Syftet med studien var att undersöka på vilket sätt personalen inom ett utbildnings- och aktiveringsprogram i en kommun i Sverige arbetade för att öka de tre olika komponenterna; begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet i deltagarnas känsla av sammanhang (KASAM). Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ intervjuundersökning där personal inom ett utbildnings- och aktiveringsprogram intervjuades. Det insamlade materialet blev analyserat med hjälp av en teoristyrd tematisk analys. Genom analysen utkristalliserades olika subteman med utgångspunkt från våra tre förutbestämda huvudteman som var: begriplighet, meningsfullhet och hanterbarhet. Resultatet visade att personalen till exempel arbetade med språkundervisning, motivationsarbete och praktiskt utförande. Personalen uppgav att språkundervisningen bidrog till deltagarnas känsla av begriplighet, motivationsarbetet bidrog till en känsla av meningsfullhet och praktiskt utförande bidrog till en känsla av hanterbarhet. Studien visar att verksamheten arbetade för att öka alla tre komponenterna i begreppet KASAM, men personalen önskade att arbeta ännu mer med det som skapar en känsla av meningsfullhet. / Our purpose with the study was to investigate in what way the personal at a municipal education- and activity program worked to increase the three components; comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in the participants sense of coherence (SOC). The method used was a qualitative interview study in which the personal at an education- and activity program was interviewed. The collected material was processed by a theoretical thematic analysis. By analyzing the result, six sub-themes were crystallized, with a starting point from our three predefined main themes were: comprehensibility, meaningfulness and manageability. The result showed that the staff for example worked with teaching language, motivational work and practical training. The staff stated that teaching language contributed to the participants sense of comprehensibility, motivational work contributed to a sense of meaningfulness and practical training contributed to a sense of manageability. The study showed that the program worked to increase all three components in the participants SOC, but the staff wished to work even more with the parts that increase the sense of meaningfulness.

The current diploma thesis examines Czech listeners' perception of various accents of English from the points of view of comprehensibility, pleasantness, socioeconomic status, and model suitability. The main aim of the study is to contribute to the discussion on how accent variation within the Anglophone world is perceived by non-native speakers, and what aspects influence their evaluations of the accents. The theoretical part of the thesis defines several terms related to the domain, describes selected pronunciation varieties of English, and summarizes research which has focused on native accents of English in the perception of non-native speakers. The research part of the thesis consists of a study, in which 39 Czech students from two types of schools evaluated six accents of English and provided information about their experience with English and Anglophone cultures. The results showed that standard varieties are favoured by the students in all four respects, but also that students' evaluations, especially for pleasantness, may be affected by their relations to the Anglophone world. Key words: Native Accent, Regional Variation, L2 learner, Comprehensibility, Socioeconomic Status, Pronunciation Model, Standard

