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No description available.

No description available.

Hemispheric lateralization in speech perception in infants and adults was studied by means of brain activation patterns via EEGmeasurement. Overall activation and ERPs in response to IDS-stimuli in Swedish, Portuguese and rotated Swedish were tested in 9 4-monthold infants and 13 adults with EEG head-nets. Left-hemispheric activation was expected in adults at least for intelligible speech stimuli, whereas non-specific activation in both hemispheres was expected in infants. The results showed a right-hemispheric lateralization tendency in adults. The infants showed no lateralization pattern. Further research on 9-month-old infants is the next step to understand lateralization development in infants. / Hemisfärisk lateralisering vid talperception hos spädbarn och vuxna studerades genom hjärnaktiveringsmönster via EEG mätningar. Allmän aktivering och ERP som respons på barnriktat tal på svenska, portugisiska och roterad svenska testades på 9 stycken 4 månader gamla spädbarn och 13 stycken vuxna med EEG-nät. Vänster hjärnhalva förväntades aktiveras hos de vuxna åtminstone för förståeligt talstimuli, medan en icke-specifik aktivering i båda hemisfärerna förväntades hos spädbarnen. Resultaten visade en tendens mot högerhemisfärisk lateralisering hos vuxna. Spädbarnen visade inget lateraliseringsmönster. Ytterligare undersökningar på 9 månader gamla spädbarn är nästa steg för att nå kunskap angående lateraliseringsutvecklingen hos spädbarn. / The influence of attention to phonetic detail in speech perception on vocabulary development: Early prevention of developmental language delay

This study focuses on L2 learners of English in Swedish upper secondary schools and their ability to comprehend and use connectors in a multiple-choice cloze procedure. Connectors are used in text to signal the text structure and make explicit the relation between text segments. A study by Geva (1992) suggests that with an increased proficiency, learners also improve their ability to comprehend text relations and the use of connectors. The present study applies the suggestions of Geva’s results in a Swedish context. English in Swedish upper secondary schools, is taught at three levels (designated English 5, 6, 7) with increasing difficulty and proficiency level requirements. This study tests the ability to comprehend the context and use the correct connector on pupils in the two mandatory courses (English 5 & 6). Similar to previous studies, the aim is to investigate the relationship between levels of English and the ability to use connectors. This empirical survey investigates the English 5 & 6 pupils’ success in applying the appropriate connector in relation to the level of English they are placed in, in order to analyze whether there is any perceived development, as is presupposed by the English curriculum. Furthermore, the study also aims to analyze what type of connectors the pupils excel at or struggle with and any factors that might affect pupils’ performance. The test consisted of three categories: adversative (6 questions), additive (5 questions), and causal connectors (4 questions), a total of 15 questions, with one point being awarded for each correct response. The results of the two groups were similar and a subsequent t-test revealed that there was no statistical significance between the two groups in any of the categories. This suggests that in the sample which was tested there is no proficiency increase in terms of connectors and comprehending inter-/intrasentential relationships. Furthermore, the results indicate that the pupils are more likely to correctly select the appropriate adversative and causal connectors, but struggled in selecting the additive connectors. Keywords: connectors, comprehension, intrasentential & intersentential relationships, teaching, coherence, cohesion

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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.

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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.