Den här uppsatsen undersöker möjligheterna för vuxna inlärare med ett redan befäst icke målspråksenligt uttal, att förbättra sitt uttal med hjälp av riktad uttalsträning och ökad språklig medvetenhet. Uppsatsens syfte är att ta reda på hur samtal som ska tydliggöra svenska språkets karaktärsdrag, gällande uttal och uppbyggnad i kombination med riktad uttalsträning, påverkar inlärarnas förmåga att tillägna sig grunddrag i svensk prosodi. Till grunddragen i svensk prosodi hör betonad och obetonad stavelse, relationen mellan lång och kort vokal och konsonant samt olika intonationsmönster. Studien visar att alla informanter klarade av att uttala alla övningsmeningar med målspråksenligt betonings – och intonationsmönster i talkör. Studien indikerar vidare att det dock inte var lika lätt att implementera det nya målspråksenliga uttalet i informanternas egenproducerade tal. Målspråksenliga betonade stavelser ökade dock hos alla informanters egenproducerade tal, vilket bidrog till fler obetonade stavelser runtomkring de betonade stavelserna, vilket i sin tur gav upphov till en mer svenskklingande prosodi. Intonationsmönstren blev också bättre även om de inte var lika tydliga och frekventa som de betonade stavelserna. Förutom ett förbättrat uttal, fick informanterna även en bättre hörförståelse, framförallt tack vare en ökad medvetenhet om reduktion och dess funktion. / This essay examines the possibility for adult learners of Swedish as a second language to improve their pronunciation with specific exercises concerning pronunciation and increased linguistic awareness, despite an already cemented non-native pronunciation. The aim of this essay is to find out how conversation, concerning linguistic characteristics and the structure of the Swedish language, in combination with specific exercises concerning pronunciation affects the adults ability to acquire the characteristics in Swedish prosody. The characteristics of Swedish prosody are stressed and unstressed syllables, the relationship between long and short vowels and consonants as well as different patterns concerning intonation.   The study shows that all participants could pronounce all the sentences from the exercises used in the study with native-like stress and intonation in choral speech. The study also indicates that is was more difficult for them to implement the new native-like pronunciation in their produced speech. Stressed syllables with native-like accent became more frequent among the adults in the study, which resulted in more unstressed syllables and made the prosy sound more Swedish. The different patterns concerning intonation also improved, but not with same frequency as the stressed syllables. Apart from a better pronunciation, the adults also improved their listening comprehension, mostly thanks to an increased consciousness about reduction and its function.

The literature has stated that all adults with Down syndrome (DS) develop the physiological signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but that the behavioural changes may not occur until many years later. While there has been a fair bit of literature on the benefits of leisure in reducing the risk, or delaying the development, of AD in adults without DS, this literature is almost non-existent for the DS population. The purpose of the present study was two-fold. First, this study investigated the differences in cognition, language, and literacy skills, and leisure activity participation in younger and older adults with DS. Second, this study examined leisure activity participation as a predictor of cognitive, language, and literacy abilities. Results showed that older participants (age 46-60) tended to score more poorly on measures of cognition, language, and literacy than younger participants (age 20-45). These age-related differences may, in part, be due to AD. Leisure activity participation was also found to vary with age, such that older adults engaged in fewer physical, cognitive, and social leisure activities and worked more hours than the younger adults. Differences in leisure activity participation may be due to AD or to the participant's place of residence, where participants living in a group home tended to work more and were involved in less leisure than participants living with their parents. Finally, leisure activity participation was not found to predict cognitive, language and literacy scores, with the exception of watching television, which negatively predicted oral expression scores. While true of all adults, adults with DS should be encouraged to dedicate more time to positive leisure activities at all ages, and more specifically to cognitive leisure activities, and dedicate less time to television watching, to help delay the onset of declines associated with AD.

