<p>Abstract</p><p>The aim of the research presented in this thesis is to study how interactional strategies are used by children and what these strategies mean or imply in the preschool cultural context. The theoretical point of departure in the study is the socio-cultural perspective (William Corsaro, Roger Säljö, Jim Wertsch). The study is a contribution to the field of research that focuses upon contextual issues and an overall way of seeing the child. This is in opposition to the strong traditional psychological perspective in the development of the child, where a focus upon the individual dominates in special education. This ethnographic study aims to answer the following research questions; What interactional strategies are co-constructed by the children in preschool play? How do the interactional strategies influence the creation of culture in preschool play? The children, 3-5 years olds, and their play situation were in focus. Participant observations and video recordings of preschool play constituted the empirical material. These were analysed through a “child perspective” to understand interactional strategies in a cultural context.</p><p>Detailed transcriptions, CA (Conversation Analysis, Per Linell) of the empirical material highlights that interactional strategies can be categorised under the following themes; Taking turns, Protecting play, Dividing roles, Understanding roles and Confirming play themes. These themes furthermore, give rise to three common central elements: Interaction space; the children create a common space to interact that they defend and protect; Role dividing is a starting point in interaction and is an important part in producing and reproducing play; Meaning-making, the children’s common play leads to interaction and the space and roles are safe and confirmed.</p><p>The results indicate that interaction includes verbal and nonverbal elements. The children’s use of artefacts’ plays an important role in the interaction, meaning-making and cultural expressions that they create and reproduce in the preschool context. Through these themes an explanatory model is presented with the aim of highlighting the strategies that influence the creation of culture. The explanatory model shows relationships between aspects of culture-making in children’s interaction. The use of artefacts in interactional strategies presented here influence and plays an important part in the common meaning-making and can therefore be seen as an expression of culture.</p><p>Key Words: Ethnographic study, Socio-cultural Perspective, Culture-making, Interactional Strategies, Artefacts’, Preschool play</p>

Abstract The aim of the research presented in this thesis is to study how interactional strategies are used by children and what these strategies mean or imply in the preschool cultural context. The theoretical point of departure in the study is the socio-cultural perspective (William Corsaro, Roger Säljö, Jim Wertsch). The study is a contribution to the field of research that focuses upon contextual issues and an overall way of seeing the child. This is in opposition to the strong traditional psychological perspective in the development of the child, where a focus upon the individual dominates in special education. This ethnographic study aims to answer the following research questions; What interactional strategies are co-constructed by the children in preschool play? How do the interactional strategies influence the creation of culture in preschool play? The children, 3-5 years olds, and their play situation were in focus. Participant observations and video recordings of preschool play constituted the empirical material. These were analysed through a “child perspective” to understand interactional strategies in a cultural context. Detailed transcriptions, CA (Conversation Analysis, Per Linell) of the empirical material highlights that interactional strategies can be categorised under the following themes; Taking turns, Protecting play, Dividing roles, Understanding roles and Confirming play themes. These themes furthermore, give rise to three common central elements: Interaction space; the children create a common space to interact that they defend and protect; Role dividing is a starting point in interaction and is an important part in producing and reproducing play; Meaning-making, the children’s common play leads to interaction and the space and roles are safe and confirmed. The results indicate that interaction includes verbal and nonverbal elements. The children’s use of artefacts’ plays an important role in the interaction, meaning-making and cultural expressions that they create and reproduce in the preschool context. Through these themes an explanatory model is presented with the aim of highlighting the strategies that influence the creation of culture. The explanatory model shows relationships between aspects of culture-making in children’s interaction. The use of artefacts in interactional strategies presented here influence and plays an important part in the common meaning-making and can therefore be seen as an expression of culture. Key Words: Ethnographic study, Socio-cultural Perspective, Culture-making, Interactional Strategies, Artefacts’, Preschool play

Lifestyle sport has become a significant sociological phenomenon, with millions participating worldwide. Using windsurfing as a case study, this thesis focuses on core members of this subculture to discover their motivations for involvement and the degree to which they are willing to sacrifice other areas of their lives in order to participate. The thesis explores the contention that this level of sacrifice amounts to resistance to the dominant consumerist culture of our society. The study examines the way subculture members manifest an embodied critique of urban experience that takes place outside of that environment in natural spaces, using time that consumerist imperatives would have them in the earn-spend spiral dictated by that ideology. It does this through a twelve month ethnographic study, with the author as a complete participant, then as a participant observer, completing formal interviews with a number of selected core members of the subculture. Through interviewing and observation it became clear that it is only possible for subculture members to participate through the consumption of considerable quantities of the material objects associated with the activity. This means that participants are resisting consumerist culture through the consumption of consumer goods. This contradiction goes to the heart of the ways that consumerist ideology co-opts resistant behaviour. The study shows that windsurfers are resistant to consumerism in a number of ways. The rejection of traditional sporting values, the use of time in opposition to dominant practices, the rejection of wealth as the primary measure of success, and resisting cultural expectations are all manifestations of this resistance. The niche visual media of the subculture creates a dreamworld of natural perfection and freedom. The way that the visual culture mediates the paradox central to my thesis is by valourising a lifestyle, and those who adopt it, rather than selling consumer goods.

