TQ 2010 229270

I Learn More at School: A Critical
Perspective on Workplace-Related Second

Language Learning In and Out of School
KARIN SANDWALL
University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg, Sweden
This article presents a case study of a student involved in language learning

at a work placement, as part of the basic Swedish language programme for
adult immigrants, Svenska fo
r invandrare (Sfi), in Gothenburg, Sweden.
In accordance with the predominant economic agenda, this system is
assumed to accelerate labour market entrance as well as language
acquisition for the newcomer. The article describes some macrolevel
aspects important for the outcome of the work placement and discusses
some tensions in the system, before exploring an ecological framework
and the concept of affordances as a tool for analysing the agents situated
interactions at the work placement. The analysis shows that affordances
offered by the environment at the work placement were explored as
meaning-making material and as action potentials but not as learning
opportunities, because the students activities were limited to tasks and she
had insufficient support for evaluating her work placement interactions.
The article suggests some basic ecological principles for the reframing of
the Sfi programme, built on affordance-focusing tasks that enable students
to learn from discourse practices that they come across at workplaces and
other out-of-classroom contexts.
doi: 10.5054/tq.2010.229270
his article presents a case study of a student involved in language

learning at a work placement as part of the basic Swedish language
programme for adult immigrants, Svenska for invandrare (Sfi), in
Gothenburg, Sweden.
Regardless of their party affiliation, policymakers in Gothenburg
share the assumption that the introduction of a curriculum including
practical work placements for students within Sfi facilitates rapid labour
market entrance as well as language acquisition for the newcomer.
However, as the quote in the title of this article suggests, this is an
assumption that might be challenged, judging from the experiences of
this student. The students experiences also highlight the need to
discuss assumptions about language learning at work placements in
relation to the students trajectory and the workplace on offer.
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TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 44, No. 3, September 2010
In an attempt to account for the students interactions and learning

opportunities in such workplace contexts, I have chosen an ecological
approach proposed by van Lier and other scholars (Kramsch, 2002; van
Lier, 2002, 2004, 2007), because this approach enables a focus on the
ways in which individuals use language and other sign systems to relate
to each other and the social world. When perceived by the individual,
these relationsor affordances, a concept introduced by Gibson (1979)
and developed by van Lier (2002, 2004)can be explored as action and
learning potentials, guiding the individuals further interactions.
The same theoretical framework is also used to outline some of the
basic principles for a proposed reframing of the Sfi programme, where
Baynhams (2006) idea of bringing the outside in can be used as a point
of departure. In my view, there is an urgent need for teachers and
learners to develop a deeper understanding of the situated character of
language practices in different workplaces and other informal settings.
In this article I suggest the concept of affordance as a way of guiding
teachers thinking and acting when selecting what to bring in and how to
draw on students outside experiences in the classroom in order to
enable them to learn from the discourse practices they come across in
workplaces and other contexts outside of the classroom.
Before presenting the case study, some macrolevel aspects important
for the outcome of the work placement are addressed.
THE SFI PROGRAMME

The Sfi programme commenced nearly 50 years ago (see Lindberg &
Sandwall, 2007), and in 20072008, 74,000 studentsthe highest number
of participants everwere enrolled in the programme (Swedish National
Agency for Education, 2008).
The Sfi programme is state funded, but it is the responsibility of the
separate municipalities to provide Sfi as part of the municipal adult
education programme or to commission private providers. The programme
ensures adult Swedish immigrants the right to free basic language tuition up
to a level corresponding to level B1, as described in the Common European
Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001).1
1
The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the elaboration of
language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc., across Europe. It
describes what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for
communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act
effectively. The description also covers the cultural context in which language is set and
defines levels of proficiency which allow learners progress to be measured at each stage of
learning and on a life-long basis. The framework outlines six broad levels, starting from a
division into the three broad levels AC: A, basic user (A1, breakthrough; A2, waystage); B,
independent user (B1, threshold; B2, vantage); and C, proficient user (C1, effective
operational proficiency; C2, mastery; Council of Europe, 2001).
I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL
543
The Swedish national integration policy2 and the Sfi programme

share the main goal of active participation in society. The goal of the
Sfi programme, as presented in the Sfi syllabus, is to provide students
with linguistic tools for communication and active participation in
everyday situations in society and in their working lives (Swedish
National Agency for Education, 2009). The syllabus explicitly emphasises
the importance of learner-centred instruction, the need to plan and
design the education together with the students according to the
students interests, experiences, general knowledge, and long-term goals
(Swedish National Agency for Education, 2009). The programme should
be flexible and organised so as to facilitate the combination of Sfi studies
and employment, practical work placement, or other education. All
syllabuses within the official Swedish educational systemincluding the
Sfi syllabusare criterion referenced and without any direct specifications of content or methods.
The effectiveness, role, and responsibility of Sfi as a language
programme have been an issue of constant debate for many years
(Lindberg & Sandwall, 2007). Currently, the Swedish rightwingliberal
coalition, in power since 2006, is adopting an economic agenda focusing
on increasing overall employment. With this current agenda and the
predominant labour strategy, the importance of an increasingly efficient
Sfi programme is argued as the main requirement for immigrants rapid
self-support. Hence the focus is on the responsibilityor inabilityof
the programme to prepare for, or even procure immediate employment
for the students. To improve the quality of Sfi as a labour-market
instrument, the present government has presented measures to increase
effective study habits and the programmes student completion rate
(Dagens Nyheter, 2008). Measures taken are in accordance with the
governments general educational policy and include state-mandated
accountability tests, an extended national inspection system, and a
national evaluation of Sfi. Reducing the time spent in Sfi is another goal,
and therefore a time limit of 3 years of enrolment in Sfi has been
proposed. The latest initiative of this kind is the introduction of a pilot
scheme concerning an individual performance-based incentive, the socalled Sfi bonus (Government Proposition, 2009), ensuring successful
students financial compensation for finishing their Sfi programme
within a certain period. As part of this initiative, a new curriculum was
launched in January 2009the third in a period of 5 yearstogether
2
544
The overall objectives of integration policy are equal rights, responsibilities and obligations
for all regardless of ethnic or cultural background; a social community based on diversity;
and social development characterised by mutual respect for differences within the
boundaries that follow from societys fundamental democratic values in which everyone,
irrespective of background, should take an active and responsible part (see also Ministry of
Integration and Gender Equality, 2009).
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with increased funding for short in-service training courses for Sfi
teachers.
Throughout the history of Sfi, the programme has lacked long-term
measures for securing teacher training based on solid second language
research (Lindberg & Sandwall, 2007; Swedish National Agency, 1997),
resulting in damage to the status and reputation of the education as well as
allowing for short-term measurements according to an economic agenda as
described earlier. These top-down measures have been imposed due to Sfis
historically representing low-status activity, to alleged inefficiency, and to
lack of any significant impact, so far, on the results of Sfi (Swedish National
Agency for Education, 1997; official statistics from the Swedish National
Agency for Education from 1993 to 2008).
The Sfi Programme in Gothenburg

In Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, a broad political
consensus for the economic agenda is manifested in a system of
short-term tendering, where various private providers are responsible for
the tuition of 85% of the 6,000 Sfi students in the city.
The consensus also includes the so-called labour strategy in relation
to Sfi, and a local additional goal of the municipality states that Sfi must
as quickly as possible give the newcomer the prerequisites to procure a
job and to subsequently gain self-support (Public Administration of
Adult Education, 2007a). Hence, in municipal evaluations of Sfi, an
important measure of the programmes success is the number of Sfi
students who have procured jobs as a direct result of participation in the
programme. In line with the national political discourse, the bigger
political parties in Gothenburg share the criticism that the extent to
which the Sfi programme leads to gainful employment and self-support
is too limited (the City Office of Gothenburg, 2006).
Responding to this critique, the Public Administration of Adult
Education office has for some years requested providers to organise
language education with a focus on different areas of the employment
sector, including practical work placements as well as fast-track courses
for highly educated immigrants. Immigrants without a clear professional
goal are enrolled in a general Sfi programme. Since 2006, practical work
placements are also part of the general Sfi programme, and organisations which have successfully bid are now urged to find relevant work
placements as well as to integrate learning in and out of school, by
integrating students experiences from work placements into the
curriculum (Public Administration of Adult Education, 2007b). This
requires teachers to apply teaching methods for which they seldom have
previous knowledge.
545
It is the responsibility of the so-called coaches to find placements that

offer learners continuous opportunities for communication in Swedish
that lead to language acquisition (Public Administration of Adult
Education, 2007b) and that relate to the students previous experiences
and future goals. The coaches, who are employed by the provider and
sometimes also work as language teachers, are obliged to keep in contact
with teachers, students and the mentor at the work placements.
The system of competitive, short-term public procurement and the
view of Sfi as first and foremost a labour market instrument have several
implications. A positive one is the initiation of rewarding pedagogical
discussions built on practices and experiences of different providers in
relation to what constitutes relevant content and methods for workrelated language training. There are, however, also conflicts of interest
inherent in the system, which need to be recognized and negotiated. In
practice, coaches and teachers have to make compromises weighing Sfi
syllabus goals and students needs and long-term goals against the
providers interests in showing good results in terms of number of
students at work placements and in employment. With lower numbers of
students in placements, the providers credibility is diminished when the
next bid for tender is due. In times of teachers unstable working
conditions, the choice between a placement that might lead to a student
gaining employment of any kind and one where language development
is favoured is not always easy (my own data from interviews with school
administrators, teachers, and coaches).
In addition, there are financial grounds for finding work placements
for students as soon as possible, because each hour of attendance at
work placements is reimbursed. However, with the students low second
language proficiency, the type of placements primarily available to them
are relatively low status jobs where few qualifications are required.
Considerations, such as those referred to earlier, contribute to the fact
that teachers and coaches very rarely openly criticise the system and to the
very limited cooperation and exchange of ideas between providers (my own
data from interviews with school administrators, teachers and coaches).
In light of these potential conflicts, there is a risk that the Gothenburg
Sfi programme, through the system of practical work placements, is used
as a sorting instrument for the labour market, introducing immigrants to
low-paid positions, whatever their educational background or previous
work experience (Cooke, 2006, p. 70).
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
There are a broad range of relevant studies that analyse the
interaction of second language learners in work placements as part of
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second language programmes. These include studies of linguistic aspects

of workplace communication, interpretation of signs other than
language in ongoing interactions, as well as issues of power, agency,
identity, and face. The following section presents a brief overview of
some earlier research relevant to the present study and an account for
the ecological approach applied as an overall theoretical framework for
the study.
The view of Sfi as predominantly a labour market instrument is often
linked to a very limited view of vocational Swedish as the specific
vocabulary needed for the accomplishment of isolated work-related
tasks. This view is in sharp contrast to the multifaceted language
demands of todays workplaces, as confirmed in recent research (see
Burns, 2006; Cooke, 2006; Holmes & Stubbe, 2003; Karlsson, 2006;
Roberts, 2004; Sarangi & Roberts, 1999; Sgaard Srensen & Holmen,
2004).
Moreover, several studies have shown the importance of a shared
understanding of the context and activity to enable individuals to
interpret and act accordingly (see, e.g., Garfinkel, 1967; Goffman,
1981; Goodwin, 2000; Kendon, 1992). To reach such understanding,
participants also draw on their perception and recognition of context
and of other signs than languages. Recent research shows the complex
interaction of speech with gestures, bodily orientation, and the use of
objects, including how gestures can add meaning or specify the
meaning of what is said (see, e.g., Atkinson, Churchill, Nishino, &
Okada, 2007; Goodwin, 2000, 2007; Kendon, 1992, 2000; McNeill,
2000; Olsher, 2004; Thibault, 2004).3 The shared knowledge of
procedure and practice is also highlighted by Young (2007), who used
the concept of interactional competence to refer to the competence coconstructed by participants in a particular discursive practice, thereby
emphasising the reciprocity of and mutual responsibility for the
interaction.
From another perspective, Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger
(1998), within their theory of situated learning based on legitimate
peripheral participation, drew attention to the role of context for the
understanding of language and learning. Here, learning is viewed as
contingent on social interactions within communities of practice and as
a process of participation in which the novice gradually becomes a full,
legitimate member of the community through the scaffolding of
mentors and experts. Lave and Wenger contributed significantly to the
understanding of learning as a situated process, and as contributions in
Barton and Tusting (2005) have shown, applications of theories
3
For an overview and discussion on the role of gesture used in communicative competence,
see Gregersen, Olivares-Cuhat, and Storm (2009).
547
concerning literacy and discourse practices, of issues of power and of a

broader social context, may further understandings of the processes
taking place.
Structural and institutional factors may affect the learning of adult
second language students, despite high levels of motivation, investment,
and individual agency (Cooke, 2006; Norton 2000, 2001; Norton Peirce,
1995). As Norton (2001) showed, such experiences may cause
frustration in students and interfere with their present or future life
chances, as well as with their language learning. Hence Baynham (2006)
argued for the need to bring the outside into the second language
classroom, thus allowing for an open-ended, dynamic, agentive and
contingent classroom environment (p. 38). In line with a critical
approach to second language teaching (e.g., Norton & Toohey, 2004),
such pedagogy allows for students to take advantage of the apprenticeship associated with the comparatively sheltered learning environment
to engage in empowering discussions on challenging experiences and
encounters in the outside world.
Thus, when discussing immigrants opportunities for learning a
second language at work, it is necessary to take issues of student identity
and investment, as well as aspects of basic language education and of
workplaces, into consideration (Lund & Svendsen Pedersen, 2006;
Svendsen Pedersen, 2007). These Danish researchers also emphasized
that problems related to segregation and other shortcomings of social
integration policies can never be compensated for by basic language
education.
Studies like the ones mentioned earlier have in many ways
contributed to our understanding of the complex situated nature of
workplace interactions. Other studies have explored the situated
learning perspective in analyses of second language classroom interactions and learning (e.g., DaSilva Iddings & Jang, 2008; van Lier, 2007;
Vickers, 2007; Young & Miller, 2004). Until now, however, not many
studies have addressed the relationship between formal tuition and the
outside world, with the question of bringing the outside inand the
inside out. Moreover, few studies have actually explored the challenges
of immigrants who, while still taking part in basic second language
tuition, find themselves forced to communicate and interact at a work
placement.
An Ecological Approach
Second language studies have gradually shifted from a focus on
language in isolation from the context in which it is practised to a view of
environment as a critical mediating force in interactions, learning,
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and teaching (Canaragajah, 2008, p. 537). This also involves a shift of

