Abstract This study focuses on the process of self-regulated learning by investigating in detail how learners engage in self-regulated and strategic learning when studying in g/nStudy learning environments. The study uses trace methods to enable recognition of temporal patterns in learners’ activity that can signal strategic and self-regulated learning. The study comprises three data sets. In each data set, g/nStudy technology was used to support and trace self-regulated learning. In the analysis, micro-analytical protocols along with qualitative approach were favoured to better understand the process of self-regulated and strategic learning in authentic classroom settings. The results suggested that the specific technological tools used to support strategic and self-regulated learning can also be used methodologically to investigate patterns emerging from students’ cognitive regulation activity. The advantage of designing specific tools to trace and support self-regulated learning also helps to interpret the way in which the learning patterns actually inform SRL theoretically and empirically. Depending on how the tools are used, they can signal the typical patterns existing in the learning processes of students or student groups. The learning patterns found in the students’ cognitive regulation activity varied in terms of how often the patterns emerged in their learning, how the patterns were composed and when the patterns were used. Moreover, there were intra-individual differences – firstly, in how students with different learning outcomes allocated their study tactic use, and secondly, how self-regulated learning was used in challenging learning situations perceived by students. These findings indicate log file traces can reveal differences in self-regulated learning between individuals and between groups of learners with similar characteristics based on the learning patterns they used. However, learning patterns obtained from log file traces can sometimes be complex rather than simple. Therefore, log file traces need to be combined with other situation-specific measurements to better understand how they might elucidate self-regulated learning in the learning context. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan oppilaiden itsesäätöisen ja strategisen oppimisen ilmenemistä oppimisprosessin aikana. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään g/nStudy- oppimisympäristöä, jonka avulla on mahdollista tukea ja jäljittää oppimisen strategista toimintaa. g/nStudy-oppimisympäristö tallentaa lokidataa, joka on tarkkaa ajallista informaatiota siitä toiminnasta, jota oppilas tekee työskentelynsä aikana. Toisin sanoen, lokidatasta on mahdollista jäljittää ne tiedot, jotka reflektoivat strategista – ja itsesäätöistä oppimista. Erityisenä mielenkiinnon kohteena oli selvittää miten lokidatasta voi löytää strategisia oppimisen toimintamalleja, ja miten nämä strategiset oppimisen toimintamallit vaihtelevat oppilaiden, oppilasryhmien ja erilaisten oppimisen tilanteiden aikana. Väitöstutkimus muodostuu kolmesta erillisestä tutkimusaineistosta. Jokaisessa kolmessa aineistossa on hyödynnetty g/nStudy-teknologian mahdollisuuksia tukea ja jäljittää itsesäätöistä oppimista. Tutkimusaineiston analyysissä hyödynnetään mikroanalyyttista lähestymistapaa sekä laadullista tutkimusotetta. Tutkimuksen analyyttinen lähestymistapa antaa mahdollisuuden ymmärtää itsesäätöisen- ja strategisen oppimisen ilmenemistä aidossa oppimistilanteessa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että oppimisympäristöön sisällytettyjä teknologisia työkaluja voidaan käyttää tukemaan itsesäätöistä ja strategista toimintaa. Sen lisäksi samoja työkaluja voidaan käyttää myös menetelmällisenä välineenä tutkittaessa itsesäätöistä – ja strategista toimintaa erilaisissa oppimistilanteissa. Tutkimus -tulokset osoittavat, että oppimisen strategiset toimintamallit vaihtelivat oppilaiden – ja oppimistilanteiden välillä. Oppimisen strategisissa toimintamalleissa oli myös laadullisia eroja sen suhteen, miten usein ne ilmenivät oppimisprosessin aikana ja mistä strategisista toiminnoista ne koostuivat. Johtopäätöksenä voi todeta, että lokidatan käyttäminen tutkimusmenetelmänä edesauttaa paljastamaan opiskelun strategisia toimintamalleja oppilaiden – ja oppilasryhmien välillä. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että strategiset toimintamallit voivat olla hyvinkin monimuotoisia. On tärkeää tunnistaa, missä tilanteissa ja milloin näitä toimintamalleja käytetään ja erityisesti mikä on niiden vaikutus oppimisen laatuun.

