It is a well-known fact that intonation proper can change the meaning of a phrase. In this paper we have examined whether syntax on a more general level is signalled or marked intonationally, or, to be more specific, whether restrictive sub-ordinate clauses are somehow marked by the F0-contour. Two groups of phrases were created, one group containing pure statement phrases, and the other containing phrases with embedded sub-ordinate clauses. The phrases of the two groups had the same metrical structure, and as far as was possible similar segmental structure. Each phrase was given four different stresses: stress on the final word, stress on the penultimate word, stress on the first word and "neutral" stress. Each phrase was also given two different initial and final words, one being an accent 1 (acute) word, the other being an accent 2 (grave) word. Each phrase (32 in all) was recorded and analysed with two subjects - one male and one female, both with Stockholm accents. F0-contours were compared to plottings of points of maxima and minima in the three words alternatively given focus, and compared to earlier models of intonation. It was found that almost no distinguishable differences were made between the statement phrases and the phrases containing embedded subordinate clauses in the experiment. The male subject exhibited a slight tendency towards continuation tone in the phrases containing subordinate clauses, but it can be questioned whether this difference is of a perceptable degree. All post-focal maxima/minina were entirely suppressed, and the post-focal F0-contour fell asymptotically relative to the base-line. In summary, nothing palpable was found indicating that syntactic structure is signalled by F0-contour, for whose realization the metrical structure apparently is the major factor.

No description available.

No description available.

Society changed when it entered the 21st century when technological gadgets like the computer and tablets made our society technologically dependent. The aim of this study is to examine Swedish Secondary and Upper Secondary English teachers’ attitudes towards computer use in the English classroom. The study was carried out by using a qualitative method: semi-structured interviews. A total of 17 teachers offered their thoughts on the subject. The results show that there are both differences and similarities between the Secondary school teachers and Upper Secondary School teachers. The Upper Secondary teachers have a much more positive attitude compared to the Secondary school teachers who have a more neutral attitude. The Upper Secondary School teachers are more positive because of the 1:1 initiative while the Secondary School teachers more neutral as a result of the limited computer supply, which was problematic whenever they have classes that are larger than the amount of computers available at hand. / Samhället förändrades vid sekelskiftet när teknologiska verktyg som datorn och surfplattor gjorde samhället mer beroende av teknik. Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på engelsklärares attityder gentemot datorbruk i det Engelska klassrummet. Studien genomfördes genom att använda en kvalitativ metod: semi-strukturerade intervjuer där totalt 17 lärare intervjuades. Resultaten visar att det finns både likheter och skillnader bland grupperna. Gymnasielärarna har en mer positiv attityd gentemot datorbruk i jämförelse med grundskolelärarna som var mer neutrala, vilket var ett resultat av att gymnasieskolan har 1:1 medan grundskolan i många fall har ett begränsat antal datorer. Detta sågs som problematiskt av grundskolelärarna då dom i många tillfällen hade klasser som var större än mängden datorer tillgängliga.

A common assumption is that language is used for conveying factual information, but linguistic forms also serve a way to communicate pragmatic features, such as speakers’ intentions and mental state. This study describes and analyses two strategies for stance-taking in GhaPE, more specific the use of discourse particles and complement-taking predicates. Such grammatical resources have been identified in the literature to play important functions in signalling how the speaker evaluates and positions him/herself and the addressee with respect to objects of discourse. The analysis and discussion of forms is informed by Du Bois’ (2007) ‘stance triangle’, which has proved to be a useful analytical device for investigating stance from a dialogical perspective. GhaPE is at times anticipated as fairly simple both by scholars and in the community where it is spoken. This thesis is thus an attempt to display aspects of the richness of the language.

