pupils, seven and eight years old, speak Dari as their first language, have no previous school experience and are now learning to read and write in Swedish. The pupils were observed during ten weeks in a mainstream Swedish-speaking educational context. Luke and Freebody’s (1990) four resources’ model was used in order to identify different literacy practices. The model emphasises four different practices that are all necessary, but not in themselves sufficient for a person to develop into a skilled reader: decoding words; understanding of semantic content; pragmatic use and a critical approach to texts. The article describes the challenges of literacy acquisition for the two children in relation to all four practices, but also pinpoints potential resources that can be used to support the pupils’ learning in relation to these difficulties. Finally, pedagogical implications for the teaching of recently arrived pupils of primary school age are discussed in relation to the results.