7 % of children in preschool have some sort of language disorder. How should preschool teachers best help these children? In a small special group where they can focus on the child´s individual linguistic development or in an ordinary group were the other children can be linguistic models for the child and help his or hers development? The purpose of this paper is to see what preschool teachers, who work with children who has language impairment, says about working with these children in a special group as compared with working with them in an ordinary group together with children without language impairment. What are the advantages and the disadvantages related to the different ways of working? Another focus point is how the children collaborate with each other. I have used theories about integration and peer collaboration to understand the results. I have conducted interviews with two preschool teachers with experience in both working with solely language impaired children in a small group as well of work in a mixed group of children with and without language impairment. Furthermore, I have also observed how the children collaborate with each other. The result of the interviews and observations show that there is not an easy way to answer the question about which way is better. One conclusion I can make is that it requires more work from the teachers working in a mixed group. They have to be aware of the variation in the children´s needs and they have to work active with the children´s collaboration in order to prevent that language impaired children are excluded in play.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och förklara hur olika egenskaper hos ledarskapsfigurer (Verkställande direktör, ekonomichef) kan påverka goodwillnedskrivningar samt det redovisade värdet av goodwill. Metod: Studien tar en deduktiv ansats och grundas på en dokumentstudie, hypoteser har formats och analyserats samt därefter accepterats eller förkastats. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Studiens grundläggande teoretiska perspektiv är agentteorin samt den positiva redovisningsteorin. Andra teorier som belyses i studien är bland annat teorin om verkligt värde och beteende teorin inom bolag. Empiri: Studien är kvantitativ och består av data som insamlats från årsredovisningar av bolag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Slutsats: Datamaterialet kunde inte påvisa någon signifikans mellan nyckelpersonernas beteende och deras påverkan på goodwillnedskrivningar samt det redovisade värdet av goodwill. / Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how different individual factors at an executive level (CEO, CFO) has an effect on goodwill impairments and the accounted value of goodwill. Methodology: The paper has an deductive approach and is based upon a document study at firms listed at Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Theoretical perspective: The essential theoretical perspective is positive accounting theory and the agency theory. Other theoretical perspectives in this paper are fair-value theory and the behavioral theory of the firm. Empiric foundation: The empirical foundation in this paper is quantitative and is based on data collected from annual reports from the firms that are listed at the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Conclusions: The collected data couldn’t find any significance between the behavior of the key persons and goodwill impairment and the accounted value of goodwill.

The aim of this study is to explore the development of how people in different generations of a family with a hereditary hearing loss developed knowledge and to examine the role of the educational system and how it influenced this development. The research questions are: What is the prevalence of the deafness spoken of in the family chronicle? What different kinds of knowledge did the family members with deafness/hearing loss develop and how did they make use of them? In what ways may they have experienced their deafness/hearing loss as a suffering? What knowledge did they develop because the hearing loss recurred in several successive generations? The studied material includes answers from a questionnaire, different historical documents and sixteen interviews. Descendants of the first man born in the family in 1816 described as deaf. Among the descendants a total of 84 persons with a hereditary hearing loss have been found, at most in seven successive generations. The sixteen persons interviewed have spoken about themselves, their parent, mother or father-parent, with hearing loss. This has made it possible to explore the development of knowledge in different areas. The findings from the interviews are interpreted in four chapters where the development knowledge in the different generations has been related to each other and to the hearing loss. The study shows that the generations developed various forms of competence and knowledge and that this occurred mainly in the homes. The members of the family with hearing loss were educated by themselves. The role of public school was small. The last generation, however, has been able to carry out higher studies. The communicative practice at home was spoken Swedish, eye contact, a loud and clear voice and speechreading. The speech of children was read before the children themselves had to read the speech of others.