Cette recherche porte sur les activités autodidaxiques soutenue par les TNIC. En s’inscrivantdans le domaine du sociocognitivisme, nous nous intéressons en particulier au cas des Assistants Boursier Syriens (ABS) souhaitant apprendre le français pour faire leurs études supérieures en France. En cernant les activités et les usages des artefacts numériques dans le processus d’apprentissage, nous nous appliquerons par une étude des actions, des pratiques et des discours produits par les acteurs impliqués (apprenants et enseignants) mais aussi des interfaces des produits concernés , à comprendre en quoi l’usage d’une telle méthodologie facilite l’autodidaxie des langues étrangères et particulièrement celle du FLE. Cette étude a pour objectifs de voir comment, à travers les interactions Homme-Ordinateur, s’illustrent les usages effectifs des artefacts numériques. Afin de mieux comprendre la façon dont les usagers appréhendent les artefacts consultés, nous décrivons, au recours à la scénarisation, comment ils gèrent leur environnement d’apprentissage et construisent les trajectoires individuelles. Nous nous attachons à observer et à analyser avec les outils de l’ethnographie de la communication (observation et entretiens) les usages effectifs, les pratiques ainsi que les activités produites par les différents acteurs impliqués. Cette démarche nous permet de réaliser un corpus complexe de réponses écrites au questionnaire de pré-enquête, d’enregistrements audiovisuels de situations réelles d’autodidaxie et audio d’entretiens. Ces données nous ont permis de déterminer les conditions de construction de l’environnement de travail ainsi que les facteurs influençant les trajectoires autodidaxiques. En s’inscrivant dans une approche socio -cognitive d’autodidaxie et centrée sur le scénario, nous proposons des solutions pour améliorer la conception et la mise en place d’un environnement numérique favorisant l’autodidaxie en contexte syrien de l’enseignement/apprentissage du FLE. / This research focuses on self-study activities supported by the Digital Information and Communication Technology (DICT). By considering the field of socio-cognitivism, we are interested in the case of Syrian assistant’s fellows wishing to learn French to continue their higher education in France. In order to identify the activities and the uses of the tools of French Foreign Language (FFL) from the Digital Information and Communication Technology (DICT) in the learning process, we will apply, using the study of actions , the practices and the discourses produced by the actors involved (learners and teachers) as well as the interfaces of the products concerned to understand how the use of such methodology facilitates self-learning of foreign languages and in particularly that of the ELF. This study aims to see how, through the human-computer interaction, is show the actual uses of the digital artifacts. To better understand how they apprehend the consulted digital artifacts and construct their individual trajectories, we describe, using the screenwriting, how the involved autodidacts manage their learning environment. We observe and analyze, with the tools of ethnography of communication (observation and interviews), the uses of artifacts available online or not, the practices and activities produced by the different actors involved. This approach allows us to realize a complex corpus including written responses to the pre-survey questionnaire, audio-video records of real situations of self-education and audio interviews. These data allowed us to determine the working environment of construction conditions and the factors which influencing self-study trajectories. By entering into a socio-cognitive approach to self-education and focused on the scenario, we proposesolutions to improve the design and the implementation of a digital environment which promotes selfeducation in the Syrian context of teaching / learning of FFL.

