This study is intended to shed light on similarities and differences in terms of functional structure of the clause when modality is expressed by use of modal operators in Russian and English, in order to arrive at findings which inform, and are applicable to, the process of English language acquisition by the Russian learner. The need for the investigation was prompted by the author’s work experience in the field of English teaching, and the lack of explicit guidance in available textbooks currently used in Russian schools and institutions with regard to the particular issue highlighted. While learning the subject of Systemic Functional Linguistics, I drew parallels between the functional structures in the two languages, the purpose of which is to provide a roadmap which facilitates the learning and teaching of English modality to the Russian learner. The approach of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), focusing on the metafunctions as the correspondence in the sociolinguistic message of the clause, is used as a basis for comparing the functional structures in both languages. The investigation of functional grammar features is carried out in order to spotlight  both the similarities and the differences inherent in expressing a degree of probability of an event or statement indicated, not only by the choice of an appropriate modal verb, but also its placement within the clause. The role of the social context in which the text is set is noted as significant for delivering the precise meaning of the message. Hence, the proposition will be pursued through further investigation in the field of modality, and viewed from perspectives of sociolinguistics.

This diploma thesis focuses on foreign language teaching to children with specific learning difficulties (LD) at Czech lower secondary schools. It aims to define learning difficulties and describe their causes and manifestations in developing individual foreign language skills and sub-skills. Moreover, the work with these children in the school environment is mentioned and the Czech system of educating them is compared to the French one. The practical part surveys the opinions of foreign language teachers on this subject and analyses the techniques they use with these pupils. Special attention is paid to the differences in the approach of teachers at schools with classes specialized in the tuition of children with LD, schools with extensive language teaching and schools with no specialization. The results indicate that the majority of teachers agree with the integration of pupils with LD into mainstream schools and they favour their exemption from second foreign language study. The individual types of schools differ mainly in the approach towards the presentation of new grammar, in the types of exercises used for the development of communication skills and in the forms of testing and evaluation. Only negligible variations were discovered in other areas of research. KEYWORDS specific learning...

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le système complexe de la formation par alternance des adultes avec une initiation à l’autoévaluation. Quels sont les éléments qui participeraient aux changements initiés par la loi de Refondation pour pallier les inégalités scolaires constatées ? Notre objet d’étude se situe hors de l’école en REP, avec un dispositif d’accompagnement à la scolarité qui prend en charge des enfants de 7 ans en difficulté scolaire : le CELEM (Club Lecture Ecriture Mathématiques). Bien que des études s’intéressent à l’impact de différents facteurs sur la réussite des enfants, les recherches qui permettent la validation des modèles d’évaluation formatrice sont rares. Nous proposons une initiation à l’autorégulation lors de la formation des intervenants des clubs afin de favoriser le développement cognitif et l’autonomie des adultes et par la suite des enfants. Notre méthodologie a pour objectif de tester une relation causale entre la formation des intervenants et la progression des enfants pour des disciplines scolaires et dans le comportement. Notre méthode est quasi expérimentale, comparative, prospective en quasi double aveugle. Deux groupes d’intervenants ont été constitués par randomisation. Les cartes associatives réalisées ont permis de suivre l’évolution des représentations que les intervenants se font de leur mission. Les résultats obtenus sont positifs et ont été corroborés par les résultats des enfants. On a constaté des modifications statistiquement significatives qui permettent d’affirmer que l’initiation à l’autorégulation des intervenants a entraîné des modifications de leurs représentations et l’amélioration des résultats des enfants. / This thesis falls within the complex system of the work/study training program of adults with an introduction to self-regulation. Which elements would participate to the changes initiated by the law of Reorganization to compensate the existing educational inequalities? Our subject is set outside school in the high-priority education network, within a plan of educational support for seven-year-olds with learning difficulties : the Reading Writing Mathematics Club. Though several studies take interest in the impact of various factors on the children’s success, little research has been done to validate the models of formative evaluation. We propose to improve the training of the Club’s staff members with an introduction to self-regulation, to stimulate the cognitive development and independence of both adults and children. Our methodology aimed to test a cause and effect relation between the staff's training and the children’s progress in both school subjects and behaviour. Our method was almost experimental, comparative, prospective, practically double blinded. Two staff groups were randomly formed. We observed how the representations they had of their own mission evolved, before and after their training; the obtained results were corroborated by the children’s results. We observed statistically significant differences which allow us to affirm that the training in self-regulation of the staff members changed their representations and led to better results for the children