Bakgrund: Med införandet av IFRS år 2005 tillkom en mängd nya standarder varav en utav dessa var IAS 36 p.134. En viss osäkerhet förelåg gällande tolkningen av upplysningskraven vid nedskrivningsprövningen av goodwill. Därtill finns risken att företagen utelämnar information baserat på subjektiva antaganden. Nu är det upp till bevis: Har företagen förbättrat sin upplysning i enlighet med IAS 36 p.134? Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka om företagen har förbättrat upplysningen i enlighet med IAS 36 p.134 sedan införandet av IFRS år 2005. Delsyftet är att undersöka om företag som redovisar en stor andel goodwill förbättrat sin upplysning i en större utsträckning jämfört med företag som redovisar en liten andel goodwill. Metod: En kvantitativ metod tillämpades och empiri samlades in i form av sekundärdata. Därmed granskades företagens årsredovisningar, specifikt posterna goodwill, eget kapital och noten om nedskrivningsprövningen av goodwill. Empiri: Empirin visade att 41,8 % av upplysningskraven uppfylldes år 2005, 59,4 % av upplysningskraven uppfylldes år 2008 och 75,6 % av upplysningskraven uppfylldes år 2011. Analys: Företagen har signifikant förbättrat sin upplysning i enlighet med IAS 36 p.134 mellan åren 2005 och 2008 samt 2008 och 2011. Företag som redovisar en stor andel goodwill har dock inte förbättrat sin upplysning i en större utsträckning jämfört med företag som redovisar en liten andel goodwill. Slutsats: Företagens årsredovisningar har ökat i transparens vilket har lett till att företagens intressenter lättare kan förlita sig på det redovisade värdet av goodwill. Årsredovisningarna har även sedan år 2005 blivit allt mer jämförbara vilket hjälper investerare fatta bättre ekonomiska beslut vid investeringar. / Background: The introduction of IFRS in 2005 added a number of new standards - one of these was IAS 36 p.134. Some businesses had a hard time interpreting the standard while others might be omitting important information due to subjective assumptions. Thus, the investigation begins: Have businesses improved their disclosure of information in accordance with the requirements in IAS 36 p.134? Purpose: The purpose is to research if businesses have improved disclosing information in accordance with IAS 36 since the introduction of IFRS in 2005. A secondary purpose is to examine if businesses accounting for a larger share of goodwill have improved disclosing the information to a greater extent than businesses accounting for a smaller share of goodwill. Methods: The study was accomplished using a quantitative method. We used secondary data in the form of financial reports and noted the businesses’ amount of goodwill, equity and the footnote about goodwill. Empirical: The study revealed that 41,8 % of the disclosure requirements were met in 2005, 59,4 % of the requirements were met in 2008 and 75,6 % of the requirements were met in 2011. Analysis: The various x2 tests showed that businesses significantly have improved in meeting the disclosure requirements in IAS 36 p.134 since year 2005 until year 2011. Businesses accounting for a larger share of goodwill have not significantly improved disclosing the information to a greater extent than businesses accounting for a smaller share of goodwill. Conclusion: Businesses’ financial reports have become more transparent throughout time. Thus, users of financial statements are now able to deem the value of goodwill trustworthy. Finally, financial reports have become more comparable.

Abstract   Title:                               Goodwill – differences and similarities between how IFRS and U.S. GAAP treats goodwill   Level:                              One year master, 15 credits   Author:                           Oscar Larsen and Thomas Karlsson   Supervisor:                     Leif Carlsson   Examiner:                      Cecilia Lindh   Year of publication:      2011   The main issue:              What are the differences and similarities of the treatment of goodwill between the U.S. GAAP and IFRS? What can the transition from U.S. GAAP to IFRS imply to companies regarding goodwill?   Aim:                                The aim with this thesis is to treat differences and similarities between U.S. GAAP and IFRS regarding how goodwill is generated and distributed in a business combination and also how the process of an impairment test of goodwill is carried through. The aim is further to treat possible effects that a transition may imply to companies regarding goodwill.   Method:                          In this study a qualitative research method has been used where the gathered information has been collected from interviews that has been analyzed and compared with the theoretical studies.   Conclusion:                    Differences described in theory doesn’t have to be confirmed with practices though it depends on how different companies in different industries interpret and apply these regulations   Keywords:                      Goodwill, IFRS, U.S. GAAP, impairment, business combination

