Pia Sundqvist

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research is within the field of applied English linguistics, more specifically in English didactics (English language education). My main research interest is informal learning through extramural English (digital gaming in particular), often with a focus on L2 vocabulary acquisition. I also do research on assessment of L2 oral proficiency and English language teaching in school.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Multilingual spaces? Language practices in English classrooms (The Swedish Research Council, Dnr 2016-03469, SEK 7 416 000)

Together with Marie Källkvist and Henrik Gyllstad, Lund University, and Erica Sandlund, Karlstad University. This project focuses on language practices in multilingual English classroom spaces in Swedish secondary schools. Using a large survey to map self-reported teacher practices, ethnographic methodology and conversation analysis to study language practices in English classrooms, and experimental intervention and quantitative methods to measure L2 vocabulary learning over time, the project aims to contribute to the development of evidence-based language practices in English teaching in multilingual schools. Project website.

Making sense of holistic assessment: Teachers’ development of their own matrices for assessing oral proficiency in the national test of English

Together with Erica Sandlund and Liliann Byman-Frisén, Karlstad University. This project aims to gain new knowledge about L2 English teachers’ interpretations of the test construct ‘oral production and interaction’ (which is used in the speaking part of the national test of English, grades 6 and 9), as reflected in teachers-as-examiners’ own scoring rubrics.

Equity in assessment (EquA)

Together with Michael Tengberg, Lena Lötmarker, and Erica Sandlund, Karlstad University, Eric Borgström, Örebro Univesity, and Gustaf B. Skar, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. This project combines research and in-service training for teachers and aims to strengthen equity in assessment with regards to young learners’ proficiency in English and Swedish. The project examines what roles co-assessment and rater training may have on developing equity in assessment of various learner language abilities. My part of the project is together with Erica Sandlund; we focus on the assessment of oral proficiency in English in grade 6. Project website

PREVIOUS PROJECTS

2014-2017: Bridging the gap between in and out-of-school English [a.k.a. MoTISSE, Motivational Teaching in Swedish Secondary English] (The Swedish Research Council, Dnr 2013-785, SEK 7 425 000)

Together with Alastair Henry and Cecilia Thorsen, University West. The purpose of the project was to identify and analyze examples of good practice in which learners’ out-of-school English experiences are utilized in classroom teaching. The project aimed to lay the foundations for a pedagogical practice in which learners’ out-of-school experiences are used as a resource for goal-focused learning and to disseminate this knowledge to teachers and researchers. Project website

2011–2017: Vocabulary and extramural English: focus on digital gameplay (grade 9)

This project was inspired by results from my dissertation. Quantitative data were collected during a 3-year period (2011–2014) from more than 1,000 students in the 9th grade. In 2015, the project was complemented with qualitative data from a smaller sample. The Center for Language and Literature in Education (CSL), Karlstad University, funded two years of the project. The main objective was to deepen the knowledge about the relation between L2 English vocabulary (receptive and productive) and the use of extramural English, with a focus on digital gameplay (type of games played and frequency of gaming).

2016: Code-switching as resource or hindrance in the language classroom - a pilot study

Together with Erica Sandlund, Karlstad University. The study took its point of departure in English language teaching in secondary school and focused especially on how students and teachers relate to various language resources inside and outside the classroom. The project was funded by the Center for Language and Literature in Education (CSL), Karlstad University.

2016: Co-assessment through conversations

Together with Erica Sandlund, Karlstad University. The project aimed to increase our understanding of co-assessment as social interactions. Another aim was to identify areas where English teachers’ assessment of students’ L2 English oral proficiency seemed particularly diverging. The project was funded by the Center for Language and Literature in Education (CSL), Karlstad University.

2013-2016: Testing Talk (The Swedish Research Council, Dnr 2012-4129, SEK 5 413 000)

Together with Erica Sandlund, Karlstad University, and Lina Nyroos, Uppsala University. The projected aimed to provide a comprehensive description and analysis of how learner interaction in paired oral proficiency tests is introduced, conducted, and assessed. Focus was on the speaking part of the national test of English in the 9th grade. Within the project, we arranged interactive workshops with language teachers, using authentic test data for raising teacher awareness regarding the participation in the test and its set up, administration, and assessment. Project website

