Swedish Learning online - Alphabet

February 25, 2020

Students

Business & Communication
International Relations
Tourism

Autonomous learning
Classroom Context

Swedish

English

A1

Video

Vocabulary

Listening
Speaking

The digital learning object under analysis consists of a video containing the Swedish alphabet. The aim of the video is to help people learn the letters of the alphabet as well as the way they are pronounced in this language.
This resource combines image, audio and written text, thus allowing viewers to learn through both their auditory and visual channels. Also, it is a sorted video (under two minutes), which makes it ideal for a beginner level, as learners might get demotivated if given too much information to assimilate at once.
Besides the letters of the alphabet themselves, it also provides one word starting with each letter, as well as the corresponding pictures. The pace of speech is slow, allowing time for listening and repeating the letters and words., which allows viewers to learn a range of basic words in Swedish.

This resource is ideal for an A1 level. It can be used either autonomously at home or within a class context. In this case, I would use it in both ways, as explained in the guidelines section.
Since it is aimed at a beginner level, it can be used to teach Swedish in any area, as the alphabet represents the basis of any language learning.
I would use it in a third or fourth lesson, after students have learnt some basic phrases and sentences such as greetings, asking and answering about their name, occupation and origin.
Following the principles of the flipped classroom methodology, I would ask students to watch the video and learn the alphabet at home and then, I would use it again in the classroom to check students’ learning and help them with the most difficult sounds. The use of this resource would be followed by spelling practice activities.
I believe this is a good resource for students to learn on their own and at their own pace. Also, it provides them with an alternative source of language other than the teacher from the very beginning of their learning.

In order to allow students to learn at their own pace and to give them more student talking time during the lesson, the implementation procedure would be as follows:
Step 1. At the end of the previous lesson, students are provided the link to the video and are asked to watch the video and learn the alphabet for the next lesson.

Step 2. At the beginning of this lesson, the lecturer plays the video for the whole class, but with no sound, for students to say the letters and words out loud. If necessary, the lecturer pauses the video after each letter and word, so as to allow time for the class to say the words.

Step 3. The lecturer plays the video one more time, still without sound and in chain, each student says one letter and word. If students struggle, the lecturer helps with pronunciation.

Step 4. Students are asked to think of one word in Swedish they learnt in the previous lessons and in turns, they spell out their word while their colleagues write it on their notebooks and say what the word is. As this is a beginner level, the lecturer should write the words on the board to make sure everybody is following.
Step 5. Students revise and practise the basic structures learnt in the previous lessons as well as the new question “How do you spell that?” by means of a roleplay activity, in which they make up new names and surnames and places of origin.

Further advice:
1. If during steps 2 and 3, the students are finding it hard to pronounce the letters and words, more time should be allocated to watching the video again, eventually with sound, and the lecturer should also help by repeating them as well.
2. If used within very specific degree courses, students may be asked to look at their textbook or even on an online bilingual dictionary to find and spell words related to their particular area. This is a good way for them to learn new words in their area while practising pronunciation.