This study was prompted by the need the author experienced for the rethinking of many practices in music teaching and her interest in achieving transformation in individual music teaching and learning. An eclectic approach was adopted for the research. Despite much existing ‘fuzzy’ terminology, ‘broader’ or ‘less fixed’ meanings were sought of terms including Holism, intelligence, learning, Modernism, perception, personality, Postmodernism, teaching, temperament and whole-brain learning. The reader is presented with a palette of ideas, open for further exploration, in order to stimulate creativity and different viewpoints in music teaching and learning. The study has a student-centred approach, taking into account different types of learners and how to adapt teaching styles to connect with students in their learning environment. Challenges teachers may encounter are how the meanings of many terms relate with music teaching practice, themselves and their pupils. The research explores the interaction and relation of terms with one another in order to reconsider and expand teaching methods. Inter, intra and multidisciplinary aspects of teaching are touched upon as being valuable in cutting across several traditional fields of study and also referring to knowledge seen as a coherent whole within one subject area. Experiences of ‘flow’ and transformative learning are explored in order to challenge students’ and teachers’ ‘fixed’ thinking methods. The whole-brain model is considered where the brain is seen in four quadrants, each quadrant displaying distinctive strengths of value in music teaching. The importance of Emotional Intelligence in developing other intelligences is investigated and its link with Inter and Intrapersonal Intelligences in order to equip teachers to connect effectively with pupils in a learning context. There is no “one size fits all” teaching strategy, learning style or framework that can apply to the myriad needs of individual music teachers and pupils. The research, however, demonstrates the importance for music teachers to be receptive in enlarging their thinking patterns. In so doing a path can be set for shifting focus in teaching strategies to a ‘moving forward’ ideal in perception and understanding of teaching and learning in the 21st century. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Music / unrestricted

Submitted by Jakeline Ortega (jakortega@unoeste.br) on 2017-09-13T21:43:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Carmem Silva Lima Fluminhan.pdf: 1036010 bytes, checksum: d83833c8edea37362300daa5b12f08b8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-13T21:43:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Carmem Silva Lima Fluminhan.pdf: 1036010 bytes, checksum: d83833c8edea37362300daa5b12f08b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-12 / Investigations of how students become self-regulating learners have been the target of researchers for decades. Research has provided evidence on the connection between the development of self-regulation in students, the proper use of learning strategies, and high school performance. In this sense, this research aims to investigate the impact of teacher actions in promoting and strengthening self-regulation of student learning. In order to reach these objectives, this dissertation is structured in three studies. The first study presented the panorama of national and international publications on self-regulation learning. The results indicated that most publications studied self-regulation learning related to 20 other constructs or variables, the Cognitive Social Theory is the predominant theoretical approach,empirical studies, using a qualitative approach, in higher education level and article format were prevalent. The second study investigated if 16 students from the sixth grade of a public school in the countryside of São Paulo State, Brazil, resort to the adequate use of learning strategies during the study; as well as verify if, after a period of intervention on self-regulation learning, the students demonstrated to make more use of learning strategies and to analyze the possible differences in the scores considering the variable sex. Data were obtained through the Learning Strategies Assessment Scale for Elementary Education (EAVAP-EF). The results showed that participants did not use learning strategies satisfactorily at the time of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the results of the first and second application of the scale and, finally, the girls presented better scores in the total punctuation of the scale as well asin the metacognitive factor when compared to boys.The third study aimed to analyze the influence of the teacher's actions in the self-regulation learning of hersixth grade students; to investigate the teacher's conceptions regarding self-regulation learning; to promote interventions with the teacher in order to build actions that facilitate the self-regulatory learning process in her students and to analyze if, after the interventions, the students were more self-regulated in the perspective of the participants and the teacher. The results revealedthat the teacher should act explicitly as a mediator in the development of cognitive and metacognitive skills in order to develop and strengthen self-regulated learning.In addition, from the perspective of the participating teacher, after the intervention, students have become more aware of their responsibility towards learning as well as more attentive to the use of self-regulatory learning strategies in the context of study. / Investigações de como os alunos se tornam aprendizes autorregulados tem sido alvo de pesquisadores há décadas. As pesquisas proporcionaram evidências sobre a relação entre o desenvolvimento da autorregulação nos alunos, o uso adequado das estratégias de aprendizagem e o alto desempenho escolar. