Making Space to be Heard : A Phenomenographic Study on the Distribution of Talking Space in an English Class

The aim for this study has been to research how talking space is distributed in an Englishspeaking classroom in Swedish schools. This aim has been answered by conducting a phenomenographic research method, as well as semi-qualitative interviews which have been analysed with regard to related literature and research. A second aim has been to establish whether teachers make use of pedagogical tools while trying to distribute talking space. Both literature and research, as well as the Swedish National Agency of Education, deem it essential that students utilize their talking space in order to optimise their English-speaking abilities, while additional research emphasizes the benefits of pedagogical tools as aids to achieve this. Experience suggests it is not unusual for learners to have difficulties in creating and recognising opportunities to speak in class. A major motivating factor for conducting this study has thus been to discover what teachers do to encourage less communicative students to contribute orally. The results show that teachers tend to be aware of the need to make their students speak as much as possible, although their methods trying to achieve this vary. The results also show that the interviewees display an overall negative attitude towards physical pedagogical tools, but that they instead view their students, general teaching methods, the setting of assignments etc, as pedagogical tools in their own right to achieve this purpose