Sedan 2005 ska företag pröva goodwills nedskrivningsbehov minst en gång årligen. Det här regleras i IAS 36 där det finns instruktioner om hur nedskrivningsprövningarna ska gå till. Dock har det i tidigare studier konstaterats att informationen som lämnas i anslutning till prövningarna inte är tillräcklig för att ge läsaren den användbarhet som bör finnas. Därför har författarna av uppsatsen genomfört en fallstudie med syfte att beskriva hur åtta företag motiverar sina nedskrivningsprövningar. Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera hur åtta börsnoterade företag som redovisar enligt IAS/IFRS värderar sin goodwill i samband med nedskrivningsprövningar. Tyngdpunkten låg på de motiveringar som låg till grund för värderingarna. Uppsatsen grundar sig på en kvalitativ fallstudie där årsredovisningar för åtta företag har studerats. Urval av företag har skett bland de koncerner som redovisar enligt IAS/IFRS och finns börsnoterade på OMX Stockholm, Large Cap. Slutsatsen av fallstudien är att företagens årsredovisningar innehåller upplysningar av olika kvalitet och kvantitet rörande nedskrivningsprövningarna. De största skillnader som uppsatsen har uppmärksammat är företagens olika redogörelser av de variabler som påverkat värderingen av goodwillvärdena. Brister har främst rört avsaknaden av motiveringar i samband med företagens kassaflödesprognoser. / Since the year of 2005 companies must do annual impairment tests of goodwill. IAS 36 provides instructions and regulations for the impairment tests, but recent studies have shown that several companies lack of adequate information in their annual reports. By doing a case study of eight companies the writers of this essay had the purpose to investigate how the impairment tests were explained in the annual reports. The purpose of this study was to describe the way companies estimated goodwill during their impairment tests, according to IAS/IFRS. Most attention was paid on the explanations that the estimates were based on. To investigate the impairment tests a qualitative case study of eight companies ́ annual reports was applied. The selection of companies was restricted to the OMX Stockholm, Large Cap. The conclusion of the study is that the annual reports contains information of various quality and quantity regarding the impairment tests. Most variances is to be found in the reports of the variables that have lead up to the estimated values. Particularly, shortages in the explanations in connection with the cash flow forecasts have been recognized.

Since 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Accounting Standards (IAS). The purposes of these standards are to accomplish international harmonization of accounting rules to make financial reports more comparable. However, recent research has shown that some firms tend to use goodwill strategically in a business combination by manipulating the acquired assets and consciously allocate the intangible assets to goodwill to reduce the depreciation in the income and decrease costs. This phenomenon may reduce the comparability between financial reports and thus has an opposite effect on the purpose of IFRS and IAS.The aim of this study is to show how the companies involved in this study allocate goodwill strategically. Furthermore, the introduction of the new standards has contributed to that goodwill now is a subject for impairment test, therefore we want to show whether this affected the comparability of the companies in this study.An empirical study was conducted, based on interviews with four Swedish managers. The empirical findings are discussed in the light of the IASB Conceptual Framework, IAS 36 impairment test, allocation of goodwill and the comparability between companies. Our study reveals that three of four companies has a strategy for allocating goodwill. It is also clear that comparability has been reduced by the introduction of IAS 36; all respondents agree and highlight the problem of subjectivity of the management.

Reading is one of the most important activities in most people’s life. For children, reading is a window to knowledge, good educational achievement and better job opportunities in the future. Thus reading fluency is a very important factor in the child’s education. Children and young adults with low vision usually use a close working distance to gain relative distance magnification. Unlike adults, they have active accommodation. Many studies, however, have shown that children and young adults with low vision have reduced accommodation response compared to the norms of their age. Reading additions (high plus lenses) can correct for this reduction in accommodation and may be an optimum method of prescribing magnification in younger adults with low vision. There have been no studies to verify the best method of prescribing reading additions in young adults with low vision and few studies of their effect on reading performance. This is the first study to compare different methods to determine reading additions and their effect on reading performance in young adults with low vision. The aims of the present study are 1) to investigate if three different methods to determine reading additions would lead to significantly different dioptric powers 2) to determine which method (if any) would lead to better reading performance. Reading performance was assessed by measuring the maximum reading speed, critical print size (CPS), print size threshold and the area under the reading speed curve. This was an experimental study involving thirty participants with low vision aged between 8 to 35 years. Participants were recruited from the Low Vision Clinic at the School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and the Vision Institute of Canada. All participants underwent a routine clinical examination including distance visual acuity, near visual acuity, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity, unilateral