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar o impacto das ações de uma professora na promoção e no fortalecimento da autorregulação da aprendizagem dos seus alunos. Para tanto, esta dissertação está estruturada em três estudos. O primeiro estudo apresentou o panorama das publicações nacionais e internacionais acerca da autorregulação da aprendizagem. Os resultados indicaram que a maior parte das publicações estudou a autorregulação da aprendizagem relacionada a 20 outros constructos ou variáveis, a Teoria Social Cognitiva é a abordagem teórica predominante, os estudos empíricos, de abordagem qualitativa, em nível de ensino superior, com objetivo avaliativo, e no formato de artigo foram prevalentes. O segundo estudo teve como objetivo investigar se 16 alunos de sexto ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública no interior do Estado de São Paulo, participantes da pesquisa, recorrem ao uso adequado de estratégias de aprendizagem durante o estudo; verificar se, após um período de intervenção acerca da autorregulação da aprendizagem, os alunos demonstraram fazer mais uso de estratégias de aprendizagem e analisar as possíveis diferenças nos escores considerando a variável sexo. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da Escala de Avaliação das Estratégias de Aprendizagem para o Ensino Fundamental (EAVAP-EF). Os resultados revelaram que os participantes não recorrem às estratégias de aprendizagem de modo satisfatório no momento do estudo, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os resultados da primeira e da segunda aplicação da escala e, por fim, as meninas apresentaram melhor pontuação no total da escala e no fator metacognitivo da EAVAP-EF quando comparado aos meninos. O terceiro estudo objetivou analisar as ações da professora na autorregulação da aprendizagem de seus alunos do sexto ano do ensino fundamental; investigar as concepções da professora a respeito da autorregulação da aprendizagem; promover intervenções junto à professora com a finalidade de construir ações que facilitem o processo de aprendizagem autorregulatório em seus alunos e analisar se, após as intervenções, os alunos se revelaram mais autorregulados na perspectiva da professora participante. Os resultados evidenciaram que a docente deve atuar explicitamente como mediadora no desenvolvimento das habilidades cognitivas e metacognitvas com vistas ao desenvolvimento e ao fortalecimento de uma aprendizagem autorregulada. Além disso, na perspectiva da professora participante, ao término da intervenção, os alunos revelaram-se mais conscientes de sua responsabilidade frente à própria aprendizagem, bem como se tornaram mais cônscios acerca do uso das estratégias de aprendizagem autorregulatórias em contexto de estudo.

Submitted by Jakeline Ortega (jakortega@unoeste.br) on 2017-12-18T13:28:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Carmem Silvia Lima Fluminham.pdf: 1179302 bytes, checksum: be828ce5a066fe9e4a077773a4fac290 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-18T13:28:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Carmem Silvia Lima Fluminham.pdf: 1179302 bytes, checksum: be828ce5a066fe9e4a077773a4fac290 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-12 / Investigations of how students become self-regulating learners have been the target of researchers for decades. Research has provided evidence on the connection between the development of self-regulation in students, the proper use of learning strategies, and high school performance. In this sense, this research aims to investigate the impact of teacher actions in promoting and strengthening self-regulation of student learning. In order to reach these objectives, this dissertation is structured in three studies. The first study presented the panorama of national and international publications on self-regulation learning. The results indicated that most publications studied self-regulation learning related to 20 other constructs or variables, the Cognitive Social Theory is the predominant theoretical approach,empirical studies, using a qualitative approach, in higher education level and article format were prevalent. The second study investigated if 16 students from the sixth grade of a public school in the countryside of São Paulo State, Brazil, resort to the adequate use of learning strategies during the study; as well as verify if, after a period of intervention on self-regulation learning, the students demonstrated to make more use of learning strategies and to analyze the possible differences in the scores considering the variable sex. Data were obtained through the Learning Strategies Assessment Scale for Elementary Education (EAVAP-EF). The results showed that participants did not use learning strategies satisfactorily at the time of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the results of the first and second application of the scale and, finally, the girls presented better scores in the total punctuation of the scale as well asin the metacognitive factor when compared to boys.The third study aimed to analyze the influence of the teacher's actions in the self-regulation learning of hersixth grade students; to investigate the teacher's conceptions regarding self-regulation learning; to promote interventions with the teacher in order to build actions that facilitate the self-regulatory learning process in her students and to analyze if, after the interventions, the students were more self-regulated in the perspective of the participants and the teacher. The results revealedthat the teacher should act explicitly as a mediator in the development of cognitive and metacognitive skills in order to develop and strengthen self-regulated learning.In addition, from the perspective of the participating teacher, after the intervention, students have become more aware of their responsibility towards learning as well as more attentive to the use of self-regulatory learning strategies in the context of study. / Investigações de como os alunos se tornam aprendizes autorregulados tem sido alvo de pesquisadores há décadas. As pesquisas proporcionaram evidências sobre a relação entre o desenvolvimento da autorregulação nos alunos, o uso adequado das estratégias de aprendizagem e o alto desempenho escolar. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar o impacto das ações de uma professora na promoção e no fortalecimento da autorregulação da aprendizagem dos seus alunos. Para tanto, esta dissertação está estruturada em três estudos. O primeiro estudo apresentou o panorama das publicações nacionais e internacionais acerca da autorregulação da aprendizagem. Os resultados indicaram que a maior parte das publicações estudou a autorregulação da aprendizagem relacionada a 20 outros constructos ou variáveis, a Teoria Social Cognitiva é a abordagem teórica predominante, os estudos empíricos, de abordagem qualitativa, em nível de ensino superior, com objetivo avaliativo, e no formato de artigo foram prevalentes. O segundo estudo teve como objetivo investigar se 16 alunos de sexto ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública no interior do Estado de São Paulo, participantes da pesquisa, recorrem ao uso adequado de estratégias de aprendizagem durante o estudo; verificar se, após um período de intervenção acerca da autorregulação da aprendizagem, os alunos demonstraram fazer mais uso de estratégias de aprendizagem e analisar as possíveis diferenças nos escores considerando a variável sexo. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da Escala de Avaliação das Estratégias de Aprendizagem para o Ensino Fundamental (EAVAP-EF). Os resultados revelaram que os participantes não recorrem às estratégias de aprendizagem de modo satisfatório no momento do estudo, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os resultados da primeira e da segunda aplicação da escala e, por fim, as meninas apresentaram melhor pontuação no total da escala e no fator metacognitivo da EAVAP-EF quando comparado aos meninos. O terceiro estudo objetivou analisar as ações da professora na autorregulação da aprendizagem de seus alunos do sexto ano do ensino fundamental; investigar as concepções da professora a respeito da autorregulação da aprendizagem; promover intervenções junto à professora com a finalidade de construir ações que facilitem o processo de aprendizagem autorregulatório em seus alunos e analisar se, após as intervenções, os alunos se revelaram mais autorregulados na perspectiva da professora participante. Os resultados evidenciaram que a docente deve atuar explicitamente como mediadora no desenvolvimento das habilidades cognitivas e metacognitvas com vistas ao desenvolvimento e ao fortalecimento de uma aprendizagem autorregulada. Além disso, na perspectiva da professora participante, ao término da intervenção, os alunos revelaram-se mais conscientes de sua responsabilidade frente à própria aprendizagem, bem como se tornaram mais cônscios acerca do uso das estratégias de aprendizagem autorregulatórias em contexto de estudo.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Global and national standards for social work training have for a very long time required that institutions of higher learning include a theoretical as well as a practical component into the social work programme. The integration of theory and practice is purposefully aimed at enhancing the student's competency and skills (SAQA, 2003:9). The introduction of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) in South Africa (Government Gazette No. 19640, 1998) has confirmed the need for addressing challenges relating to integration of theory and practice. Assessments of social work fieldwork competence at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) indicate that the majority of the students in the third year of study struggle to integrate theory and practice resulting in low level competence in Intermediate Fieldwork Education (University of the Western Cape Quality assurance report: Intermediate Fieldwork, 2007). In addition to the aforementioned, student reports indicate that there is a perception that the classroom learning, the supervision and fieldwork practice often are not sufficient to facilitate the integration of theory and practice. The lack of integration of theory and practice results in students not achieving the expected learning outcomes. This is an urgent concern in social work education and it seems most appropriate to learn from the people who are closely affected by and involved in this issue. The focus of the study was thus on the challenges experienced by social work students, their lecturers and fieldwork supervisors at UWC regarding the integration of theory and practice at intermediate level in the context of OBE. Hence I used a qualitative approach as I wanted to study the challenges of theory and practice integration from an insiders' perspective. This is appropriate when the goal of research is to describe and understand a social issue. For this reason I selected an exploratory-descriptive research design and an instrumental research strategy to study the issue of theory and practice integration in the selected programme. The population of the study was third year social work students at UWC and also a selected group of third year social 'work students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), social work lecturers from UWC and field supervisors form agencies in the Western Cape where social work students are placed. Purposive sampling were utilized to select sixteen third year social work students from UWC, seven NMMU students, sixteen field supervisors and eight lecturers from UWC. Data