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Although the focus on English as a global language is apparent in the Swedish curriculum today, many educators do not take advantage of world literature and non-native English authors in their ESL classrooms. With the help of empirical research, we investigate the benefits of using such literature for gaining global awareness. Furthermore, we analyze the activities and teaching approaches used in the empirical studies. Through this essay, we summarize the empirical research used for this essay and synthesize the results to find out what implications were found. It shows that using non-native fiction helps students to learn and explore different cultures, which also expands their global view. Apart from this, teaching methods such as discussions, literature circles, presentations, blogging and collaborative learning deepened students' global view and cultural awareness. The teaching methods that were used while working with world literature showed that students were conscious of their own learning and developed this ability by working in a social environment. This paper concludes with describing the limitations of writing the study, and presents a future research project that involves the field of world literature.

Considering the importance of combustion characteristics in combustion applications including spark ignition engines and gas turbines, both laminar and turbulent burning velocities were measured for gasoline related fuels. The first part of the present work focused on the measurements of laminar burning velocities of Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines (FACE) gasolines and their surrogates using a spherical constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) that can provide high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) combustion mode up to 0.6 MPa, 395 K, and the equivalence ratios ranging 0.7-1.6. The data reduction was based on the linear and nonlinear extrapolation models considering flame stretch effect. The effect of flame instability was investigated based on critical Peclet and Karlovitz, and Markstein numbers. The sensitivity of the laminar burning velocity of the aforementioned fuels to various fuel additives being knows as octane boosters and gasoline extenders including alcohols, olfins, and SuperButol was investigated. This part of the study was further extended by examining exhaust gas re-circulation effect. Tertiary mixtures of toluene primary reference fuel (TPRF) were shown to successfully emulate the laminar burning characteristics of FACE gasolines associated with different RONs under various experimental conditions. A noticeable enhancement of laminar burning velocities was observed for blends with high ethanol content (vol ≥ 45 %). However, such enhancement effect diminished as the pressure increased. The reduction of laminar burning velocity cause by real EGR showed insensitivity to the variation of the equivalence ratio. The second part focused on turbulent burning velocities of FACE-C gasoline and its surrogates subjected to a wide range of turbulence intensities measured in a fan-stirred CVCC dedicated to turbulent combustion up to initial pressure of 1.0 MP. A Mie scattering imaging technique was applied revealing the mutual flame-turbulence interaction. Furthermore, considerable efforts were made towards designing and commissioning a new optically-accessible fan-stirred HPHT combustion vessel. A time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) technique was applied for the characterization of turbulent flow revealing homogeneous-isotropic turbulence in the central region to be utilized successfully for turbulent burning velocity measurement. Turbulent burning velocities were measured for FACE-C and TPRF surrogate fuels along with the effect of ethanol addition for a wide range of initial pressure and turbulent intensity. FACE-C gasoline was found to be more sensitive to both primarily the primary contribution of turbulence intensification and secondarily from pressure in enhancing its turbulent burning velocity. Several correlations were validated revealing a satisfactory scaling with turbulence and thermodynamic parameters. The final part focused on the turbulent burning characteristics of piloted lean methane-air jet flames subjected to a wide range of turbulence intensity by adopting TR-SPIV and OH-planar laser-induced florescence (OH-PLIF) techniques. Both of the flame front thickness and volume increased reasonably linearly as normalized turbulence intensity, u^'/ S_L^0, increased. As u^'/ S_L^0 increased, the flame front exhibited more fractalized structure and occasionally localized extinction (intermittency). Probability density functions of flame curvature exhibited a Gaussian like distribution at all u^'/ S_L^0. Two-dimensional flame surface density (2D-FSD) decreased for low and moderate u^'/ S_L^0, while it increased for high u^'/ S_L^0Turbulent burning velocity was estimated using flame area and fractal dimension methods showing a satisfactory agreement with the flamelet models by Peters and Zimont. Mean stretch factor was estimated and found to increase linearly as u^'/ S_L^0increased. Conditioned velocity statistics were obtained revealing the mutual flame-turbulence interaction.