cover test, static retinoscopy, subjective refraction and measurement of the habitual reading distance. A questionnaire was used to determine their usage of any low vision aids, their perceived difficulty with reading and time spent reading. Reading additions were determined by 1) an objective method using Nott dynamic retinoscopy 2) an age-based formula 3) a subjective method based on the participant’s response to lenses. Reading tasks and dynamic retinoscopy were conducted at a fixed working distance of 12.5cm. Reading performance was assessed using MNREAD-style reading charts with each of the reading additions and without a reading addition, in a random order. Sentences were arranged in way that no sentence was repeated by the same participant. Participants were timed with a stop watch in order to calculate the reading speed in correct words per minute (CWPM). Reading speeds were plotted against print size to calculate the maximum reading speed, the critical print size, MNREAD threshold and the area under the reading speed curve. The participant’s mean age was 16 (± 6) years. There were equal number of males and females. The mean distance visual acuity of the tested eye ranged from 0.357 to 1.184 logMAR with a mean of 0.797 ± 0.220 logMAR. The near visual acuity ranged between 0.301 to 1.301 logMAR with a mean of 0.80 ± 0.26 logMAR. There were six participants who already had a reading addition. Maximum reading speed ranged between 52 to 257 wpm (165 ± 61 wpm). Critical print size ranged between 0.325 to 1.403 logMAR (0.965 ± 0.279 logMAR). Repeated measures ANOVA on the whole group showed that there was a significant difference between the reading additions (p=0.001). The retinoscopy reading addition power was significantly lower than the age add (p=0.002) and the subjective add (p=0.038). Repeated measures ANOVA did not show any improvement of any of the reading measures with the reading additions compared to without the reading addition. A re-analysis was undertaken excluding participants who had normal accommodation at 12.5cm. The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in the dioptric powers obtained by the three methods, although, all reading addition power were significantly greater than zero (t-test <0.0005). There was a significant difference in the area under the reading speed curve (p=0.035), which was greater with the subjective addition than with no reading addition (p=0.048). The MNREAD threshold significantly improved with the age addition compared to no addition (p=0.012). There was a large variability between the participants in their response to a reading addition. Analysis of individual data showed that some participants showed a clear improvement in reading performance with a reading addition. Other participants did not demonstrate any obvious improvement in reading performance with reading additions. Of those participants who showed an improvement, all but one participant had abnormal accommodation. However, not all participants who did not show an improvement had normal accommodation. Univariate analysis and forward step-wise linear regression analysis were used to investigate if any improvement in reading performance and the habitual reading performance without a reading addition could be predicted by factors that were measured in the study. These factors included distance visual acuity, near visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, lag of accommodation, age, time spent on reading each day, perceived difficulty of reading regular print and whether or not the participant received training for the usage of his/her low vision aids. Improvement in reading performance could not be predicted by any of these factors. Habitual reading performance without a reading addition was correlated with some factors. Univariate analysis showed that critical print size was associated with MNREAD threshold (r=0.904. p<0.0005), distance visual acuity (r=0.681, p<0.0005) and contrast sensitivity (r=-0.428, p=0.018) and MNREAD threshold without an addition was associated with the contrast sensitivity (r=-0.431, p=0.017,) and distance visual acuity (r=0.728, p<0.0005). Difficulty of reading correlated with near visual acuity (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.620, p=0.0009), MNREAD threshold (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.450, p=0.02) and maximum reading speed (Spearman correlation coefficient=-0.472, p=0.014). Time spent on reading each day correlated with the area under the reading speed curve (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.659, p=0.0024). The multiple regression analysis showed that MNREAD threshold was best predicted by distance visual acuity (R=0.728, p <0.0005), critical print size could be predicted by distance visual acuity (R=0.681, p <0.0005) and age (R=0.748, p=0.022) and the power of the subjective addition could be predicted by age (R=0.583, p=0.001) and near visual acuity (R=0.680, p=0.028). There was evidence that a reading addition improved reading performance as measured by the area under the curve and MNREAD (reading acuity) thresholds, but this was not predicted by any visual factor, except that all those who gained improvement had poor accommodation. Therefore, it is recommended that an eye care practitioner should demonstrate a reading addition in a low vision assessment of children and young adults, particularly with patients who have reduced accommodation.