This study aims at analysing how the conceptions of a teacher, as for the teaching of grammar in foreign language teaching, are manifested in her classes, as well as looking into the interrelation between such manifestations and her teaching practice. Given the importance of our system of conceptions in our teaching, it is necessary to analyse contributions from both theory and our professional experience, in the shaping of our professional attitudes. The relevance of this research is bound up with attempts at paradigmatic change in language teaching, stemming back to the contribution from modern Applied Linguistics theories in opposition to the traditional teaching practice legacy. Despite consequential theoretical advancements, this study has shown that the theme still raises issues which point to a lack of more explicit discussions, revealing a gap between theory and practice, and vice-versa. In this study, the interpretative, qualitative and ethnographic-based paradigm was adopted. The main research instruments are classroom observation and taping (accompanied by transcription) and a recorded interview. For data triangulation, we adopted the following instruments: field notes, from which an observation diary was written; a questionnaire, to collect factual data; and, finally, a re-viewing session with the participant-teacher, so we could also take her own perspective into account, as well as give her feedback from this study. Data analysis suggests the existence of three overarching conceptions underlining the participant-teacher s practice, namely: grammar as "school subject", "implicit systemic knowledge" and "normative grammar", as well as a certain tension between the participant-teacher s conceptions and her practice. At the same time, the data reveal an increasing autonomy in her decision-making, indicative of some resistance on her part to dogmatism in foreign language teaching theories. / Este estudo visa a investigar como as concepções de uma professora, a respeito do ensino de gramática, em língua estrangeira, se manifestam em sua prática, bem como analisar a interrelação entre tais manifestações e a sua prática de ensino. Dada a importância do nosso sistema de concepções na nossa prática docente, faz-se necessário analisar contribuições advindas tanto da teoria como de nossa experiência, na constituição de nossa postura profissional. A relevância desta pesquisa se relaciona à tentativa de mudança de paradigma no ensino de línguas, oriunda das contribuições da Lingüística Aplicada atual em oposição à prática legada pelo ensino tradicional. Apesar de avanços teóricos importantes, este estudo indica que o tema ainda levanta questionamentos que apontam para a falta de discussões mais explícitas, revelando uma lacuna entre a teoria e a prática, e vice-versa. Para este estudo, adotamos o paradigma de pesquisa interpretativa e qualitativa, de base etnográfica. Os principais instrumentos de pesquisa são a observação presencial de aulas, acompanhadas de filmagem, com suas respectivas transcrições, e uma entrevista gravada em áudio. Para a triangulação dos dados, utilizamos ainda notas de campo, a partir das quais redigimos um diário de observação; um questionário, para a coleta de dados factuais ; e, por fim, uma sessão de revisionamento junto à professora colaboradora, para cotejarmos também sua própria perspectiva, bem como dar-lhe retorno do nosso trabalho. A análise dos dados sugere a existência de três concepções mais abrangentes de gramática, subjacentes à prática da professora colaboradora, a saber: "conteúdo escolar", "conhecimento sistêmico implícito" e "gramática normativa", como também a existência de uma certa tensão entre suas concepções e a sua prática. Ao mesmo tempo, os dados revelam uma crescente autonomia, que sugere resistência de sua parte ao dogmatismo das teorias em ensino de línguas. / Mestre em Lingüística