This master thesis is divided into three main parts. In first part is more closely described the method of tube flaring. Tube flaring was chosen for analysis of biaxial stress, in this thesis particularly in the presence of high strain rate. In the second part is more closely described influence of high strain rate on the forming process. There is described influence of high strain rate on behavior of the material, hardening, change of quasi-static yield strength to the dynamic yield strength, influence of high strain rate on the microstructure and more. During the description of these processes there is effort to describe the cause of these changes as well. For this task was used domestic and foreign literature, as well as peer review papers whose authors study intensively this problematic. Besides all of the above there is also derived the velocity of elastic and plastic wave. In the end is evaluated experiment, in which was done tube flaring, which is part of this master thesis. Results from the 3D optical system ARAMIS are interpreted with the help of Microsoft Excel, where the chosen results were used as the input to the equations modified for the dynamic loading.

The thesis is focused on expanding the ends of the tubes made of 1.4031 material into a cone shape for quasi-static and dynamic conditions. The aim of the research is the analysis of stress-strain condition in the area formed under the process conditions. As a technology test for expanding tubes is used a method of pushing the tube at a stationary mandrel and deformation measurement was done by 3D optical system ARAMIS. In the thesis is described in detail an experiment carried out under quasi-static conditions, the results of which yielded interesting findings. In the framework of the present study were designed and detailed engineering design and production tools designed for experimental realization of technological tests for quasi-static and dynamic conditions. Exploration in terms of the behavior of tube under dynamic conditions forming in this thesis is carried out in phase functional verification tools. The analysis of the forming process is planned in the framework of the next thesis.

Culture and language are intrinsically linked, and the question of how to approach teaching culture whilst teaching a language is always going to be one teachers have to ask themselves. A textbook is a tool which is meant to aid teachers and remove some of the burden of decision-making from their shoulders. A good textbook should thus give a teacher all of the tools needed to teach a language, including answers to the aforementioned question. This study was a content analysis of four English Language textbooks used in Swedish high schools. The main focus was on how these textbooks present different cultures. This was then contextualized by comparisons with previous research, with cultural theories, and by a comparison with the guidelines which are presented in the Swedish curriculum. The study found that the textbooks contain little representation of cultures which are not natively English-speaking or which exist outside of the so-called Inner circle of English language, and that even when non-Inner circle cultures are represented, they are either viewed through and Inner circle lens or as a minority culture in an Inner circle context. Furthermore, the literature which is included in the books adheres strictly to the English literary canon as it is generally defined. The textbooks thus do not encourage the teaching of English as an international language, and they therefore go against the guidelines of the Swedish curriculum. They are also representative of a global issue of conservatism in ELT which has been highlighted previously by other authors—and to the existence of which they provide further and current proof.

Autonomous navigation of mobile robots through unstructured terrain presents many challenges. The task becomes even more difficult with increasing obstacle density, at higher speeds, and when a priori knowledge of the terrain is not available. Reactive navigation schemas are often dismissed as overly simplistic or considered to be inferior to deliberative approaches for off-road navigation. The Potential Field algorithm has been a popular reactive approach for low speed, highly maneuverable mobile robots. However, as vehicle speeds increase, Potential Fields becomes less effective at avoiding obstacles. The traditional shortcomings of the Potential Field approach can be largely overcome by using dynamically expanding perception zones to help track objects of immediate interest. This newly developed technique is hereafter referred to as the Dynamic Expanding Zones (DEZ) algorithm. In this approach, the Potential Field algorithm is used for waypoint navigation and the DEZ algorithm is used for obstacle avoidance. This combination of methods facilitates high-speed navigation in obstacle-rich environments at a fraction of the computational cost and complexity of deliberative methods. The DEZ reactive navigation algorithm is believed to represent a fundamental contribution to the body of knowledge in the area of high-speed reactive navigation. This method was implemented on the Virginia Tech DARPA Grand Challenge vehicles. The results of this implementation are presented as a case study to demonstrate the efficacy of the newly developed DEZ approach. / Master of Science