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van die navorsing is om die individu se aanpassing tydens integrasie te ondersoek. 'n Gedragsprofiel vir aanpassing word in die literatuuroorsig voorgestel volgens sin van koherensie as konstruk van die salutogenese paradigma. Empiries word die lewensorientasievraelys as psigometriese instrument gebruik om sterkte van sin van koherensie te bepaal. K walitatiewe onderhoude, gegrond op fenomenologiese beginsels, word gebruik om aanpassing kwalitatief te evalueer. In die navorsingsontwerp is daar sprake van verkennende, beskrywende en verklarende navorsing en nie-waarskynlikheidsteekproeftrekking word gebruik. Kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe resultate word gekoppel ten einde inteme geldigheid op kontekstuele vlak te verseker. Bevindinge toon dat betekenisvolheid van die integrasieproses die vemaamste verskil maak tussen aanpassing en nie-aanpassing. Verstaanbaarheid binne grense van die onmiddellike omgewing en hantering van instrumentele eise sonder om die fokus op emosionele parameters te plaas, fasiliteer verdere aanpassing. Relevante sleutelwoorde is aanpassing, stres, patogenese, salutogenese, sin van koherensie, verstaanbaarheid, hanteerbaarheid, betekenisvolheid, fenomenologie en triangulasie. / The aim of this research is to study individual coping during integration. A behavioural profile for coping is proposed in the literature study based on sense of coherence, a construct of the salutogenesis paradigm. Empirically the psychometric instrument, orientation to life questionnaire, is used to determine the strength of sense of coherence. Qualitative interviewing, based on phenomenological principles, is used to evaluate coping qualitatively. In the research design there are signs of exploratory, descriptive and explanatory research and nonprobability sampling is used. Quantitative and qualitative results are combined to ensure internal validity on a contextual level. Findings showed that meaningfulness of the integration process is the major difference between coping and not coping. Comprehensibility within the boundaries of the immediate environment and the management of instrumental demands without focusing on the emotional parameters, facilitate further coping. / Industrial Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Context. Human oracle cost, the cost associated in estimating the correctness of the output for the given test inputs is manually evaluated by humans and this cost is significant and is a concern in the software test data generation field. This study has been designed in the context to assess metrics that might predict human oracle cost. Objectives. The major objective of this study is to address the human oracle cost, for this the study identifies the metrics that are good predictors of human oracle cost and can further help to solve the oracle problem. In this process, the identified suitable metrics from the literature are applied on the test input, to see if they can help in predicting the correctness of the output for the given test input. Methods. Initially a literature review was conducted to find some of the metrics that are relevant to the test data. Besides finding the aforementioned metrics, our literature review also tries to find out some possible code metrics that can be ap- plied on test data. Before conducting the actual experiment two pilot experiments were conducted. To accomplish our research objectives an experiment is conducted in the BTH university with master students as sample population. Further group interviews were conducted to check if the participants perceive any new metrics that might impact the correctness of the output. The data obtained from the experiment and the interviews is analyzed using linear regression model in SPSS suite. Further to analyze the accuracy vs metric data, linear discriminant model using SPSS pro- gram suite was used. Results.Our literature review resulted in 4 metrics that are suitable to our study. As our test input is HTML we took HTML depth, size, compression size, number of tags as our metrics. Also, from the group interviews another 4 metrics are drawn namely number of lines of code and number of <div>, anchor <a> and paragraph <p> tags as each individual metric. The linear regression model which analyses time vs metric data, shows significant results, but with multicollinearity effecting the result, there was no variance among the considered metrics. So, the results of our study are proposed by adjusting the multicollinearity. Besides, the above analysis, linear discriminant model which analyses accuracy vs metric data was conducted to predict the metrics that influences accuracy. The results of our study show that metrics positively correlate with time and accuracy. Conclusions. From the time vs metric data, when multicollinearity is adjusted by applying step-wise regression reduction technique, the program size, compression size and <div> tag are influencing the time taken by sample population. From accuracy vs metrics data number of <div> tags and number of lines of code are influencing the accuracy of the sample population.

Composition for Arnold Schoenberg is a comprehensible presentation of a musical idea (musikalische Gedanke); the totality of a piece represents the idea. For tonal works, he defines Gedanke as a process of resolving the "tonal relation" or "tonal problem." Contrary to the numerous tonal examples illustrating the notion of Gedanke, Schoenberg hardly expounds on the Gedanke principle for his atonal and twelve-tone repertoires. This study reevaluates Schoenberg's compositional philosophy and aesthetics including Gedanke, comprehensibility, Grundgestalt, and developing variation in light of his compositional practices in Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene, Op. 34. Although Schoenberg denies the existence of a tonal problem and hierarchy among pitches in twelve-tone compositions, the registral placement found in Op. 34 indicates certain functionality assigned to each pitch-class, producing a sense of "departure and return." The approach here elucidates the "idea" of Op. 34, in which the large-scale formal organization unfolds through contextually emphasized tonal relations. This study also explores Schoenberg's concept of the multi-dimensional presentation of a musical idea. Even though Schoenberg's discussion of musical coherence is usually limited to the immediate musical surface, I believe that he was also aware of an extended realization of foreground motives in the sense of Heinrich Schenker's "concealed motivic repetition." This analysis of Op. 34 demonstrates how the enlargement of a surface motive facilitates an understanding of the relation between the parts and the whole, which is perceived as the totality of Gedanke.