interest from linguistic inputs and mental processing to what learners
actually do when engaged in meaningful language activity (van Lier,
2007, p. 46).
An ecological approach to language, learning, and teaching is not an
overarching theory, but rather a metaphor or a way of thinking about
teaching and learning in all its complexity, a way of looking at language
as a tool of many uses, and as a key component of all human meaningmaking activity (van Lier, 2004, p. 224). It draws from several other
theoretical perspectives, such as chaos and complexity theory (LarsenFreeman, 2002), activity theory (Engestrom, Miettinen, & Punamaki,
1999), sociocognitive theory (Atkinson et al., 2007), and sociocultural
theory (Lantolf, 2000). Within an ecological approach, language is
viewed as emerging from a participants active engagement in semiotic
and interactional activity in a social and physical world. Hence, it is not
primarily the agents words or phrases which count as data for
investigation but the situated social activity.
Thus, an ecological study of language focuses on ways in which
individuals use language and other sign systems to relate to each other
and to the social world (van Lier, 2002, p. 147). These relations are
referred to as affordances (Gibson, 1979; Greeno, 1994; van Lier, 2000,
2002, 2004).
When perceived ofand thus made available toan actively engaged
participant, affordances may promote or inhibit actions and may
therefore be thought of as cues for how to interpret signs and how to
act. In this way, language-in-interaction is embedded in and supported
by other meaning-making signs (gesturing, posturing, local or remote
objects of joint attention, etc.).
Greeno (1994), when discussing Gibsons original notion of
affordances, noted that many affordances such as posture, gestures,
gazes, facial expressions, and pauses are perceived without any need for
mediating symbolic representations (p. 340). Such unmediated affordances are called first-level or direct affordances (van Lier, 2004).
Mediated (indirect or second-level) affordances, on the other hand, are
mediated by a variety of cognitive and social tools, for example,
remembered practices and routines, situational logic, conversational
logic, and familiarity with artifacts. To the individual engaged in
interaction, affordances of the direct or mediated kind make sense when
perceived together; they act in consort to link language to actions via
perception (van Lier, 2004, p. 94), as in a network.
Activity and also interpretation are key words here. According to van
Lier (2004), when engaged in activity, we perceive and interpret the
relevancies signalled by the physical and social surroundingsthe
offered affordanceson the basis of what we are doing and who we
549
are (p. 62), so from the many affordances offered by the environment,
individuals select those that best fit their experience and the activity in
which they are engaged (Kramsch, 2002, p. 7).
In an ecological perspective, perception-in-action (van Lier, 2007,
p. 54), that is. the ability to focus ones attention on meaning-making
affordances, is an important prerequisite for language learning
opportunities to occur. It is activity, perception, and interaction that
provide key interactional and contextual resources for the understanding and internalization of a system of linguistic and nonlinguistic
symbols and thus for the emergence of the second language. Within this
perspective, learning is not about internalizing grammar or a linguistic
systemit is about internalising the keys to acting in the world (van
Lier, 2007, p. 55). Hence the learners ability to perceive affordances
while engaged in multimodal activity is constitutive of both interaction
and learning possibilities.
Within this framework then, the teaching of language is about
supporting the students in developing their ability to perceive
affordances in interaction as ways of relating more effectively to people
and to the world (van Lier, 2004, p. 4).
THE STUDY
The case study presented in this article is part of a PhD project concerning
second language learners possibilities to learn Swedish through participation in interactions at practical work placements as part of their language
programme. In addition to the female student in the present case study,
another three students were participants in the larger study.
Methods, Setting, and Participants

As indicated above, teachers and coaches in Gothenburg see the
integration of learning in and out of school as a big pedagogical
challenge, especially for teachers working within the general Sfi
programme. By choosing to study practical work placements in relation
to the general programme, I hoped that my findings would also be
relevant for other basic language programmes where specialising in
various areas of the employment sector is not feasible and where some or
all students are involved in work or practical work placements for shorter
or longer periods.
Inspired by research within the framework of ethnography of
communication (Hymes, 1972) and linguistic ethnography (Creese,
2008; Rampton et al., 2004), data were collected through various
qualitative methods including the following: field notes from observations
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at meetings, at work placement, and in school; course materials; 8 hours of

audiotaped and 9 hours of videotaped interactions at the work placement;
and audiotaped interviews.4
The provider, one of the larger ones in Gothenburg, was selected
on the basis of previous personal contacts with Sfi teachers and
coaches employed there. Through staff contacts, a young former
student of economics from Serbia, Merilinka, agreed to participate in
the study.5
The choice of a preschool as the practical work placement for
Merilinka can be related to several factors on both a macro and micro
level. When Merilinka applied to Sfi, she had chosen, from a limited
number of options, child and recreation as a possible area of
employment. The choice was also based on the coachs assumption that
the preschool would provide a language-rich context that would enable
her to start using and listening. But the reason for choosing this
preschool with 15 two- to three-year-olds was also a practical one, as the
coach later admitted: Its a political reality, too, where we have to take
the placements that we can get. That two of the preschool teachers were
bilingual (in Serbian and Macedonian) didnt influence the choice of
preschool.
The case study spanned 3 months, from mid-November, 2007, when
preparations for the students work placement at the preschool began,
to mid-February, 2008, when the work placement period ended.6 The
semistructured follow-up interviews with the student, the Swedish
teachers, and the two most involved preschool teachers concerned their
perspectives on and experiences of the Sfi programme, the work
placement period, and the integration of learning. The student
4
My intention was to act as a nonparticipant observer, but it soon became apparent that this
approach promoted a feeling of unease with participants at the preschool. Instead, I found
that it was through limited and peripheral interaction (e.g., smiling and nodding,
responding to questions, and occasionally commenting on events) that my presence at the
preschool became more comfortable. To facilitate this, and to make the video camera less
conspicuous, I held the camera waist high, using the foldout screen to keep the student in
focus. Thus, instead of characterising the observations as either non- or full-participation,
they are more accurately characterised in relation to a continuum dependent on the
activity taking place.
5
After a meeting with the teachers and coaches, in which I presented my study, the team
offered to recruit a student who could be interested in participating. In a later meeting
with the suggested student participant, Merilinka, I explained my intentions with the study
and the methods for collecting data in simplified Swedish using a specially prepared
wordlist in the students first language. When the work placement had been chosen, I also
contacted the head teacher and arranged for a meeting with the preschool teachers. With
their permission to carry out the study, and with support from the mentor, an experienced
preschool teacher, I finally obtained permission from the parents of the 15 children at the
school.
6
Observations and video recordings at the preschool were made in January and February, in
order for the students, the preschool teachers, and the children to get acquainted before
data were collected.
551
interview was conducted in Serbian through an interpreter. All

interviews lasted from 1 to 2 hours.
To further ensure an emic perspective, the many casual conversations
on topics relevant to the study noted during breaks and in between tasks
have been included in the data, as have discussions on preliminary
findings with the team and others at the private school and, to some
extent, the student and two of the preschool teachers.
Findings
In November, 2007, after approximately 100 hours of instruction,
Merilinkas Swedish competence could be described as having a very
basic range of simple expressions about personal details and needs of a
concrete type, the definition of level A1/A2 according to the Common
European Framework of References scale (Council of Europe, 2001).
At an introductory meeting at the preschool, the coach (Eric),
Merilinka, and her mentor (bilingual preschool teacher Biljana) agreed
that Merilinkas time would be spent participating in activities within
the childrens group. The purpose of the work placement was also
discussed at the meeting, as seen in the following excerpt from the
transcript (see Swedish original in appendix 1).
Excerpt 1. Purpose of work placement
Eric: this work placement is for language, so youll get to start using and
listening and . . .
Biljana:
its not that you will WORK for us, its only to listen, to learn the language
After agreeing that learning more Swedish was the principal purpose of
the work placement, Eric and Biljana gave Merilinka some advice about
how she could learn Swedish at the preschool. Their view on the role of
informal learning, including the use of the shared first language
(Serbian) can be summarized in the manual below, illustrated with
edited quotes from the meeting.
Excerpt 2. Manual for how to learn Swedish at the preschool
1. Be active and participate
Eric: you have to be ACTIVE, you cant just stand and watch, you have to
participate.
2. Spend time with the children
Biljana: Spend time WITH the children and see what they do
Eric: feel free to play with them
Biljana: you learn language when /. . ./ they use it
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Biljana: they use their bodies for showing what they want so you understand.
/. . ./ they only say and then point /. . ./ and then they have repeated a
hundred times a day and then you learn
3. Ask many questions
Eric: ask many questions!
Eric: here you have to understand, otherwise it wont work.
4. Use (almost only) Swedish
Biljana: you learn language when you use it
Biljana: I will all the time speak Swedish. So sometimes in the end if I see that
isnt working, /. . ./ then I will say it to you in Swedish and in Serbian.
As will become apparent in the following interactions, this manual

turned out to have a great impact on Merilinkas interactions with the
preschool teachers and children and, consequently, on her own
language learning opportunities.
INTERACTIONS AT THE PRESCHOOL