were collected by means of individual interviews as well as focus group sessions from students and field supervisors and by means of written responses to an open -ended guide from lecturers. Data were analyzed by means of thematic, content analysis. Relevant literature findings on constructivism, cooperative learning and social work teaching and learning in particular were compared to the findings of the case study exploration. Literature pertaining to social work teaching and learning in the context of ELOs is limited and therefore further justifies the need for this research. The findings indicated that participants in this study experienced challenges with regard to theory and practice integration on various levels and to different extents. They attribute these challenges to a variety of factors relating to the construction of knowledge in the classroom and in the fieldwork setting as well as personal challenges experienced by students. Hence I made various recommendations with regard to collaborative teaching and learning strategies within the classroom and fieldwork setting as well recommendations based on the conclusions of findings relating to students' personal challenges.

This research is logged in the field of language acquisition, focusing on Spanish as a foreign language learnt at university level. It investigates how learning strategies are used by students to develop proficiency in Spanish over a three-year period (from the first year to the third year). Adopting a cognitive lens that places special attention to how linguistic knowledge is constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed, this study focuses on the language learning process, specifically on what the students do to learn a language. Taking into account that the learning of foreign language poses particular and distinctive challenges – as opposed to the learning of a second language – and using a multiphase design that combines sequential strands encompassing quantitative and qualitative techniques, this study finds that those who successfully complete all the Spanish courses are the ones who report significantly more use of metacognitive strategies in the first year. The study concludes by proposing a framework that helps to classify the role that the use of strategies play in learning a foreign language from a student’s perspective. This framework adds a new dimension and provides valuable information to similar types of studies. Considering the above-mentioned findings, the study recommends introducing first-year students to the potential value of using metacognitive strategies in foreign language learning, and suggests that lecturers should recommend more activities for students to engage in the language outside the classroom. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Modern European Languages / PhD / Unrestricted

Lernende sind zunehmend herausgefordert ihren Lernprozess selbstständig zu steuern, zu organisieren und zu gestalten. Die vorliegende Arbeit geht von diesen Erwartungen aus und fragt nach den kreativen Prozessen in der Lerntätigkeit. Dazu wird eine kritische Prüfung von Lerntheorien hinsichtlich ihrer Berücksichtigung von Kreativität und Materialität unternommen. Durch Entwicklung eines Designbegriffs, der die scheinbar selbstverständlichen Techniken und Strategien im Lernalltag als Alltagsdesign erfasst, wird ein wenig berücksichtigtes Forschungsgebiet eröffnet, das in qualitativen Untersuchungen medienübergreifend analysiert wird. Die verschiedenen Aspekte des Alltags­designs in der Lerntätigkeit – die Einrichtung des Arbeitsplatzes, das Aufgabenmanagement, die Aufbewahrung und die Verarbeitung von Lernmaterial werden detailliert beschrieben und analysiert. Resultat ist eine gegenstandsbezogene Theorie des Alltags­designs in der Lerntätigkeit, die einen Beitrag zum Verständnis von Wissensarbeit als materiale Praxis liefert. / This thesis is a contribution to current debates about technology enhanced learning – namely “web 2.0” and “e-learning 2.0” where learners are expected to be active creators of knowledge. The figure of the learner as creative designer is addressed in this work, which concentrates on learners’ individual activity. The focus on the individual contrasts with many current studies about learning which center on collaborative aspects in knowledge building. First a review of learning theories is undertaken to examine their contributions to questions of materiality and creativity in learning activities. Turning to design research, a notion of design as practice is developed, which here complements and enhances current learning theories. Adopting notions of “use” and “user” the everydayness of design is reconstructed, leading to a conceptualization which is suitable to everyday activities of learners. From this everyday design perspective, the research question is formulated: How is learning activity accomplished as design activity? This question is tackled through several ethnographically oriented studies that focus on the individual everyday practices of students in their natural working environments. The analysis of the ethnographic data is developed using a Grounded Theory approach. A descriptive story is developed that analyzes arrangements of workplaces and objects, storage and task management, and the production of personal learning material as design. From these concepts four core aspects of everyday design in learning activities are developed: The design of the environment, “becoming designed”, designing oneself, and designing the design process. A model of the everyday design process is proposed which reveals both its creative and persistent side. The notion of everyday design in learning activities is an important concept to understand learners’ difficulties in knowledge building and to advance the development of learning strategies.