This study investigates Swedish upper-secondary teachers’ views and reported practices regarding pronunciation instruction in the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom. It adopts a mixed-method design, analysing qualitative data collected from a focus-group interview (N=4) and quantitative data collected from an online survey (N=54).  To investigate the views and reported practices of teachers, the following research questions were posed:  1. What are the views and attitudes of English teachers in the Swedish upper-secondary school regarding pronunciation and pronunciation instruction?  2. How do English teachers in the Swedish upper-secondary school describe their own practices in pronunciation instruction?  Results indicate that teachers generally value comprehensibility as the most important aim of pronunciation instruction. However, a native-like accent still seems to be highly valued, and nativeness norms still seem to affect teachers’ views and practices to some extent. Finally, our findings indicate that teachers spend very little time on pronunciation teaching in general, and they highlight that other aspects of language instruction are more important.

English has become an essential part in our lives. It is inevitable to formulate an opinion when we meet a new person, and in particular we tend to focus our attention on the way this person speaks. The present research aims to answer the questions on how a European audience (Italian audience) perceives different varieties of English to which it is exposed. Four different speakers from four different Southeast and East Asian countries were selected and recorded while reading a short text. These recordings were submitted to the audience, which was asked to answer a set of questions about comprehensibility and likability. Results show that the audience elected as their favourite speaker the clearest accent to hear, thus suggesting that the members of the audience might have been influenced by comprehensibility and accentedness in the first place. Other variables, such as expressiveness, were not significantly considered by the participants.

Studiens syfte är att finna hur man arbetar inom grundsärskolan och gymnasiesärskolan med att synliggöra lärandet för eleverna och bedöma vart eleverna befinner sig kunskapsmässigt. Frågeställningarna behandlar vilka metoder speciallärare och specialpedagoger använder för att synliggöra lärandet samt vilka metoder som används för att bedöma vart eleven befinner sig kunskapsmässigt och vilka metoder lärarna använder för att göra lärandet meningsfullt, hanterbart och begripligt.  Kvalitativ metod i form av webbenkäter har använts för insamling av empirin. Den teoretiska ansatsen KASAM har använts för att analysera resultatet. Resultatet visar på att den metod som lärarna använder mest för att synliggöra lärandet för sina elever är genom muntlig återkoppling. Den metod som lärarna använder sig mest av för att ta reda på var eleven befinner sig kunskapsmässigt är samtal med kollegor. För att göra lärandet hanterbart, begripligt och meningsfullt så tar lärarna reda på vilken lärmetod som passar bäst för eleven, utgår från elevens intresse och har en tydlighet kring mål och syfte med undervisningen. Resultatet visar också på likheter och skillnader i valda metoder för de elever som läser ämnesområde kontra de som läser ämne. Studiens specialpedagogiska implikationer är att ge tips på goda exempel om metoder för bedömning och synliggörande av lärande. Resultatet bidrar till förslag för fortsatt forskning kring effekten av beprövade metoder. / The purpose of this study is to find out best practices for teachers within the compulsory special school and the upper secondary special school in Sweden. The goal is to make the learning visible for the pupils and to assess where the pupils are in terms of knowledge. The study addresses what methods special teachers and special educators use to make the learning visible, to assess where the pupil is in terms of knowledge and what methods teachers use to make learning meaningful, manageable and understandable.  Qualitative method in the form of web surveys has been used to gather empirical data. The theoretical approach KASAM has been used to analyze the results. This reveals that the method most teachers use to make the learning visible to their pupils is through oral feedback. The method that teachers use most often to find out where the pupil is knowledgeable is talking to colleagues. In order to make learning manageable, understandable and meaningful, the teachers choose learning method best suited for the pupil based on the pupils interest and have a clear focus on the goals and purpose of the teaching. The result also shows similarities and differences in selected methods for the pupils who read the subject area versus those who read the subject.  The study's special educational implications are to give tips on good examples of methods for assessing and making visible learning. The result contributes to proposals for further research on the effect of tried and tested methods.