The episodes in the following sections have been selected to display the
affordances invoked in the activities and interactions that Merilinka
repeatedly participated in. Although, as will become obvious in the following,
affordances act in consort and make sense when perceived together, the first
example is chosen to focus on the use of direct affordances, whereas the
succeeding transcript excerpts primarily concern mediated affordances.
The Bench Episode

The first transcript excerpt is taken from a hectic situation in the
narrow entrance hall when the preschool teachers were busy helping the
children put on snowsuits, boots, winter hats, and mittensit was a cold
February day. Merilinka volunteered to dress Isac and was now trying to
get him to stand still. Elisabeth, a Swedish native-speaking preschool
teacher sitting on the long bench in the hall, observed Merilinka
struggling for a while before turning to her and saying:
Excerpt 3. If you sit on the bench
Elisabeth: Merilinka, if you sit on the bench over there [turns to her right,
looks down at the bench], it will be easier for you when if you dress Isac
[points with hand towards Isac]
Merilinka: yes. Isac, come! [goes to sit down on the bench to Elisabeths right]
Aware of the fact that there were words and phrases in the given
instruction unknown to Merilinka, I asked afterwards how she
553
immediately could recognize the speakers intention and act accordingly. Merilinka explained: I can understand, eh, eh, what she thinking,
but not exactly* what says she (* word said in English).
For a further discussion of the process by which Merilinka could interpret
Elisabeths intentions, however, one needs to rephrase the question in
ecological terms: What is it in this environment that makes things happen
the way they do? (van Lier, 2004, p. 11). Considering the interaction earlier,
language is just a part of the ambient array (van Lier, 2002, p. 147) of
meaning-making affordances available to Merilinka, as Elisabeths linguistic
utterance is supplemented with several nonlinguistic affordances.
Affordances in the physical environment offer both a possibility and a
constraint for sitting down (theres only one logical placethe bench
to sit in the hall and this is where Elisabeth is already seated). The fact
that Elisabeth turns her head and looks down at the bench is also
directing Merilinkas attention to the bench, her gaze thus acting as a
guide to Merilinkas organization of attention (Olsher, 2004, p. 235).
Similarly, when she points towards Isac, she indicates the childs
important role in her instruction. In this way talk-in-interaction is
embedded in posture, gaze, and gesture that are constitutive of
interactionnot added-on frills of language (van Lier, 2004, p. 72;
also Goodwin, 2007; Kendon, 2000; Thibault, 2004).
In this case, the fact that putting on clothes is a daily routine that
Merilinka has previously observed or participated in is of course also
contributing to affording interpretation and action. In sum, it is through
the use of affordances as meaning-making materialas action potentials
(van Lier, 2004, p. 62)that Merilinka is able to act accordingly to the
instruction, despite her limited command of Swedish.
The Finger Paint Episode

The following excerpt shows a triadic interactionan interaction that
involves both people and objects (van Lier, 2004). The instruction took
place in the small art room where chatting children eagerly gathered
around a table to do finger painting on aluminium foil under the
guidance of Sara, a preschool teacher. The noise level was high when
everybody wanted to start painting. The somewhat stressed Sara needed
help with giving a latecomer a piece of aluminium foil and therefore
turned to Merilinka, who had been watching Sara distribute pieces of
aluminium foil to the children.
Excerpt 4. Will you help me there?
Sara [takes off a bit and gives Merilinka the roll of foil, speaks quickly]: Will
you help me there, you can just take off a bit there.
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TESOL QUARTERLY
Merilinka [takes the roll, takes off a bit, the size of other childrens, and gives
to the child.]
In this triadic interaction, signs are structured by and dependent on the

objects of Saras and Merilinkas joint attention, that is, the roll of
aluminium foil and the shared task at hand, that is, quickly getting all
the children to start painting. However, this focus also entails the
possibility of and need for an economy of speech in the hectic situation,
where the task, not the learning of Swedish, is in focus. Sara doesnt
need to use an elaborate instruction (e.g., including aluminium foil, the
size of the piece or the name of the child), and Merilinka doesnt need
to understand every word in the instruction or to reply verballyinstead,
they both rely on the affordances and a shared understanding of the
activity.
As in the previous situation, linguistic affordances are only of
secondary importance as Merilinka invokes several nonlinguistic
affordances in consort to support her understanding. In addition to
those mentioned before, the immediate preceding situation (i.e., one
child not having an aluminium foil piece and Sara taking off a big
aluminium foil piece) offers cues for action when she is given the
aluminium foil roll.
The Tractor Book Episode

In the following excerpt, also of a triadic interaction, language use is
constitutive of the activity. Wilmer, who had been very sad and sobbing,
wanted Merilinka to read his favourite book, the Little Book of Tractors, a
picture book with limited text, naming and describing various sorts of
tractors and their parts in different colours and numbers.
Wilmer and Merilinka were in the reading corner, Merilinka sitting,
with the book in her lap, after Senka, a preschool teacher, found the
book for them.
Excerpt 5. The Little Book of Tractors
Senka: Look, Senka found it [holds up book in front of her]
Merilinka
[Ah!
Senka: Aaaah, Merilinka will read this [gives Merilinka the book]
Merilinka
[yes
[takes the book]
/. . ./
Merilinka [looks at Wilmer]: Is it your book?
Wilmer: yees
Merilinka: Yes, the little tractor book [opens book]
Wilmer [quickly points to picture of tractor]: hehe yeah xxx!
Merilinka: Ah, what is this? [points in circles to picture of tractor]
555
Your tractor?
Wilmer: [quickly] you see theres wheel [quickly points to wheel]
Merilinka:
ah?
[points again to picture of tractor, looks at Wilmer] Is it
your tractor? [looks down into book again]
Wilmer: yees
Merilinka: yees [laughs] okay [turns to next page]
Wilmer: [points to picture, inarticulate] wha col sit? [what colour is it]
[quickly points again]
Merilinka: yes?
Wilmer: xxx xxx
The object of Merilinkas and the childs joint attentionthe book, its
text, and picturessupports and structures their interaction as they
focus on naming and commenting, that is, the indexical or deictic
functions of language, supplemented by the affordances of pointing,
gaze orientation, and eye contact.
Although the picture book itself and Merilinkas and the childs
language competencies only allow for a limited register, Merilinka
actively and creatively makes use of her scarce linguistic affordances
when she repeatedly uses phrases and questions like Is it your book?
Whats this? and Your tractor? Even though Merilinka most often
takes the initiative, the child also takes turns asking questions, often
about things both parties already know. While engaging in turn-taking
based on this type of questions and answers, they also draw on previous
experiences of participation in book-reading activities as they collaboratively sustain and adhere to the participation framework (Goffman,
1981; Kendon, 1992, 2000).
The situatedness of the interactions allowed for and contributed
to indexical language use as well as the use of nonlinguistic signs.
Such signs-in-interaction should not be characterised as indications
of language limitations or as avoidance strategies. Instead, they
demonstrate, as Olsher (2004) showed, the individuals command
of semiotic signs as social action, an important aspect of an
individuals interactional competence both in first and second
languages.
Mentor and Fellow Worker