Music is a form of language and uses tones and rhythm as its media of universal language. Language development and music development have many similarities. Both are communicative modes, aurally and orally transmitted, containing phonetic, syntactic, and semantic components, develop early in life and are socially interactive media. The researcher has noted the important role that music plays in the teaching of English as a second language. To be able to learn, understand and experience music and language, the learner should have well-developed listening skills. The aim of this research is to investigate the use of music and movement to develop the listening skills of the ESL learner. To provide activities to develop listening and concentration through music and movement, the researcher aims to prove that music and movement should be used to develop ESL learners' language. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Basé sur une étude empirique, la présente thèse apporte un éclairage sur les compétences de lecture, de décodage et de compréhension orale en allemand chez des élèves plurilingues immigrés et leurs homologues monolingues suisses allemands. Un échantillon d’environ 500 élèves plurilingues et de 160 élèves monolingues constitue la base empirique de ce travail qui nous a servi à examiner certains éléments de controverses ainsi que la capacité prédictive de la théorie de la «Simple View of Reading » ( Philipp B. Gough & Tunmer, 1986 p. 85; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Nous constatons que la compréhension orale et le décodage possèdent une forte valeur prédictive pour les compétences en lecture. Cette valeur prédictive dépend cependant fortement de la façon dont les compétences en lecture sont opérationnalisées et elle est plus élevée dans le groupe des lecteurs débutants (en CE1/CE2). La modélisation des compétences de lecture d’après la la « Simple View of Reading Theory » réussit mieux pour des tests de lecture courts, à choix multiples et sous contrainte de temps que pour des tests à base de textes plus longs et authentiques, qui proposent différents formats de réponses. L’intégration du facteur de l’intelligence dans le modèle de prédiction est plus bénéfique pour le groupe des lecteurs plus expérimentés (CM2/6ème). L’utilisation de la méthode des analyses de régressions multiples à plusieurs niveaux (MLwiN) a mis en évidence que l’apport du QI est plus important lorsqu’on examine les compétences au niveau des classes qu’au niveau des élèves pris individuellement. Nous écartons donc la proposition d’une substitution du facteur compréhension orale au profit du QI comme Tiu, Thompson et Lewis (2003) l’ont proposé. / This work aimed to examine controversial elements as well as the explanatory strength of the “Simple View of Reading Theory”. It has been based on empirical data analyses of language abilities of about 500 multilingual and 160 monolingual school graders in the German speaking part of Switzerland (Philipp B. Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990). We found evidence in both groups (monolingual and multilingual pupils) for a strong impact of listening comprehension and decoding in explaining reading comprehension abilities. The degree of the explained variance was determined by the test used to evaluate reading comprehension and by the age of pupils, showing a bigger effect with young readers (2nd/3rd graders) than with more experienced readers (5th / 6th graders). Modeling reading comprehension abilities based on the «Simple View of Reading Theory» proved to be more successful when using short, time limited, multiple choice reading tests than using a test with longer, authentic texts and offering a mixture of different response formats. The integration of the intelligence factor into our model improved the prediction of reading abilities in the group of the more experiences readers (5th / 6th graders). The improvement though was essentially situated at the level of school classes as unit of analyses. On the individual level only minor improvements were observed. Therefore we would reject the idea of eliminating the listening comprehension factor in favor of an integration of the IQ factor that has been suggested by Tiu, Thompson and Lewis (2003).