Students with learning difficulties are said by many writers to be prohibited from having a valued learner identity and denied a voice in which to influence their educational circumstances. They are, it is argued, kept submerged in a ‘culture of silence’, where they are homogenised as a deficit category of learners and, therefore, perceived in a one-dimensional way. Such disabling barriers stem from practitioner assumptions and wider sociological influences, which are also part of this same culture. The by-products of this thinking have prevented practitioners from developing more interactive and enabling relationships with their students. Starting with a commitment to listen to student views, and explore accessible, flexible and innovative ways in which to advocate these, the research reported in this thesis sought ways to address this agenda. Set in a further education college, five student co-researchers, four practitioner co-researchers and a facilitator co-researcher embarked on a year long project to learn how the same students could be supported in contributing to their own learning. Being a transparent account, the inquiry was also interested in exploring the difficulties of this endeavour and whether student empowerment would alter the relational dynamics and, therefore, practitioner roles. As the facilitator was instrumental in introducing these ideas, she also examined her own influential role. Data were generated from observations and co-researcher experiences of engaging with roles, body collages, student interviews, photo voice, journals, portfolios and reflective meetings. These exploratory processes and methods were predicated upon the ideological frameworks of the social model of disability and multiple intelligences theory. The study revealed that renegotiated co-researcher roles and body collages were effective processes for enabling reciprocal engagement, causing students to empower themselves and leading practitioners to rethink in ways that had not been anticipated. These processes were also felt to be educationally effective in relation to curriculum aims. Whilst journals and lengthy meetings proved to be impractical and of little use, the reflective journal did prove to be an essential tool for the facilitator, allowing her to draw upon further evidence. The findings indicate that student voice can be raised through collaboration and forging relationships of trust and co-ownership. The thesis concludes by arguing that silences were broken, not least since these collaborative actions are still being used in the particular context in ways that are conducive to everyday practices. Although time and commitment are needed, these are valuable strategies that other marginalised educational communities may benefit from adopting.

Syftet med studien är att studera lärares upplevelser av hur kooperativt lärande påverkar kunskapsutvecklingen inom matematiken för elever i behov av särskilt stöd och elever med extra anpassningar. Syftet är även att studera hur lärare upplever att denna metod fungerar för dessa elever med fokus på inkludering i matematikundervisningen. Sociokulturella perspektivet tillsammans med fenomenografi står som grund för studien och data samlas in genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer gjorda med sju matematiklärare. Resultatet påvisar att de sju matematiklärarna som intervjuats anser att kooperativt lärande är positivt, både för kunskapsutvecklingen och inkluderingsmöjligheten för elever i behov av särskilt stöd och elever med extra anpassningar. Samtliga matematiklärare som intervjuats trycker på att gruppkonstellationer är en viktig del för att eleverna ska känna trygghet, detta både för att deras matematiska kunskaper ska utvecklas samt att alla elever ska känna sig inkluderade. Resultatet visar bland annat att differentierad undervisning inom matematiken är av stor betydelse då det skapar inkludering för alla elever. De flesta matematiklärare som intervjuats påtalar även att differentierad undervisning bidrar till kunskapsutveckling inom matematik hos elever i behov av särskilt stöd och elever med extra anpassningar, oberoende av deras tidigare kunskapsnivåer, då lärarna menar att undervisningen är anpassad från start. Resultatet diskuteras och jämförs sedan med tidigare forskning som även den visar liknande resultat.