The aim of this essay is to establish a connection between the dystopian literary genres and crime novels with certain stylistic characteristics by doing a comparative study using two books marketed as dystopian: Stjärnklart by Lars Wilderäng (2015) and Den nya människan by Boel Bermann (2014), and two marketed as crime novels: Till offer åt Molok by Åsa larsson (2013) and Levande och döda i Winsford by Håkan Nesser (2014). This is done by analyzing stylistic characteristics described in Stil, stilistik & stilanalys by Peter Cassirer (2003), and Stilistik by Per Lagerholm (2015), that can be found on the lexical linguistic level. The results of this investigation shows that there are certain stylistic characteristics that can be traced back to the dystopian genre through a qualitative analysis of the quantitative results gathered from the material. The authors individual writing styles has created issues reaching these conclusions, as they seem to dictate the largest differences in the use of certain stylistic strategies. Despite this there are consistent patterns in the quantitative results that facilitated the conclusions presented in this essay.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of didactic methods on oral production in French as a foreign language. This is done by studying how three French teachers in Sweden use different didactic methods to encourage secondary school students to speak French. COLT observations and audio recordings were made at six occasions in three classes of sixth graders and three classes of ninth graders. The results show that the main didactic methods used to encourage students to speak were to ask questions, let students read aloud from textbooks and prepared presentations, let students repeat, and engage students in educational games. Asking questions is the most frequent method but produces a varied amount of oral production. Educational games engage most students and produces the most oral production. No pronounced difference was found between the use of didactic methods in sixth grade and ninth grade. The conclusion is that the choice of didactic method has an impact on oral production. Not only the method itself, but even more so in the way it is applied and adjusted to student’s level of knowledge. This might explain why the same didactic methods are used at different educational levels.

Chinua Achebe (1930- 2013) published his first novel Things Fall Apart (TFA) in 1958. Achebe wrote TFA in response to European novels that depicted Africans as savages who needed to be enlightened by the Europeans. Achebe presents to the reader his people’s history with both strengths and imperfections by describing for example, Igbo festivals, the worship of their gods and the practices in their ritual ceremonies, their rich culture and other social practices, the colonial era that was both stopping Igbo culture and also brought in some benefits to their culture. TFA therefore directs the misleading of European novels that depict Africans as savages into a whole new light with its portrayal of Igbo society, and examines the effects of European colonialism on Igbo society from an African perspective. Hence this essay is an attempt to show an insight of pre and post colonialism on Igbo society. It is argued that the interaction between the whites and the Igbo people had both negative and positive consequences. It is evident in Achebe’s novel that the Europeans greatly influenced the lifestyle of Igbo society.

Attitudes and experiences in Parallel Languages at the department of History of Religion Hengameh Moadeli   Abstract The purpose of this case study is to obtain deeper knowledge about students´ and teachers´ beliefs and attitudes towards the arrangement of using two languages for study at university level in one humanities field. This case study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with ten students and two teachers at the Department of History of Religion at Stockholm University. Our findings show that the majority of students perceive using two languages in one field as positive and that the (perceived) long-term benefits of being more proficient in English outweigh the immediate problems of more time-consuming reading. Both subject groups described using English as a medium in of education as a natural part of studying at a university and knowing academic English was perceived as a fundamental part of being a student. Although the teachers stated that the motivation behind using English textbooks was not to enhance the students’ language proficiency, most students believed that the advantage they could get from using English textbooks was to become more proficient in English or at least more familiar with academic English. One feature of this case study is to show the impact of having an inadequate knowledge of academic English which is rooted in insufficient training in the upper-secondary school system.       Key words: Internationalization, attitudes and beliefs, Parallel languages, English textbooks, Department of History of Religion

This corpus-based study investigates adjectives that allow complementation by both that- and to-clauses. The study is concerned with arriving at a structural and functional description of the distribution of adjectives that allow complementation by both to-infinitive clauses and that-clauses, based on the various syntactic and semantic manifestations of these two clause types and the adjectives that are complemented by them. The study reveals that there is a strong correlation between the semantics of different adjectives, the grammatical patterns they allow and their differing valency possibilities. Furthermore, the study shows that to-clauses are primarily used when the subject of the complement clause does not need to be explicitly marked. Conversely, that-clauses are primarily used when the subject of the complement clause is required. Other factors influencing the choice between that- and to-clauses include the ability to mark modality and tense on the finite verb in that-clauses as well as differing register distribution. The ability to mark modality on the finite verb in that-clauses functions as a strong factor favouring the use of that-clauses. The differing register distribution reveals that post-predicative to-clauses typically are represented by complex matrix subjects in the academic register whereas the matrix subjects post-predicative to-clauses in fiction and the spoken register typically are represented by anaphoric personal pronouns. Furthermore, the register distribution of adjectives complemented by that- and to-clauses has been linked to differing functions of these clauses in different registers. The study shows that  extraposed to-clauses are frequently complementing epistemic matrix adjectives in the academic register. In the spoken register, on the other hand, post-predicative that-clauses with that omission are typically complementing evaluative predicates.