Les politiques de gestion des risques appellent à favoriser la prévention et à développer une « une culture du risque » dans les zones exposées afin d'éviter l'écueil de l'oubli, pointé du doigt après une catastrophe. L'objet de cette thèse fut de questionner cette possibilité en investiguant comment on habite, au quotidien, un milieu exposé aux inondations. Forte d'un travail ethnographique, et en particulier d'une « observation habitante discrète », la thèse questionne ce qui circule à propos des inondations, comment des habitants s'emparent de la question et organisent leurs pratiques en fonction des risques. Le terrain d'étude, Lattes, ville prisée du Sud-est de la France qui a connue une explosion démographique récente, est rendue attractive par de nombreux atouts. Ce cas d'étude permet de comprendre les mécanismes - collectivement construits - de mise en invisibilité du danger. La mise en visibilité des mesures de protection par les politiques locaux et l'effet confortant du partage normatif encouragent la normalisation de la confiance en la protection. Dans l'interaction, les énoncés se formulant sans cesse dans le souci de leur acceptabilité, dédramatiser est plus confortable que de dramatiser : les énoncés de relativisation du risque circulent davantage que ceux ouvrant sur l'horizon du danger. Par ailleurs, la logique sécuritaire qui se développe vient contredire la prévention aux inondations. Surtout, ni les liens entre les habitants ni les liens des habitants au milieu ne fournissent le socle suffisant à l'élaboration collective que nécessite le déploiement d'une « culture du risque ». / Risk management policies promote prevention and call to develop a "risk culture" in hazardous areas to avoid the phenomenon of forgetting about risk , that can be found after a disaster. This thesis has sought to question this possibility by investigating how we live, in everyday life, in flood-prone areas. Through an ethnographic piece of work, in particular a "discreet resident observation", the thesis questions what circulates about flooding between inhabitants and how they organize their practices in relation to the risk. The field study, Lattes, is an upper middle-class suburban neighbourhood located in the south east of France (Mediterranean coast). It was built on wetlands and therefore remains vulnerable to flash floods. This case study provides insight into the mechanisms - built collectively - from "invisible danger" implementation. The increased visibility of the protection made by local policies and the comforting effect of normative sharing provided a normalization of the trust in the protection. Through the interactions, statements are continually developed in the interests of their acceptability. Thus, it is more comfortable to "de-dramatize" than to dramatize: statements of relativism circulate more than the ones that open on the horizon of danger. Moreover, the current development of a "logic of safety" for urban risks reduction contradicts the prevention of flooding. Above all, neither the links between inhabitants nor the links with their living environment provide a sufficient collective development base for a "risk culture" deployment.

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Children today have difficulty in finding places to play in the modern Swedish welfare society. Spontaneous play in the streets has almost vanished. When parents drive their children to different activities and institutions where the children are supervised and controlled by adults, the children are under constant surveillance. It’s not children or children’s desire to play that has changed, it is society. Despite this surveillance children still manage to create their own places. The aim of this study is to investigate when children create their own places in the preschool in a structured surveillance society as well as to find out what kind of materials they need to create such places. To be able to find out the answers to these questions I performed a mini ethnographic study in a preschool where I observed children. I followed the ethics rules of the Swedish research council. Ideas and concepts that I used were places for children – children’s places, breaking rules as a way to enter play, affordance as well as the theory of prospect refuge. Through these it was possible for me to identify and analyze when children were creating their own places as well as what materials that they used. The results show that children are capable of creating their own places, despite being under constant surveillance in the preschool. They managed to do so both indoors and outdoors. They both created their own places as well as used “places for children” as their own. By creating children’s places of their own, they get to break rules and use creativity as well as learn with their whole bodies, which benefits both their experience of joy as well as their learning.

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The course of endstage renal disease (ESRD) and receiving hemodialysis (HD) treatment is complex and filled with uncertainty. Part of this illness experience includes making end-of-life (EOL) care decisions. Many families are unprepared to make such decisions. Advance care planning (ACP) creates an excellent context for laying the groundwork for these emotionally charged conversations. Hemodialysis patients, their families and healthcare providers (HCPs) are in a unique position to begin the ACP process early in the illness trajectory, revisiting it when the patient’s health status, prognosis and treatment modality changes. To date, little research has focused directly on how families experience ACP conversations in the context of ESRD or HD. The purpose of this study was to explore family members’ experiences of participating in a facilitated ACP conversation with the HD patient. This approach recognizes and privileges the family’s role in the illness trajectory of ESRD and validates that they too are HCPs’ clients. Five families, consisting of the HD patient and one family member, who went through the ACP process were interviewed along with an ACP facilitator from the nephrology program. This focused ethnographic study applied the theoretical perspective of postmodernist critical theory to derive and analyze data from in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed a detailed description of the ACP process that included timing, readiness to acknowledge the potentiality of death, facing mortality, and finding meaning in the illness experience. As families started to deconstruct their experiences, they shared stories of communication breakdown, highlighting the complexities of their relationships with HCPs. Understanding the factors that potentially contribute to HD patients’, their families’ and the renal staff’s discomfort with death were analyzed. The study findings provide important direction for HCPs about how families make ACP decisions, how they perceive the ACP process, and what they identify as their EOL care needs and wishes. Failure to implement ACP as part of an EOL care program means that death will continue to be denied and clients’ EOL care needs will remain un-addressed. In order for ACP to be effective on HD units, sustainable resources are essential for patients, their families and HCPs.