The present study evaluates test results of oral and written production for a group of 15-16year-old Swedish L2-learners of Spanish in an instructional setting. The test results are evalu- ated according to the Swedish grade descriptors for the tested level and the descriptors of theCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It is shown that thesubjects generally perform better in writing than in speaking. This result is valid both withrespect to the Swedish descriptors and the CEFR scale ratings. The results are discussed inrelation to the conditions for learning an L2 in a formal instructional setting with little exposureto the target language outside the school context. A possible dominance of writing-basedactivities in the classroom and a low degree of extramural exposure are suggested aspossible explanatory factors to the results.
The aim of the present paper is to highlight the central role that prosody plays for communication and to motivate the attention that arguably should be given to prosody within the foreign language classroom. The paper presents an overview of research addressing the communicative aspects of prosody, particularly focussing on L2 prosody and how classroom practice could be informed by current research. It also addresses bias from written language as one of the main explanations to the lack of attention paid to prosody in the language classroom and aims to highlight prosodic aspects of oral language that are not so much found in writing and that, due to our strong tradition of teaching languages through writing, run the risk of being forgotten. Spanish as a foreign language in a Swedish educational setting is focused upon, and the frameworks used to guide teachers’ practice, the CEFR and the curriculum, together with textbooks currently used in this setting, are analysed.