Summary: The Testing Talk project uses the national English speaking test (NEST) in Sweden to highlight complexities of L2 interaction and its assessment, and in developing a workshop-model for professional training for teachers-as-raters. Data consist of 71 audio-recorded NESTs (161 9th-grade students), three independent assessments of each student performance, a national survey among teachers, interviews, and workshop questionnaires. Findings show that while the NEST is appreciated, it is not administered in a standardized way; testing conditions are unequal across schools. Examination of raters’ views on particular learner performances show that their understanding of criteria varies – as such, the NEST does not fully contribute to equity in assessment. However, the workshop-model shows great promise in meeting challenges of applying value descriptors to learner performance. Further, close examination of test interaction show that teachers’ and students’ diverging understandings of the task-at-hand may impact peer interaction negatively, that test-takers are resourceful in utilizing interactional resources such as code-switching, and that when contrasting teachers-as-raters’ talk on students’ interactional competence (IC) with students’ test performances, a test-specific view of L2 IC based on NEST assessment criteria is co-constructed. The project contributes to filling a gap, identified in a review of research. Findings have implications for the design and assessment of L2 tests.

2013: The relation between digital gameplay and use of advanced vocabulary in free writing (grade 9)

Together with Peter Wikström, Karlstad university. The purpose of the study was to gain new knowledge about the relation between playing digital games and students’ use of advanced L2 English vocabulary in free essay writing and their scores on vocabulary tests.

2011–2012: Informal learning of English among young learners (preschool class – grade 6),

The project aimed to gain new knowledge about the use of extramural English among young learners, from pre-school class to grade 6. The project was funded by the Center for Language and Literature in Education, Karlstad University.

2010: Relations between extramural English and (a) achieved learning outcomes in school and (b) motivation among young learners in grades 4–6

Together with Liss Kerstin Sylvén, University of Gothenburg. The project was funded by the Center for Language and Literature in Education, Karlstad University and the Erik Wellander Foundation. The aim of the project was to map the relation between extramural English and L2 English learning outcomes in school among young learners in middle school.

Second language acquisition, Advanced Academic English, Quantitative methods in language research, English teaching methodology courses/subject-specific education ('didactics') for future teachers, supervision.

Supervision (doctoral candidates)

Signe Hannibal Jensen, University of Southern Denmark (co-supervisor)

Liliann Byman-Frisén, Karlstad University (co-supervisor)

Anki Hamberg, Karlstad University (co-supervisor)

Paul Morris, Mälardalen University (co-supervisor)

Andreas Bengtsson, Stockholm University (co-supervisor)

Master students

Shilan Ahmadian, University of Oslo (co-supervisor)

Vilde Matilde Skram, University of Oslo (main supervisor)

Kyrre Tveiten, University of Oslo (main supervisor)

I collaborate with many different reseachers, teachers, school leaders, and schools.

I taught English, Swedish, and Spanish at secondary and upper-secondary school before I began my doctoral studies in English linguistics. Since 2010 I am employed as a senior lecturer and researcher at Karlstad University. In August, 2018, I took on a position as an Associate Professor of English Language Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. I remain part-time here at Kau as a supervisor and as a researcher in the MultiLingual Spaces project. I hold an MA in Language Education and a PhD in English, both from Karlstad University. In 2014, I was appointed Associate Professor of English. In the early 1990s, I was a graduate student in applied English linguistics at the University of Houston, Texas.

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2016). Extramural English in teaching and learning: From theory and research to practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2016). Equity in L2 English oral assessment: Criterion-based facts or works of fiction? Nordic Journal of English Studies, 15(2), 113–131. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2016). Validation of a test measuring young learners' general L2 English vocabulary knowledge. Novitas-ROYAL, 10(1), 1–23. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2016). Gaming and young language learners. In F. Farr & L. Murray (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language learning and technology(pp. 446–458). Oxon and New York, NY: Routledge.

Sandlund, E., Sundqvist, P., & Nyroos, L. (2016). Research-based professional development workshops for EFL teachers: Focus on test interaction and assessment. Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology, 4(1), 24–48. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2016). Undervisning på och i engelska. In T. Hansson (Ed.), Pedagogik för högskolelärare (pp. 375–398). Möklinta: Gidlunds. PDF

Sandlund, E. Sundqvist, P,, & Nyroos, L. (2016). Testing L2 talk: A review of empirical studies on second language oral proficiency testing. Language and Linguistics Compass, 10(1), 14–29. doi:10.1111/lnc3.12174/epdf PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2015). About a boy: A gamer and L2 English speaker coming into being by use of self-access. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(4), 352–364. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2015). Extramural English in relation to CLIL: Focus on young language learners in Sweden. In D. Marsh, M. L. Pérez Muñoz & J. Ráez Padilla (Eds.), CLIL in action: Voices from the classroom (pp. 47-63). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Sundqvist, P., & Wikström, P. (2015). Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes. System, 51, 65–76. doi:10.1016/j.system.2015.04.001 PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2015). Review of Technology-Mediated TBLT: Researching Technology and Tasks. Language Learning & Technology, 19(2), 36–39. PDF