Speech production requires cooperation between cognitive, linguistic and motor processes. It also requires spatial and temporal control of muscles, as well as simultaneous and coordinated activity of respiration, phonation and articulation (Cheng, Murdoch, Goozée &amp; Scott, 2007; Yorkston, Beukelman, Strand &amp; Bell, 1999; Raphael, Borden &amp; Harris, 2011). Voice Onset Time (VOT) reflects the timing between phonation and articulation (Hoit-Dalgaard, Murry &amp; Kopp, 1983). VOT is the most reliable acoustic cue for distinguishing between voiceless or voiced plosives (Auzou et al. 2000). Studies of English-speaking children with phonological impairment have shown atypical VOT-patterns (Bond &amp; Wilson, 1980). The aim of the present study was to investigate Voice Onset Time (VOT) among Swedish children with phonological impairment and to examine if their VOT-values differ from typically developed Swedish children. Participants were 38 children aged 4;2−11;6 distributed over eight age- groups and five developmental stages of phonology. Audio recordings of minimal pairs were made at preschools, schools or at speech pathology clinics. The results indicated that children with phonological impairment produced VOT with deviant values and with a great variability. A marked acoustic difference between voiceless and voiced stop consonants was present, but not in all cases. Since the VOT-values were distributed over the group of children with phonological impairment, no developmental trend toward adult-like values that could be related to increasing age was found for either the acquisition of producing VOT or the acquisition of producing voicing lead. No differences in VOT were seen between the children in different phonological developmental stages or ages. No correlation between the degree of deviance of VOT and the proportion of Procent Phonemes Correct (PPC), age or phonological processes were found. From the results the conclusion can be drawn that children with phonological impairment have deviant VOT-values that could be caused by lack of phonological knowledge, but in particular since the variability did not decrease with increased age, have difficulties with motor execution. / Tal kräver ett samarbete mellan kognitiva, språkliga och motoriska processer. Det kräver även spatial och temporal kontroll av muskler samt samtidig och koordinerad aktivitet av andning, fonation och artikulation (Cheng, Murdoch, Goozée &amp; Scott, 2007; Yorkston, Beukelman, Strand &amp; Bell, 1999; Raphael, Borden &amp; Harris, 2011). Voice Onset Time (VOT) ger en bild av koordinationen mellan fonation och artikulation (Hoit-Dalgaard, Murry &amp; Kopp, 1983). VOT är den mest pålitliga akustiska referensen för att kunna skilja mellan tonande och tonlösa klusiler (Auzou et al., 2000). Engelsktalande barn med fonologisk språkstörning har visat atypiska VOT-mönster (Bond &amp; Wilson, 1980). Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka Voice Onset Time (VOT) hos svensktalande barn med fonologisk språkstörning och utröna huruvida deras VOT-värden skiljer sig från VOT-värden hos barn med typisk språkutveckling. I studien deltog 38 barn i åldrarna 4;2−11;6 fördelade på åtta åldersgrupper och fem fonologiska utvecklingsstadier. Inspelningar av bildbenämning av minimala par skedde på barnens förskola, skola eller logopedmottagning. Resultatet visade att barn med fonologisk språkstörning hade avvikande VOT-värden med stor variation. Det förekom både att grupper kunde och inte kunde producera akustiska skillnader mellan tonlösa och tonande klusiler. Resultaten var så spridda i barngruppen att ingen direkt utveckling mot vuxenlika värden kunde relateras till ökad ålder för varken utveckling av VOT produktion eller vuxenlik förekomst av förton. Ingen skillnad vad gäller VOT sågs mellan barn i olika fonologiska utvecklingsstadier eller åldrar. Hur mycket ett VOT-värde avvek kunde inte förklaras av ålder, språkliga processer eller hur många korrekta fonem (PPC) som producerades. Av resultaten dras slutsatsen att barn med språkstörning har avvikande VOT-värden som delvis kan hänföras till bristande fonologisk kunskap men framförallt, eftersom variabiliteten i barnens värden inte minskade med ökad ålder kan hänföras till svårigheter med det motoriska genomförandet.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the Swedish governments discourse on integration of immigrants and thereby examine what social reality it constructs. The aim is to examine how integration and immigrants are constructed within the discourse. The method and theory being used in this essay is discourse theory. As a methodological instrument we use the policy on functional impairment as a comparison. The material being analyzed in this essay is political documents on the strategy on integration policy and the strategy on the policy of functional impairment. The main conclusions of the study are that immigrants are constructed as a homogenous group and immigrants are being discursively separated from the majority society. Social exclusion serves as an identity within the discourse. Another main conclusion is that integration is connected to labour and firstly constructed as labour market policy within the discourse. Integration is also related to social exclusion. The government often uses the term social exclusion instead of the term integration. The comparison with the policy on functional impairment serves as a possible alterative way of understanding integration and identity.