<p>English is the most expansionist language in the world today. Currently, native speakers are outnumbered by non-native speakers by a ratio of 3:1, a ratio that is set to grow to 10:1 within the next ten years. One of the consequences of a language growing so rapidly is that its new users tend to ignore already accepted standards. In what linguists refer to as the outer and expanding circles of English-speakers (mainly in Africa and Asia) new varieties and standards of English are now being invented.</p><p>In this study, the effects of the current expansion of English on the teaching of English in Swedish upper-secondary schools are explored. Questions raised include: Should teachers of English in Sweden reflect the changing nature of English in their teaching? Should they readily adopt the New Englishes that are emerging or should they teach with the standard they have always used? The national curriculum for the teaching of English in Sweden is discussed in some detail. The guidelines therein are evaluated in terms of their ability to capture the changing face of English as well as their ability to give solid guidance to teachers in a classroom situation.</p><p>Findings derive from linguistic literature and from interviews conducted with English teachers at upper-secondary level. One of the main conclusions of the study is that whilst the national curriculum recognises the global diversity of English, its goals are overambitious in what it tries to achieve and thus it fails to provide teachers with practical guidance in their day-to-day teaching. A recommendation, therefore, is that the curriculum should be clearer in spelling out the importance of adhering to native standard varieties of English. However this does not mean that teachers should ignore the cultural diversity of the English-speaking world.</p>

Thesis advisor: Dorothy A. Jones / As the United States population ages, knowing and understanding the older adult couple’s experience living with chronic illness at home is significant to inform new strategies of care, and planning of resources for the improvement in the health and well-being for a potentially vulnerable population. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the older adult couple’s experience while living with chronic illness at home by answering the following research questions: What is the life pattern manifested by an older adult couple living with chronic illness at home? Are there common themes across the life patterns of older adult couples living with chronic illness living at home? The theoretical framework guiding this study was Margaret Newman’s Health as Expanding Consciousness using a hermeneutic-dialectic phenomenology method. The study’s sample consisted of 14 married older adults (> 65 years of age) couples living together at home. The research method explored the experiences of the older adult couple through dialogue within the context of their social environment in all its complexity. This approach gave voice to the older adult couples’ experiences and their meaning from their perspective, which facilitated insights about each older adult couple as well as common themes across the older adult couples. Three themes emerged from the study, (1) an unfolding pattern of living meaningfully as an older adult couple with chronic illness while moving through life transitions, (2) couple interconnectedness strengthens the bonding within the older adult couple and promotes self-growth, and (3) a resonating process within the older adult couple promotes movement toward expanding consciousness. Conceptual models are proposed. The findings suggest older adult couples living with chronic illness at home strive to live meaningfully while experiencing multiple life transitions embedded in a resonating process that facilitates change. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

With nearly two billion speakers across the world, English has come to exist in all shapes and colors. Many functions and contexts in which English is found in the world are accounted for in the massive scientific effort to document the language’s global development. World English, New Englishes, and English as a Lingua Franca are concepts that aim to explain the different forms that the language takes in different countries. This paper explores the global development of English in its Swedish form, but shifts focus from second language English speakers to the native speakers of English who grow up in Sweden with parents from English-speaking countries. With most of the Swedish population being highly proficient in English, native English speakers in Sweden are more exposed to non-native English varieties spoken by second language speakers than the varieties used in their heritage countries. To understand how they are affected by their non-native environment, I interviewed seven students from an English heritage language instruction class at a Swedish upper secondary school. The 16- and 17-year-old students had parents from USA, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and unique stories about their experiences with the English language. Each student was interviewed individually and asked questions about their language abilities, their varieties, and their connections to their heritage countries. Information about their linguistic and biographical backgrounds was used to analyze the differences in their perspectives. The students considered it a great advantage that their native language was so widely spread, but they acknowledged that it to some extent led to them being disconnected from their heritage cultures, in some cases more than others.