Sweden Curriculum - Swedish (Åk 7-9)

Swedish

Aim: The Swedish curriculum aims to develop students' proficiency in the Swedish language, encompassing communication, reading, and writing skills. It emphasizes building confidence in using the language across various contexts and for diverse purposes. The curriculum also fosters an appreciation for literature and different text types, along with critical thinking skills for evaluating information. Students are encouraged to develop their language skills for thinking, communication, and learning, including in digital environments. Furthermore, the curriculum promotes an understanding of the Swedish language's norms, structure, history, and development, as well as its connection to social contexts and media. Students are expected to take responsibility for their language use and to explore other Nordic and national minority languages.

Core Content (Years 7-9):

• Reading and Writing: Students will learn reading strategies for comprehension and analysis of various media, including identifying messages, themes, motives, purpose, sender, and context. Writing strategies will cover different text types, adapted to their structure and language features, including the creation of multimodal texts. Students will practice processing and giving/receiving feedback on texts, editing and organizing using digital tools, and understanding language structure (spelling, punctuation, parts of speech, clauses). Dictionaries and digital tools will be used for spelling and vocabulary development.
• Speaking, Listening, and Talking: The curriculum emphasizes leading conversations, argumentation, summarization, oral presentations, and storytelling for different audiences. Adapting language to purpose and recipient is key, along with using aids like digital media for planning and presentation.
• Narrative and Non-Fiction Texts: Students will explore fiction for youth and adults from various periods and regions, including poetry, drama, tales, and myths. Analysis will cover language features, structure, narrative perspectives, and literary genres. Students will also study important authors and their works within their historical and cultural contexts. Non-fiction text types include descriptive, explanatory, investigative, instructional, and argumentative texts, such as newspaper articles, scientific texts, task descriptions, and blog entries. Multimodal texts (e.g., TV series, theatrical performances, web texts) and texts in digital environments will also be explored.
• Use of Language: Language strategies for learning (e.g., keyword identification, note-taking) will be taught. Students will learn about words, symbols, and terms, including their connotations and shades of meaning. The curriculum covers new words (loan words), language variation based on context, and the importance of language in influence and identity development. Ethical and moral aspects of language use, freedom of expression, and integrity in different media will be addressed. Students will also explore language use in Sweden and other Nordic areas, including regional variations, similarities and differences between Nordic languages, and national minority languages.
• Searching for Information and Critical Evaluation of Sources: Information retrieval skills will be developed, focusing on libraries, the internet, books, mass media, and interviews. Referencing and quoting sources, including in digital media, will be taught. Students will learn to sift through information and critically evaluate source reliability.