This thesis concerns with the prevention of specific learning disabillities of children during their start of schooling, using the predictive test battery. The paper's goal is to focus on prediction signals of specific learning disorders and their timely prevention. Conclusion of our thesis is an up-to-date knowledge about preschool phase, school maturity and preparedness of children, knowledge about sub-function deficits, specific learning disabillities, its manifestation and posibilities of timely prevention. Research part's focus point is practical testing and evaluation of sub-functions with the help of diagnostic material named:"learning and writing disability hazards test for preschoolers." Test is undertaken by a group of six children in their mandatory preschool education year and is followed by intervention targeted at discovered areas with defecits. This group is filled in with case studies. After 6 months of intervention, during which the students started attending primary school, a post-test is performed to evaluate achieved results and compare them with a control group consisting of randomly chosen pupils attending first year of primary school as well. By combining theoretical and practical knowledge, we can define risk factors that allow us to predict specific learning disabilities...

Föreliggande studie är en kvalitativ intervjustudie som syftar till att undersöka erfarenheter av och uppfattningar om matematiklärande hos gymnasie- och vuxenstuderande i matematiksvårigheter för att därigenom öka kunskapen om denna elevgrupp och bättre kunna möta skilda undervisningsbehov. Frågeställningarna som ämnas besvaras är hur gymnasie- och vuxenstuderande som befinner sig i matematiksvårigheter beskriver sina möjligheter till lärande och utveckling i matematik och på vilket sätt dessa uppfattningar och erfarenheter kan relateras till begreppet matematisk resiliens. Matematisk resiliens härstammar ifrån psykologisk resiliens och handlar bland annat om att hantera och övervinna motgångar knutna till matematiklärande. Tidigare forskning kring matematisk resiliens är framförallt gjord i USA och Storbritannien och fenomenet är ännu inte studerat i någon högre utsträckning i svensk kontext. Intervjumaterialet har analyserats tematiskt med en hermeneutisk ansats. Studiens resultat presenteras i teman som beskriver möjlighet till lärande och utveckling i matematik kopplat till synen på förmåga, synen på arbete och ansträngning, synen på matematikens relevans och värde samt synen på hur känslor påverkar matematiklärandet. Resultatet diskuteras i relation till matematisk resiliens och vi konstaterar att arbetet med att öka elevers matematiska resiliens kan vara ett sätt för lärare och speciallärare i matematik att öka måluppfyllelse och att uppmärksamma de affektiva aspekterna av matematiklärande. Detta kan exempelvis ske genom användningen av the growth zone model och explicit undervisning kring olika studiestrategier samt att teorier om mindset särskilt beaktas vid utformandet av undervisningen. Sammanfattningsvis visar vår analys av resultatet att det är viktigt att ta i beaktande äldre elevers erfarenhetsmässiga bagage av återkommande misslyckanden och komplexa relation till matematiklärande.