Pronunciation problems of Czech French-learning students and the effectiveness of learning strategies applied by the students of Faculty of Education, Charles University and Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia AUTHOR: PhDr. Kateřina Juřičková DEPARTMENT: Department of French Language and Literature, Charles University TUTOR: doc. PhDr. Marie Fenclová, CSc. This PhD thesis - a comparative study - deals on the segmental level with vowels which Czech French-learning speakers find difficult to pronounce and on the suprasegmental level with prosodic factors. On the former level, closed vowels both labialized and sharp, nasal vowels, schwa and semi-vowels are analysed. The first, theoretical part of the paper contains the phonetic and phonological characteristics of the Czech language and the French language from the viewpoint of vocalic systems of these languages and from the viewpoint of melody-prosody interaction. The second, experimental part, contains descriptions of the pre- research single phase observation of problematic phenomena obtained from three groups of students of KFJL (Department of French Language and Literature; Faculty of Education - Charles University), and findings from the research proper from two-phase observations of two groups of students of KFJL and...

In order to learn a language, it is important to develop a vocabulary because it facilitates the language skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking. According to the Swedish curriculum, students must be able to develop these skills in English. However, the national tests show that students have poor results in reading and reading comprehension in English. Therefore, as future teachers of languages in Sweden, we chose to investigate how students can develop and strengthen their vocabulary through reading. Our research questions are: What cognitive processes and strategies are used when learning vocabulary? What does research say about incidental vocabulary learning through reading? What relationship does vocabulary have with reading comprehension? We have answered our questions by synthesizing and analyzing empirical studies which have been divided into two categories: cognitive processes and strategies, and vocabulary acquisition through reading. The findings show that, when encountering new vocabulary, learners use memory, determination, social and metacognitive strategies. Learning vocabulary happens both incidentally and intentionally and during this procedure words go through cognitive processes that determine where in our knowledge system they belong but this procedure can be affected by both internal and external factors. Results show that learners find reading and reading while listening to be a good method of learning vocabulary and these approaches also show good results in incidental vocabulary acquisition. Learners acquire new vocabulary incidentally through reading but the number of words they learn varies greatly. Learner’s prior vocabulary knowledge and the level of the target text is important for the outcome of new vocabulary acquisition. If the learner does not have an adequate prior vocabulary, associations and connections cannot be made and coherence not completed. In summary, the relationship between incidental vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension is mutually beneficial. Reading provides context during a learner’s integration process and this leads to comprehension and vocabulary growth. There is a reciprocal relationship between comprehension and vocabulary growth, where both build on one another. However, since all the empirical studies did not take the same factors into consideration, the results have varied. In other words, external and internal factors can have a major impact on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. We suggest further research to investigate these factors in order to get a clearer picture of how we as teachers can improve strategies and instructions for vocabulary acquisition through reading.