Olin-Scheller, C., & Sundqvist, P. (2015). Sweden: Fertile ground for digital fandoms. In "European Fans and European Fan Objects: Localization and Translation," edited by Anne Kustritz, special issue, Transformative Works and Culture, (19). doi:10.3983/twc.2015.0621 PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Olin-Scheller, C. (2015). Engelska på fritiden och engelska i skolan – en omöjlig ekvation? Educare, (1), 53–71. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2014). More research on motivation in early foreign language learning. In J. Enever, E. Lindgren & S. Ivanov (Eds.), Conference proceedings from Early Language Learning: Theory and practice in 2014 (pp. 116–120). Umeå: Umeå Studies in Language and Literature 25. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2014). Needed: A vocabulary test for young learners of English. In J. Enever, E. Lindgren & S. Ivanov (Eds.), Conference proceedings from Early Language Learning: Theory and practice in 2014 (pp. 121–124). Umeå: Umeå Studies in Language and Literature 25. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2014). Review of The Young Language Learning: Research-based Insights into Teaching and Learning (Hasselgreen, Drew, and Sørheim, 2012). KAPET, 10(1), 15–23. PDF

Henry, A., Sundqvist, P., & Korp, H. (2014). Elevers möten med engelska i och utanför skolan: Upprop till deltagande i forskningsprojektet Bridging the Gap. LMS Lingua, No. 4, 22–26. PDF

Sundqvist, P., Sandlund, E., & Nyroos, L. (2014). National speaking tests in English - does group size matter? LMS Lingua, No. 2, 29–31. PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L.K. (2014). How Swedish children learn English through gaming. The Conversation. Retrieved from The Conversation website: theconversation.com/how-swedish-children-learn-english-through-gaming-31073

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2014). Language-related computer use: Focus on young L2 English learners in Sweden. ReCALL.26(1), 3–20, doi: 10.1017/S0958344013000232. PDF Blog post

Sundqvist, P., Sandlund, E., Nyroos, L., & Wikström, P. (2013). Genomförande och bedömning av nationella muntliga prov i engelska: en pilotstudie. KAPET, 9(1), 24–45. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2013). Categorization of digital games in English language learning studies: Introducing the SSI Model. In L. Bradley & S. Thouësny (Eds.), 20 years of Eurocall: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future. EUROCALL Conference, Évora, Portugal, 11-14 September 2013, Proceedings(pp. 231–237). Dublin: Research-publishing.net. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2013.000166 PDF

Sandlund, E. & Sundqvist, P. (2013). Provuppgiftshantering som social praktik – En jämförelse mellan interaktionsanalys och bedömardata för muntligt prov i engelska. In C. Rosén, P. Simfors & A.-K. Sundberg (Eds.), Språk i undervisning. Rapport från ASLA:s vårsymposium, Linköping, 11-12 maj, 2012. Papers from the ASLA Symposium in Linköping, 11-12 May, 2012 (pp. 125–138). Linköping/Växjö: ASLA, Svenska föreningen för tillämpad språkvetenskap. PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Olin-Scheller, C. (2013). Classroom vs. extramural English: Teachers dealing with demotivation. Language & Linguistics Compass, 7(6), 329–338. doi:10.1111.lnc3.12031 PDF

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2013). Diverging task orientations in L2 oral proficiency tests – a conversation analytic approach to participant understandings of pre-set discussion tasks. Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology, 2(1), 1–21. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2013). The SSI Model: Categorization of digital games in EFL studies. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 2(1), 89–104.