As agreed on in the introductory meeting, Merilinka spends almost all
her time interacting with the children. Interactions with her mentor and
colleagues, on the other hand, are brief, mostly concerning instructions
and almost exclusively during activities involving the children.
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In frequent attempts to support Merilinkas language learning

which is the purpose of the work placementher mentor Biljana asks,
Do you understand? She seldom uses Serbian or Macedonian, and,
when she does, it is mostly in hectic situations when the use of their
shared first language is considered safer and quicker, and a more
economic way of getting the message across.
With the successful execution of the current activity in focus, the
other bilingual preschool teacher, Senka, uses their shared second
language, in accordance with what might be called an ecological
approach, as she puts Merilinkas interactions, rather than her language
use, at the centre of attention. For example, Senka supports Merilinka in
perceiving and exploiting affordances by providing her with the little
tractor book in Excerpt 5, which helped Merilinka comfort Wilmer, and
by providing her with interaction-yielding and face-saving phrases such
as in the following excerpt where Senka, Merilinka, and some of the
children were dancing and Albin didnt want to hold Merilinkas hand.
Excerpt 6. I want to play with you
Albin [to Merilinka]: go away, go away, go away
Merilinka [looks at Senka]
Senka [to Merilinka in Serbian]: xx
Merilinka [to Albin]: why?
Albin (2)
Merilinka [looks at Senka]
Senka [to Merilinka in Serbian]: xxx xxx
Merilinka [to Albin]: I want to play with you. Do you want to play with me?
Albin: no [takes Merilinkas hand]
Here, their shared first language is not used for translating or getting
things done more quickly, but for mediating the appropriate use of
Swedish, which in turn, promotes further engagement and actions to
ward off the potentially face-threatening situation (Goffman, 1967).
Merilinka later refers to Senka as always helping out and comments on
the situations in Excerpts 5 and 6 as good and comfortable, as
opposed to other interactions with the staff in which she often felt
uncomfortable or insecure.
In School
According to the public tender, the integration of language learning
in and out of language school is the joint responsibility of the coach and
the teacher. However, Merilinkas coach Eric and teacher Magnus, both
fully qualified and experienced, did not feel they had any real
opportunity to fulfil these obligations. As they had to give priority to
557
the time-consuming work of finding work placements for as many

students as possible, they simply could not find the time to visit the
preschool. They also claimed their administration load had increased
significantly and that a lot of time was spent feeding the Public
Administration of Adult Education with required information. Thus,
according to their own words, Teaching is not highly prioritized; it
comes in third place.
In this situation of strained resources, the teachers were expected to
try out new ways of organizing their tuition, for example, by
consolidating groups organized according to levels of language
proficiency and needs. In the different groups in which Merilinka
participated, there were, however, 25 to 40 students from all over the
world with a range of professions, experiences, and future goals. Thus it
is not surprising that the teachers admitted to having difficulty in finding
ways of working that focussed on workplace-related language.
Because coaches and teachers have very little knowledge of the
circumstances and activities at the work placement of their students, the
coaches and teachers were left to rely on their general knowledge of
working life and on sheer assumptions about the language demands of
different work placements. In the classroom, students often worked
individually, with newspaper articles in easy Swedish and texts about
peoples working lives in Sweden. Writing activities that mostly focused
on grammar, such as word order and verb tense, were copied from
different types of general language text books and rarely dealt with
vocabulary or language use with particular relevance for employment or
working life. According to the teachers, this general content was chosen
to support their students participation in social interactions at the work
placements, for example, during lunch breaks, even if this was not
explicitly made clear to the students.
DISCUSSION
The understanding of affordances as action potentials (van Lier,
2004, p. 92) is certainly relevant in the discussion of Merilinkas
possibilities to participate in interactions at the preschool. Yet the
question is whether Merilinka actually perceived the affordances and
interactions at hand as learning potentials and whether the preschool
work placement actually promotes language acquisition as prescribed by
the criteria of the municipality.
The assumption made by the coach about the language richness of
the preschool is in many ways supported in the data, although the role of
body language, deictic expressions, foreigner talk, and simplified
Swedish also turns out to be crucial in the preschool communication.
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TESOL QUARTERLY
In addition, the small childrens language is sometimes unintelligible. In

the interview, when these limitations of accessible input to an adult
second language learner were discussed, the coach admitted to having
expected this, but as there, at the time, werent any other preschool
placements available, he thought it important that Merilinka, in line
with the municipalitys political intentions, quickly receive a placement.
The manual for learning at the preschool, as expressed in the
introductory meeting (be active, participate, spend time with the
children, ask many questions), seems in many ways to be good advice
and in accordance with a situated and ecological learning perspective.
And, as seen earlier, Merilinka was certainly active and involved in her
work at the preschool. Still, in Merilinkas view these activities were not
beneficial to her language learning and therefore were used as the main
reason for terminating her work placement at the preschool after 8
weeks.
Although admitting that the preschool placement was interesting
and offered opportunities to learn quite a few words in the beginning,
she now referred to many activities as repetitive (recurring all the
time) and not favourable for learning new words, because, as she said,
You talk about the same things all the time, not about anything outside
[of the preschool]. To Merilinka, this learning situation was not
beneficial to her plans, which she said in the interview was to learn
Swedish first and then to continue with her studies in economics.
Despite the intention behind her work placement, Merilinka was in
fact more engaged in tasks and activities than in language learning.
There was little space for asking questions when involved in hectic,
intense, and sometimes emotional situations, because questions would
have interrupted the current ongoing activities. Moreover, Merilinka
could understand talk-in-interaction without focusing on the actual
words, phrases, and structures, as various nonlinguistic affordances
sufficiently mediated the speakers intentions.
Because Merilinkas active participation at the preschool was almost
exclusively restricted to activities with the children, she had limited
possibilities to negotiate access to the adult community of practice of the
preschool teachers. Moreover, during lunch breaks, when many of her
colleagues gathered in the staff room and engaged in discussions on
various work-related and more private topics in a constant mix (Holmes
& Stubbe, 2003), she found it difficult to join and was seldom invited to
take part. In the interview, she even referred to the lunch breaks as
heavy, making her feel stupid, uncomfortable and left out, with the
rest of the staff talking to each other.
According to the learning as participation metaphor suggested
by Lave and Wenger (1991; Wenger, 1998), goals and participants
roles need to be negotiated in relation to particular contexts and
559
communities. In Merilinkas case, she is not an apprentice in the real

sense of the word and hence does not aspire to become a legitimate and
full member of the preschool teachers community of practice nor to
learn the preschool teachers ways with words. To Merilinka, gaining
access to the preschool teachers community of practice was mainly a
question of finding an opportunity to talk about (and learn) things not
immediately related to the preschool teachers professional domain; for
example, she wanted to take part in the preschool teachers social or
small talk (e.g., Holmes, 2000, 2005)
The struggle of students to navigate access to various communities of
practice is well illustrated in the study by Norton (2001), in which the
students investment in learning the second language is related to their
desire to gain access to an imagined community of practice. Such a
community could either be an imagined community of their own
profession, of fellow speakers of their mother tongue, or of target
language speakers. Merilinka prioritises learning the second language
before continuing with her professional career and prefers to interact
with adults about other things, suggesting that access to an imagined
community of practice of Swedish-speaking adults is what Merilinka is
most concerned about at this point.
According to Lave and Wenger, unlimited access to a mentor or
expert is a prerequisite for gaining access to communities of practice for
learning through legitimate peripheral participation. In Merilinkas
case, however, her role in relation to the preschool teachers community
of practice might better be described as marginal rather than peripheral
(Wenger, 1998; Norton, 2001), because a role associated with legitimate
peripheral participation is one that allows for learning. The fact that
Merilinka, in her own words, only talked to the children deprived her
of possibilities of learning what she needed and of negotiating an adult
identity. Also, although the preschool teachers were aware that the
principal purpose of the placement was Merilinka learning the language,
their narrow focus on language learningignoring questions of
identitymight have made it difficult for them to understand
Merilinkas desire to take part (and learn) in a social context. Another
factor contributing to Merilinkas marginal role in the adult community
might also have been the preschool teachers assumption that her
language learning trajectory was comparable to the childrens; a view
that was expressed in the follow-up interview. This view justified the
teachers to apply the same language learning pedagogy as they did
towards the children in order for them to use language to express their
needs; they waited for Merilinka to ask for help instead of being
proactive, even though they claimed they had the time and desire to
further support Merilinkas participation and learning.
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TESOL QUARTERLY
With only limited support from her mentor, fellow workers, and
teachers, she had to rely on the expertise provided by the children and
make do or be content with the peripheral role of participation in the
childrens activities.
In this situation, full-time language studies appeared to be a more
worthwhile investment (cf. Norton Peirce, 1995) for Merilinka, because
she thought she learned more in the formal learning contexts of the
school. Merilinkas decision to terminate the work placement early could
also be seen as an act of resistance from a position of marginality
(Norton, 2001) and as a way of exercising agency (Ahearn, 2001) to
contest an imposed and unwanted identity of member of the childrens
group. She thus preferred the well-known identity of student in
school where she felt safe (see Baynham, 2006). As pointed out by
Baynham, a second language learner identity may constitute a stable
point in a highly unstable and potentially threatening lifeworld (p. 24).
As indicated above, the preschools environment offered an abundance of affordances, many of which Merilinka actually utilised for
interaction. There were, however, other affordances that might have
been explored for further interaction and language learning, for
example, the use of the portfolios with photos and texts of each childs
previous activity at the preschool; DVDs with songs and accompanying
books; notices on the bulletin board, and the documentation file with
the preschools aims and methods of working.
In light of Merilinkas experiences at the preschool, the question
asked previously, What is it in this environment that makes things
happen the way they do? (van Lier, 2004, p. 11), needs to be
supplemented with the question What is it in this environment that
could be used for learning? As pointed out by van Lier, learning-ininteraction is dependent not only on the individual perceiving and
using affordances but also on the individual evaluating [emphasis
added] the effect of language actions (p. 57). As for evaluation,
Merilinka had neither sufficient support nor sufficient time to
engage in any reflection on her language actions, which might have
contributed to her experience of not learning Swedish at the
preschool.
PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
With the theoretical approach delineated above and the findings from
the case study as a point of departure, I devote the last section of this
article to an outline of some basic principles for a language programme
built on possibilities as well as constraints for participation and language
learning experienced by adult migrants. The foundation for a reframing
561
of second language programmes in this direction is an understanding of