The field of pronunciation instruction has long been a neglected area. In recent years, however, researchers have found a renewed interest in the subject. For example, research has been conducted to investigate the views on pronunciation instruction held by teachers and learners. In light of this, the present study seeks to explore the field of research in pronunciation instruction to answer the question of whether pronunciation instruction is important and beneficial for learners of English as a foreign language. The results of the present study show that teachers and learners alike consider pronunciation instruction an integral part of language teaching. Furthermore, the results show that pronunciation affects comprehension and that pronunciation teaching has positive effects on pronunciation development. In the present study, these results are connected to the Swedish school context, where we draw the conclusion that pronunciation should be included in the English language classroom to a greater extent than is the case at the time of writing this thesis.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur begripligheten i Göta hovrätts domar förändrats mellan 2001 och 2021. Studien syftar till att undersöka dels hur syntax och lexikon förändrats i domarna, dels hur följsamheten till klarspråksråd har förändrats under perioden. Materialet består av totalt 18 domar från Göta hovrätt: tre brottmålsdomar och tre tvistemålsdomar vardera från 2001, 2011 och 2021. En kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod har använts i studien: I den kvantitativa analysen undersöktes syntax och lexikon i samtliga 18 domar och i den kvalitativa textanalysen användes klarspråkstestet för domar som verktyg för att analysera sex av domarna djupare. Resultatet visar att det skett förändringar i domspråket under den tid som undersökts, men att det inte är entydigt huruvida domarna har blivit mer begripliga eller ej. Den kvantitativa analysen visar att domarna i många avseenden ligger längre ifrån klarspråksidealet år 2021 än 2001 och 2011. Resultatet av den kvalitativa analysen visar dock att följsamheten till klarspråksråden förbättrats under den undersökta perioden. Facktermer rensas bort eller förklaras i större utsträckning, det juridiska språket närmar sig det vardagliga och tonen blir mer läsarvänlig. Den sammantagna slutsatsen blir därför att domarna i vissa avseenden blivit mer begripliga och närmat sig idealet, men att ytterligare förbättringar krävs för att de ska bli tillgängliga även för icke juridiskt kunniga läsare. / The purpose of this study is to examine how the comprehensibility of the judgments from Göta Court of Appeal has changed between 2001 and 2021. The study aims to examine how the syntax and terminology has changed within the judgments as well as how the compliance with Plain Language Guidelines has changed during this period. The material consists of 18 judgments from Göta Court of Appeal: three criminal convictions and three civil actions each from the years of 2001, 2011 and 2021.A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods has been used: In the quantitative analysis, syntax and terminology were examined in all eighteen judgments and for the qualitative analysis, Klarspråkstestet (“the plain language test”) was used as a mean to further analyze six of the judgments. The results show that the language has changed during the selected period, but it remains ambiguous whether the language has become more comprehensible or not. The quantitative analysis shows that the judgments lie further away from the Plain Language Ideal in 2021 than they did in 2001 and 2011. However, the results of the qualitative analysis show that the compliance with Plain Language Guidelines has improved during this period. Technical terms are removed or explained to a greater extent, the legalese is approaching the everyday language and the tone is becoming more reader friendly. The conclusion is therefore that in some respects, the judgments have become more comprehensible, but that further improvements are required to make them accessible for readers who do not have a clear understanding of judicial language.