PEH gymnastics classes

This dataset contains verbatim transcriptions from a linguistic-ethnographic case study conducted in a Swedish secondary school. The data consists of 3 transcribed physical education lessons. All transcriptions are in Swedish and provided as Word files (.docx).

The research was guided by an overall aim to investigate how subject-specific literacy is developed in a practical, movement-based school subject for L2 learners. The study was guided by the following research questions:
1. How does a physical education teacher introduce subject-specific terminology to L2 students?
2. What strategies does the teacher employ to make this subject-specific terminology accessible to L2 students?

The data was collected during the 2018/2019 academic year. The setting is an eighth-grade physical education class in a municipal school in Sweden. The class consisted of 25 students, six of whom were newly arrived L2 learners of Swedish. The data was gathered through audio and video recordings of the physical education lessons.

The dataset comprises 3 Word files. Each file represents one transcribed lesson. The transcriptions are detailed and capture spoken language. To ensure confidentiality, all participants and the school have been fully anonymized and are referred to by pseudonyms. All ethical guidelines set by the Swedish Research Council were followed.

Analysis of this data reveals how the teacher makes subject-specific terminology accessible through a multi-modal approach. Notable findings include:
- An "immediate" approach to terminology: Unlike in more theoretical subjects, most new terms in these physical education lessons were introduced during the first lesson and then reinforced through repetition and practical application.
- The central role of "embodied cohesion": A key finding is that verbal instruction (analyzed as lexical and conjunctive cohesion) is consistently intertwined with physical action. The data shows extensive use of "embodied cohesion"—a concept developed for the analysis where physical demonstrations by the teacher and experiential performance by the students serve as the primary means of making concepts understandable.

The data can be interpreted as evidence for how the integration of verbal instruction and physical practice provides multiple pathways to understanding for L2 learners. It highlights how the embodied nature of physical education can function as a powerful resource for language development and subject-specific literacy.

This dataset can be used for secondary analysis in fields such as applied linguistics, educational science, second language acquisition, and multimodal interaction analysis. Potential areas of study include, but are not limited to: classroom discourse, teacher-student interaction, pedagogical strategies in practical subjects, and participation patterns of L2 learners.

Please note: A high level of proficiency in Swedish is required for analysis.