language and learning closely linked to learners participation in
interactions in and out of school. The conceptualization of learning as
co-constructed in situated social practices therefore calls for close
attention to the physical and social contexts of students participation.
Such contextualisation of interaction, which might have contributed to
the integration of Merilinkas formal and informal learning in school and
preschool, also requires a reframing of the roles of teachers and students
and an emphasis on student agency and teacher contingency (Baynham,
2006). The recognition of the situated character of interactions makes
students in such programmes the experts with prime knowledge of the
contexts and activities of their work placements. The teachers role is to
guide the students perception and action towards affordances at the work
placement, which can further their interaction and learning (van Lier,
2007, p. 53). As the case study indicates, to provide such guidance,
teachers need basic knowledge of circumstances and communication at
various practical work placements to realize what affordances might
become available to students. Therefore, resources must be allocated for
teachers regular visits to work placements, and observations must be seen
as a necessary foundation for workplace-related tuition.
Teachers and coaches visits to work placements are also fundamental for the monitoring and negotiating of the students workplace
tasks and of his or her access to the communities of practice. As the study
suggests, opportunities for learning at work placements are contingent
on the kind of interactions in which the student is allowed to engage.
Also crucial is the recognition of the student as a legitimate learner, not
primarily as a legitimate pair of hands constantly engaged in workplace
assignments. The school therefore needs to support the student in
finding the space and time to focus on learning and to direct the
mentors or colleagues attention to the environments possible
affordances for interaction and language learning and to the social
dimensions of language learning. The teachers question on how to
integrate the learning in and out of school in times of strained
resources, without the opportunity for relevant in-service training or
knowledge of communication at workplaces, is also a question that
needs to be addressed.
One way to monitor and negotiate the circumstances mentioned
earlier is to give the students tasks to carry out at the workplacetasks
that bring the outside in, that involve the mentor and the colleagues,
and that are relevant to all students in the group. For the design of such
tasks, the two previously put questions (What is it in this environment
that makes things happen the way they do? and What is it in this
environmentat this work placementthat could be used for learning?) might serve as guidance. The aim of such tasks is to support
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students in perceiving and using affordances at their work placements

for interaction and learning.
Based on the current case study, but also drawing on results of the
larger study, Table 1 shows a tentative attempt to exemplify and
categorize affordances to design relevant tasks and activities in the
classroom. For example, the use of the Little Book of Tractors could, with
the task described in this table, be specifically presented to teachers,
students, and mentors or colleagues as an example of available
multimodal affordances. Table 1 also shows suggestions for possible
questions for reflection in the classroom. In the right column, general
goals expressed in the Sfi syllabus are presented to show the relevance of
dealing with the more situated language use in the workplace.
While students, guided by the teacher, recurrently account, discuss,
compare, and reflect on such affordance-focusing tasks, they are
TABLE 1
Bringing the Use of Workplace Affordances Into the Classroom1
Examples
from preschool
(Mediated)
affordance in
focus
Goals from Sfi

syllabus, course
C (my translaTasks to carry out Classroom work distion; CEFR
at work placements cuss, reflect, compare level A2/A2+ )
Little Book of
Multimodal:
Tractors, chil- text or picture
drens portfolios, text and
pictures on
notice board,
document file
with teaching
methods.
Bring a text you

use at your work
placement. Ask
your mentor for
permission to
bring it to school,
copy it or photograph it.
If you sit on Linguistic:

the bench . . instructions
., Will you and requests
help me there
. . ., Look,
Merilinka will
read this.
Write down main

points so you will
be able to describe
a situation where
you got an instruction. What did the
person say or do?
What did you say or
do? Ask your mentor what he or she
thinks he or she
normally says when
instructing.
How, when, why, with

whom are text or pictures used? What do
you and others say
when you use it? Does
it work? Why or why
not? Can you learn
anything from using
the text? Why or why
not?
Understand
and use easy,
regularly occurring texts in . . .
working life,
e.g., short narrative and
descriptive
texts, information relevant to
the student
such as notes,
regulations,
and instructions.
In what ways are
Understand
requests and instrucclear, simple
tions expressed (verb- speech in preally or with body
dictable situalanguage)? Could you tions in
say or behave in other working life,
ways? How could you e.g., simple
respond to requests or instructions.
instructions? In what
situations is it easy or
difficult for you to
understand? Why, do
you think?
Note. 1A comprehensive table can be found in appendix 2. CEFR 5 common European framework
of references, Sfi 5 Svenska for invandrare (Swedish language programme for adult immigrants).
563
involved in learning the ways of learning in interaction. They are also,

while contextualizing a particular utterance, jointly constructing a
growing body of knowledge and experiences in relation to a vast number
of workplaces. In such classroom interactions, language aspects relevant
to working life and specific workplaces become apparent.
Far from the political demands to focus on vocational Swedish,
relevant aspects here are not limited to parts of lexicon at a specific
workplace. As the data and Table 1 show (see also Table A1, appendix
2), language proficiency here is more than understanding and using the
second languageit includes the use of direct and mediated
affordances, a shared mother tongue other than Swedish, the use of
Swedish as a lingua franca, and knowledge of discourse practices.
Moreover, it includes the metalanguage skills needed to talk about
interactions; to describe, compare, and evaluate effects of previous
interactions; and to anticipate what might occur in future interactions.
Through such recurrent, guided, and negotiated trajectories of
experiences, words, phrases, other signs, understandings, and use of
contexts at various work placements become available for students
appropriation as a way of gaining access into a number of more
empowering activities at the present work placement and future
workplaces.
Support is also provided for the development of the ability to evaluate
and judge whatever understandings of contexts and whatever aspects of
interaction are useful in different practices in the students various
imagined communities. The question of possible cross-contextual
applications of experiences and learning merits further investigation.
In this the students experiences of working as ethnographers (Roberts,
Bryam, Barro, Jordan, & Street, 2001; Norton, 2006) in their work
placements, decontextualizing and recontextualizing workplace affordances in the classroom, could serve as a point of departure.
A tuition structured by affordance-focusing tasks allows for the
manual for informal learning as expressed by Merilinkas coach and
mentor to be reformulated, elaborated, and made concrete. In this way,
it offers sustainable tools for the expansion of the students repertoires
of participation (Atkinson et al., 2007, p. 177; Larsen-Freeman, 2002,
p. 42) in society and at workplacesjust some of the tools that enable
students to act as agents of their own learning (van Lier, 2004, p. 223).
Critical and Affirmative Learning Spaces