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2013). Att tala under test och testa tal – prov i muntlig språkfärdighet är en komplex historia. LMS Lingua, No. 2, 21–25. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2012). Informal learning of English among young learners: Report from a one-year project in preschool class, grade 3, and grade 6. In M. Allström & A.-M. Pinter (Eds.), English for Young Learners – Forum. Proceedings from the Conference in Uppsala, 19 June 2012 (pp. 122–132). Uppsala: Centre for Professional Development and Internationalisation in Schools. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). Similarities between playing World of Warcraft and CLIL. Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies, 6(2), 113–130.PDF

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). "But what can we learn from history" - om konsten att diskutera "rätt" under det muntliga nationella provet i engelska. KAPET, 8(1), 45–66. PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2012). Computer-assisted L2 English language-related activities among Swedish 10-year-olds. In L. Bradley & S. Thouësny (Eds.), CALL: Using, learning, knowing. EUROCALL Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 22-25 August 2012, Proceedings (pp.280–285). Dublin: Research-publishing.net. doi: 10.14705/rpnet.2012.000067 PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). Gaming and extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners. ReCALL, 24(3), 302–321. doi: 10.1017/S095834401200016X PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2012). World of VocCraft: Computer games and Swedish learners' L2 vocabulary. In H. Reinders (Ed.), Digital games in language learning and teaching (pp. 189–208). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2012). Ämnesdidaktiska utmaningar i det heterogena engelskklassrummet: En jämförelse mellan elever med stor respektive liten mängd extramural engelska. In N. Gericke & B. Schüllerqvist (Eds.), Ämnesdidaktisk komparation: Länder, ämnen, teorier, metoder, frågor och resultat (pp. 121–135). Karlstad: Karlstad University Press. PDF

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). "It was hard. Let's skip it!" - Funderingar kring bedömning av muntlig färdighet i språk. LMS Lingua, No. 1, 22–26. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2011). A possible path to progress: Out-of-school English language learners in Sweden. In P. Benson & H. Reinders (Eds.), Beyond the language classroom (pp. 106–118). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. PDF

Sandlund, E., & Sundqvist, P. (2011). Managing task-related trouble in L2 oral proficiency tests: Contrasting interaction data and rater assessment. Novitas-ROYAL, 5(1), 91–120. PDF

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2011). Fritidsspråk i femman - framtidens studenter formas. In A. Ylikiiskilä & M. Westman (Eds.), Language for the future. Papers from the ASLA symposium in Falun, 12-13 Novermber, 2010 (pp. 186–198). Uppsala: Swedish Science Press. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2011). Review: McKay (2011), Assessing young language learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This review appeared originally in the LINGUIST List at linguistlist.org/issues/22/22-3419.html (Aug. 30, 2011).

Sundqvist, P. (2011). Recension av Peder Stenbergs doktorsavhandling Den allvarsamma leken - Om World of Warcraft och läckaget. KAPET, 7(1), 157–167. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2010). Extramural engelska - En möjlig väg till studieframgång.KAPET, 6(1), 94–109. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2010). Review: Denham and Lobeck (Eds.) (2010), Linguistics at school: Language awareness in primary and secondary education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This review appeared originally in the LINGUIST List at linguistlist.org/issues/21/21-3223.html (Aug. 9, 2010).

Sundqvist, P. (2010). Schlafsjo, jä, jä, jä: Om sambandet fritidsengelska–skolresultat. LMS Lingua, No. 1, 15–17. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2009). Extramural English matters: Out-of-school English and its impact on Swedish ninth-graders' oral proficiency and vocabulary. Diss., Karlstad University, Karlstad. (Karlstad University Studies 2009:55). PDF DIVAPress release

Sundqvist, P. (2009). Taking a quantitative measure of oral proficiency in EFL. In M. Edwardes (Ed.), Taking the measure of applied linguistics: Proceedings of the BAAL annual conference 2008 (pp. 117–118). London: Scutsiugnil Press. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2009). The impact of spare time acitivties on students' English language skills. In S. Granath, B. Bihl & E. Wennö (Eds.), Vägar till språk- och litteratur (pp. 63–76). Karlstad: CSL/Karlstad University Press. PDF

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2009). Tidig språkundervisning lönar sig. Svenska Dagbladet, Brännpunkt (Dec. 2), www.svd.se/opinion/brannpunkt/artikel_3879633.svd.

Sundqvist, P. (2008). "In school, you're here for talking" – Assessment of oral proficiency in the EFL classroom. In J. Granefelt, G. Håkansson, M. Källkvist & S. Schlyter (Eds.), Language learning, language teaching and technology: Papers from the ASLA symposium in Lund, 8-9 November, 2007 (pp. 251–269). Uppsala: Swedish Science Press. PDF

Sundqvist, P. (2008). Extramural input. 9th graders' exposure to English outside the classroom. In S. Granath, B. Bihl & E. Wennö (Eds.), Fönster mot språk och litteratur (pp. 95–108). Karlstad: CSL/Karlstad University Press. PDF