The changing structures of families and the increase in the number of child headed families are progressively becoming noticeable both nationally and internationally. Reviewed literature has confirmed that the increasing trend in orphan status among school going age over the period 2002-2009, is of major concern. A growing body of literature also indicates that child headed families and orphan hood are becoming common phenomena in many African countries in general and South Africa in particular. This scenario presents certain challenges especially on the orphaned children‘s learning and schooling experiences as well as their behavioural and social interaction patterns. The phenomenon calls for greater educational support for such learners at school and home. Increasingly, teachers and schools world over are expected to respond to the changing educational environment and contextual realities of schooling that include the orphaned learners who head households. The aim of this thesis was to address the behavioural challenges that orphaned learners who head household experience and to develop a psycho-educational programme to support their learning. A qualitative instrumental case study research design was used with a study sample of 30 orphaned learners living in child headed household aged 10 to 16 years, ten Life Orientation Teachers, four members of School Management Team, eight members of School Based Support Team (SBST) and four Social Workers who were purposively sampled to participate in the study. The study was conducted in 15 classes located at four schools (3 secondary, 1 primary) in Taledi Area, Mamusa Circuit located in Ipelegeng Township of Schweizer Reneke town under Dr R.S. Ruth Momphati District-North West Province, South Africa. In order to answer the research question, data was collected using a variety of data collection techniques. These were semi structured interviews, observations and documentary analysis. Data obtained was analysed using the interpretational analysis method to determine the common themes and sub themes describing the behavioural challenges that the orphaned learners experience during schooling in the playgrounds and in the classroom. Data analysed revealed that although orphaned learners are socially strong with regard to interaction with their peers, they experience learning difficulties in the classroom leading to underperformance and grade repeating. The study also noted that orphaned learners exhibit negative conduct behaviours and negative social interaction patterns with their LO teachers and members of the school management team. The study also revealed that emotional problems and lack of material support are common phenomena amongst these learners. The study arrived at the recommendation that a psycho-educational programme to address the behavioural challenges be developed to enhance the academic performance of the learners. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie ondersoek is om die ekstrinsieke en intrinsieke oorsake van leermislukking met spesifieke verwysing na skole in die Windhoek stadsgebied te bepaal en om aanbevelings te doen hoe om leermislukking teen te werk. Leermislukking en druiping is onrusbarend hoog in skole in die Windhoek stadsgebied. Nadat die Ministerie van Onderwys die semi-outomatiese promoveringstelsel ingestel het, het druiping afgeneem maar leermislukking het toegeneem omdat leerders gepromoveer word sander dat hulle sukses in die vorige graad behaal het. Volgens die literatuurstudie lê die oorsake van leermislukking by die ouerhuis, die skool, die omgewing en in die leerder self. Die empiriese ondersoek toon ooreenkomste met die literatuurstudie wat betref die oorsake van leermislukking. Om die oorsake teen te werk • moet onderwysers beter opgelei word • moet die ouers meer bewus gemaak word van hulle rot in die leersukses van hulle kinders. • is meer skoolgeboue en onderwysers nodig om kleiner klasse te bewerkstellig. / The purpose of this research is to establish the extrinsic and intrinsic causes of learning failure with specific reference to schools in the Windhoek municipal area and to make recommendations to counteract learning failure. Learning failure and grade failing are disconcertingly high in schools in the Windhoek municipal area. After the Ministry of Education implemented the semi-automatic promotion system, grade failing decreased, but learning failure increased because learners are promoted without achieving success in a prior grade. According to the literature study, the causes of learning failure are to be found in the home, the school, the environment, and the learner. Similarities regarding the causes of learning failure were found in the empirical investigation and the literature study. To counteract these causes • teachers should be better trained • parents should become more aware of their role in the learning success of their children • more school buildings and teachers are needed to limit class sizes. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Spesiale Behoeftes Onderwys)

Through document analysis, one-on-one interviews with parents, and observations the researcher aimed to explore early intervention in pre-school children with learning difficulties in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. The researcher set out to determine whether parents were aware of the importance of early intervention in addressing learning difficulties in their children, what support existed to help parents give support to children with learning difficulties, and how support could be improved to enable parents to help their children. This study found that parents in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape needed support that would enable them to provide early intervention for their children with learning difficulties. The study also showed that parents were aware of the importance of early intervention to help their children with learning difficulties. Most parents were receiving support, but there was room for improvement in the support that they were receiving. Flowing from this, the study also found that parents needed different forms of support, e.g. emotional and financial support. Based on the findings, recommendations were made. Recommendations were aimed at improving support for parents, so they can provide successful early intervention for their pre-school children, e. g. through the creation of open channels of communication between parents and other role players, like government departments and service providers. Recommendations were also made for future research, e. g. research into ways to create open channels of communication. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)