Sfi has an important role to play in the integration of native-born and
new Swedish citizens, because one of its main goals is to support
immigrants in their preparation for active participation in society
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TESOL QUARTERLY
(Swedish National Agency for Education, 2009, p. 2). This goal is,
however, often in conflict with the short-term goal of the labour
strategy where the individuals previous experiences and long-term
goals risk being disregarded in favour of stronger demands for the
immigrants immediate self-support.
For the responsibility of Sfi to be fulfilled and to manage the conflicts
resulting from its potentially contradicting goals related to the
promotion of integration and rapid labour market entrance, respectively, it is necessary to negotiate and balance the two, in many ways,
symbiotic roles of the basic language programme. Doing this in a
dynamic and professional way includes taking into consideration a wide
range of factors relevant to the individual.
To promote long-term integration, Sfi can be described as comprising
two spaces, an affirmative learning space and a critical learning space
(Svendsen Pedersen, 2007).
First, in relation to the labour strategy, Sfi is an affirmative learning
space; as most adults long-term goals for active participation in society
also include employment, Sfi needs to be a space for facilitating
immigrants labour market entrance and workplace socialisation. Sfi
therefore needs to address workplace communication and the understandings of workplace contexts, as suggested in previous sections.
Second, Sfi is also a critical learning space where the individuals
needs and possibilities should be addressed. Focussing the empowerment of students, this is a space for critical examination and discussion
of circumstances at work placements and in working life, issues that
might be too sensitive to bring up at a workplace. Here the students
struggle for voice and identity becomes an important part of the
curriculum. Within this space, Sfi also has a responsibility to address
interactions in other social contexts, for example, at parent meetings,
visiting district health care centres, or negotiating consumer issues. Such
critical interrogations of language use and other aspects of society and
workplaces can bring about contestations of the labour strategy and
open up alternative subject positions (Chun, 2009; cf. Norton & Toohey,
2004).
In Merilinkas case, the limited possibility to negotiate access to the
adult community of practice might have been dealt with within this
space. For a task designed to focus such matters within this space, see
Table 2.
CONCLUSION
A purpose of this article has been to explore aspects of an ecological
framework and the concept of affordances as a way of thinking about
565
TABLE 2
Task for Work Within the Critical Learning Space
Example
from preschool
Biljana: Do
you understand?
Merilinkas
feelings of
being left out,
e.g., at lunch.
(Mediated)
affordance
in focus
Linguistic:
phrases for
describing
experiences,
motivating
opinions,
asking for
changes.
Tasks to perform at
work placements
Describe a difficult
situation where you
and your mentor or
colleague were
involved. What happened, what did you
say or do? Was your
(body) language sufficient or appropriate? What was good or
not so good?
Classroom work
discuss, reflect,
compare
Is it all right to ask
your mentor or
boss to change his
or her behaviour?
How? How could
you talk more to
your mentor or
colleagues? What
could you or your
mentor or colleagues do? What
could your teacher do? How
could you act in a
similar situation in
the future?
Goals from Sfi syllabus, course C (my

translation; CEFR
level A2/A2+ )
Communicate . . . in
predictable situations in . . . working
life, through, e.g.,
describing experiences, expressing
and motivating opinions.
Participate . . . in
working life
through, e.g.,
exchanging
thoughts . . . in
short conversations,
discussing, . . . and
to some extent
adapting or adjusting language to a
situation.
Note. CEFR 5 common European framework of references, Sfi 5 Svenska for invandrare
(Swedish language programme for adult immigrants).
teaching and learning (van Lier, 2004, p. 224) in relation to interaction

and language learning opportunities at a preschool work placement.
The value of this theoretical framework seems evident not only for an
analysis of interactions but also for the outlining of basic principles for a
reframed Sfi programme based on real world opportunities and
constraints for interaction and learning. The framework and principles
will be further tested through the ongoing exploration of these ideas by,
among others, the provider that took part in the current study. This is
mainly how the outline of a reframed programme in this article is
intendedas inspiration and as a base for further thinkingnot as a
model to be implemented.
While recognising the potential of workplace affordances for
interaction and second language learning, this article challenges some
of the sometimes taken for granted assumptions about workplace
language practices and illustrates the problem of fitting learners needs
and tuition to a policy agenda. Agreeing with Canagarajah (2008, p. 537)
on the need to formulate new explanations for language practices and
devising new pedagogies for teaching them to / . . . / language
learners, a reframing needs to build on the recognition of practitioners agentive roles in the policy enactments. Even in the most
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TESOL QUARTERLY
restrictive of contextsas within an economic agendateachers,

coaches, and students are not only implementators of policies but also
potential agents of a much needed change.
As for the Swedish context, there is a strong need for supporting this
agency through regular teacher training and relevant, recurrent inservice programmes with a specific focus on adult second language
learners educational needs. In addition, further research into the
ecology of workplace language and the affordances for interaction and
learning that different workplaces (and placements) offer must be given
priority. A deeper understanding of issues related to workplace language
and conditions for second language learning and use in and out of
classrooms is also urgently needed among integration agents, policy
makers, job placement administrators, as well as among employers and
employees at multilingual workplaces.
Thus, if the long-desired goal of bridging formal and informal
language learning is to be fulfilled, the initiatives for the development of
a sustainable and efficient Sfi programme cannot be restricted to
language teachers alone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by the individuals who
participated in this study and who so generously shared their experience and
views with me. I would also like to thank Professor Inger Lindberg for her support
and valuable suggestions on this article and BethAnne Yoxsimer Paulsrud for her
careful reading and helpful comments on the text. Appreciation is also extended
to the two anonymous reviewers and to the editors for their much valued
comments.
THE AUTHOR
Karin Sandwall is an experienced teacher of Swedish for adult immigrants (Sfi) and
is a PhD student at the Department of Swedish, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Her
research project focuses on communicative needs and practices facing Sfi students at
practical work placements as part of their language program. Her research
investigates students interactions at and experiences from work placements and
discusses how these can be addressed and taken advantage of in formal settings.
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Appendix 1
Excerpt 1. Purpose of work placement.
Eric det ar ju praktik for sprak det har, att du ska fa borja anvanda och lyssna
och
Biljana det ar inte att du ska JOBBA hos oss, det ar bara att ho
ra, lara sig spraket
Excerpt 2. Recipe for how to learn Swedish at the preschool.

1. Be active and participate
Eric det galler att va lite FRAMAT, att man inte bara star och tittar, utan att
man forsoker att delta.
2. Spend time with the children
Biljana att du ar MED barna och ser vad de gor och
Eric lek garna med dem
Biljana sprak lar man sig nar / . . . / dom anvandar spraket
Biljana de visar med kroppen sa man forstar vad de vill. / . . . / De sager bara
och sen pekar / . . . / och da har dom upprepat 100 ganger om dan
och da lar sig man
3. Ask many questions
Eric sa fraga mycket!
Eric har maste man forsta, annars sa fungerar det inte.
4. Use (almost only) Swedish
Biljana sprak lar man sig bara man anvandar den
Biljana jag ska prata hela tiden svenska. Sa ibland pa slutet om jag ser att det
har gar inte / . . . / da sager jag det till dig pa svenska och serbiska.
Excerpt 3. If you sit on the bench.

Elisabeth Merilinka, om du sitter pa banken dar borta [vrider huvudet at
hoger, tittar ner pa banken] sa blir det lattare for dig nar om du tar
pa Isac [pekar med handen mot Isac] kladerna
Merilinka ja. Isac kom! [gar och satter sig pa banken till hoger om
Elisabeth]
571
Excerpt 4. Will you help me there?

Sara [drar av en bit och ger M folierullen, talar snabbt] Hjalper du mig dar,
du kan bara ta av en bit dar.
Merilinka [tar rullen, drar av en foliebit, stor som andra barnens, och ger till
barnet.]
Excerpt 5. The Little Book of Tractors.

Senka Titta, Senka hittade den [haller upp boken framfor sig]
Merilinka [Ah!
Senka Aaaah, den ska Merilinka lasa (ger Merilinka boken)
Merilinka
[ja (tar emot boken)
/.../
r det din bok?
Merilinka [tittar pa Wilmer] A
Wilmer Jaa
Merilinka Ja, lilla traktorboken [oppnar boken]
Wilmer [pekar snabbt pa traktorbild] hehe jah xxx!
Merilinka Ah, vad ar den? [pekar cirklande pa traktorbild]
Din traktor?
Wilmer [talar snabbt] De syns de e hjul [snabb pekning pa hjulet]
Merilinka ah?
r det din traktor?
[pekar igen pa traktorbild, ser pa Wilmer] A
[tittar ner i boken igen]
Wilmer jaa
Merilinka Jaa [skrattar] okej [bladdrar till nasta sida]
Wilmer [pekar pa bilden, otydligt] vicken faj a den? [pekar snabbt]
Merilinka Ja?
Wilmer xxx xxx
Excerpt 6. I want to play with you.

Albin [till Merilinka] ga bort, ga bort, ga bort
Merilinka [tittar pa Senka]
Senka [pa serbiska till Merilinka] xx
Merilinka [till Albin] varfor?
Albin(2)
Merilinka [tittar pa Senka]
Senka [pa serbiska till Merilinka] xxx xxx
Merilinka [till Albin] jag vill leka med dig. Vill du leka med mig?
Albin nej [tar Merilinkas hand]
572
TESOL QUARTERLY
Appendix 2
TABLE A1
Bringing Workplace Affordances Into the Classroom
Examples from
preschool
(Mediated) affordance in focus
Little Book of
Multimodal: text
Tractors, chilor picture.
drens portfolios,
text and pictures
on notice board,
document file
with teaching
methods.
Dress children or Routine activity.

help with outside
clothes, read
books, paint, eat.
Pointing, gesBody language.

tures with arm or
arms and/or
hand or hands,
gazing.
Tasks to perform
at work placements
Bring a text you
use at your work
placement. Ask
your mentor for
permission to
bring it to school,
copy it, or photograph it.
Goals from Sfi

syllabus, course C
Classroom
(my translation;
work discuss,
CEFR level A2/
reflect, compare
A2+)
How, when, why,
with whom are
text or pictures
used? What do
you or others say
when you use it?
Does it work?
Why or why not?
Can you learn
anything from
using the text?
Why or why not?
Understand and
use easy, regularly occurring
texts in . . . working life, e.g.,
short narrative
and descriptive
texts; information relevant to
the student such
as notes, regulations, and
instructions.
Write down main Why is this done Understand . . .
points so you will in this way? Who clear instrucbe able to
says what and
tions.
describe an activ- why? Are you
Communicate
ity that happens happy with the
with a simple
every day. Ask
way you act?
language in preyour mentor to
Why? If not, do
dictable situahave a look at
you need more
tions in . . .
what you wrote. language or
working life, e.g.,
(You may like to information?
by . . . giving
take a photoWho might help advice and
graph or record you?
instructions.
something!)
Observe body
Why is body lan- Participate in
language at your guage used in
predictable situaworkplace. Write various activities? tions in . . .
down main
How does body
working life
points so you will language support
be able to
verbal language?
describe the
Are you able to or
situation where it do you need to
was used. Ask
use more or difyour mentor if
ferent body lanshe or he has
guage at your
thought about
work placement?
common gestures
that she or he
uses.
573
TABLE A1
TABLE
Continued
Continued
Examples from
preschool
(Mediated) affordance in focus
If you sit on the Linguistic:

bench. . . Will instructions and
you help me
requests.
there. . . Look,
Merilinka will
read this.
Tasks to perform
at work placements
Write down main
points so you will
be able to
describe a situation where you
got an instruction. What did
the person say or
do? What did you
say or do? Ask
your mentor what
he or she thinks
he or she normally says when
instructing.
Goals from Sfi

syllabus, course C
Classroom
(my translation;
work discuss,
CEFR level A2/
reflect, compare
A2+)
In what ways are

requests and
instructions
expressed (verbally or with body
language)? Could
you say or behave
in other ways?
How could you
respond to
requests or
instructions? In
what situations is
it easy or difficult
for you to understand? Why, do
you think?
Is it yours? What Linguistic: recur- Write down some Are there phrases
is it? What colour rent phrases
phrases that you that are used on
is it? What are
often use.
other work placeyou doing? Who
Describe a situa- ments? Is there a
is it?
tion when you
phrase that you
used them. Ask
would not use at
your mentor what your work placehe or she usually ment? Why?
says.
Could you use
the phrases in
another situation
as well? Could
you say it in any
other way?
574
Understand
clear, simple
speech in predictable situations in . . .
working life, e.g.,
simple instructions
Participate in
predictable situations in . . .
working life . . .
in short conversations, discuss
common questions . . . and to
some extent
adapt or adjust
language to
situation
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I Learn More at School: A Critical

Perspective on Workplace-Related Second

This article presents a case study of a student involved in language learning

his article presents a case study of a student involved in language

TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 44, No. 3, September 2010

In an attempt to account for the students interactions and learning

THE SFI PROGRAMME

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

The Swedish national integration policy2 and the Sfi programme

The Sfi Programme in Gothenburg

It is the responsibility of the so-called coaches to find placements that

second language programmes. These include studies of linguistic aspects

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

concerning literacy and discourse practices, of issues of power and of a

and teaching (Canaragajah, 2008, p. 537). This also involves a shift of

Methods, Setting, and Participants

at meetings, at work placement, and in school; course materials; 8 hours of

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

interview was conducted in Serbian through an interpreter. All

As will become apparent in the following interactions, this manual

INTERACTIONS AT THE PRESCHOOL

The Bench Episode

The Finger Paint Episode

In this triadic interaction, signs are structured by and dependent on the

The Tractor Book Episode

Mentor and Fellow Worker

In frequent attempts to support Merilinkas language learning

the time-consuming work of finding work placements for as many

In addition, the small childrens language is sometimes unintelligible. In

communities. In Merilinkas case, she is not an apprentice in the real

of second language programmes in this direction is an understanding of

students in perceiving and using affordances at their work placements

Goals from Sfi

Bring a text you

If you sit on Linguistic:

Write down main

How, when, why, with

involved in learning the ways of learning in interaction. They are also,

Critical and Affirmative Learning Spaces

Goals from Sfi syllabus, course C (my

teaching and learning (van Lier, 2004, p. 224) in relation to interaction

restrictive of contextsas within an economic agendateachers,

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

Public Administration of Adult Education. (2007b). [Go teborgs Stad,

Young, R. F. (2007). Language and interactionAn advanced resource book. London,

Excerpt 2. Recipe for how to learn Swedish at the preschool.

Excerpt 3. If you sit on the bench.

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

Excerpt 4. Will you help me there?

Excerpt 5. The Little Book of Tractors.

Excerpt 6. I want to play with you.

(Mediated) affordance in focus

Dress children or Routine activity.

Pointing, gesBody language.

I LEARN MORE AT SCHOOL

Goals from Sfi

(Mediated) affordance in focus

If you sit on the Linguistic:

Goals from Sfi

In what ways are

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