Assuming that post-lexical processes significantly affect the English spoken language when in connected speech, and that this is one of the main reasons why students of English as a foreign language find listening comprehension so difficult to cope with, this study aims to find out the main processes concerning phrasal phonology that render spoken language so different from the written one. Drawing on these findings, it investigates the connection between listening comprehension and the teaching of pronunciation using a top-down approach, that is to say, starting from the whole picture, and based on the organization of the language in chunks in the fluidity of speech. This is an action-research, conducted with two groups of upper-intermediate students during one semester. It is based on the assumption that by raising students‟ awareness of post-lexical processes, with the support of the Lexical Approach which encourages teaching language in chunks, teachers can enable students to be better listeners. One of the groups did pronunciation awareness raising exercises whereas the other one only followed the coursebook. Students‟ listening abilities were tested using the Cambridge FCE Listening test, at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. At the end of the semester, the comparison of both groups‟ performance in the FCE listening test showed that the group who had been explicitly taught phrasal phonology developed their listening comprehension skills considerably, outperforming the other group. The results point to the importance of teaching pronunciation to develop listening comprehension. / Partindo do pressuposto de que processos pós-lexicais afetam significativamente o inglês oral na fala fluente, e que esta é uma das principais razões que fazem com que alunos de inglês como língua estrangeira considerem a compreensão oral tão difícil, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar os principais processos que fazem a língua falada ser tão diferente da escrita. Partindo dessa diferença, foram investigadas as conexões entre compreensão oral e ensino de pronúncia, usando-se uma abordagem holística, ou seja, começando de uma visão geral, da organização da língua em blocos na fluidez da fala. Esta é uma pesquisa-ação efetuada com dois grupos de alunos de nível intermediário superior durante um semestre, e está baseada na tese que chamando a atenção dos alunos para processos pós-lexicais, com o suporte da abordagem lexical (o ensino da língua em blocos), poderemos ajudá-los a desenvolver sua compreensão oral. Um dos grupos trabalhou com exercícios de pronúncia enquanto o outro somente com o livro didático. A capacidade de compreensão oral destes alunos foi testada no começo e no final da pesquisa, através do teste de FCE da Universidade de Cambridge. No final do semestre, comparados os resultados de ambos os grupos nesse teste, verificamos que o grupo que recebeu instrução explícita de fonologia frasal apresentou uma melhora significativa na compreensão oral, superando o outro grupo. Os resultados apontam para a importância do ensino de pronúncia para desenvolvimento da compreensão oral.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka, beskriva och analysera variationer och samband gällande språkförståelse, avkodning och läsförståelse på svenska och engelska och utröna vilken betydelse dessa komponenter har för elever som lär sig engelska som främmande språk. Studien utgick från The Simple View of Readingsamt The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis,vilka ligger till grund för beskrivning och tolkning av studiens empiri. I studien medverkade 24 elever i lässvårigheter och 30 typiska läsare. De gick i årskurs 4 i åtta skolor belägna i södra Sverige. Dessa elever genomförde sex deltest; tre på svenska och tre på engelska. Resultatet visadeatt elever i lässvårigheter presterade signifikant sämre än typiska läsare på samtliga test, utom det test som prövade språkförståelse på svenska. Studien visar att en individs avkodningsförmåga är avgörande för läsförståelsen i engelska som främmande språk. Detta gäller såväl typiska läsare som elever i lässvårigheter, vilket även tidigare forskning i andra länder visat. Studiens slutsats är att samtliga elever måste ges möjlighet att träna på och utveckla sin avkodningsförmåga på engelska för att uppnå god läsförståelse på engelska. / The purpose of this study was to investigate, describe and analyze variations and relationships regarding language comprehension, decoding and reading comprehension in Swedish and English and determine the importance of these components for students who learn English as a foreign language. The study was based on The Simple View of Readingand The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis, which form the basis for the description and interpretation of the study's results. Twenty-four students in reading difficulties and thirty students with typical reading ability participated in the study. They were in the fourth grade and went to eight different schools located in the south of Sweden. These students conducted six tests; three in Swedish and three in English. The results showed that students in reading difficulties performed significantly worse than typical readers on all tests, except for the one that tested language comprehension in Swedish. The study shows that an individual's decoding ability is crucial for reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. This applies to both typical readers and students in reading difficulties, as also shown in previous research in other countries. The study's conclusion is that all students must be given the opportunity to practice and develop their decoding skills in English to achieve a good reading comprehension in English.

The main aim of the thesis are the mapping the level of understanding narrative text for student of fifth grade primary school with the typical development of reading skills. The thesis deal with the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. The thesis is traditionally divided into a theoretical and empirical part. The first part of the thesis prestnts the theoretical background research problems of comprehension the text. Attention is focused mainly on the domain of listening comprehension and reading comprehension, including a summary of the current state of knowledge about the relationship between both skills in foreign and Czech studies, as well as the diagnostics of reading and prerequisites that are reflected on the comprehensions the text. In the practical part are conclusions expected on its own research, which was attended by 40 students taught by the analytic-synthetic metod of reading, are compared with the results of the three year research project GAČR - Reading complrehension - typical development and its risks, where attended 59 students of fifth grade primary school taught by the same reading method. In addition to comprehension level will be monitored by level of basic language skills.

Este trabalho pretende contribuir para o estudo da compreensão auditiva (CA) da língua espanhola por aprendizes brasileiros em processos de ensino/aprendizagem que definimos como fazendo parte das condições de produção de um processo de inscrição por parte de um sujeito na ordem da língua outra (SERRRANI-INFANTE, 1997b;1998b). Partimos da hipótese de que essa dimensão tem sido pouco explorada em suas especificidades e, menos ainda, em sua relação com a série de singularidades que caracterizam o aprendiz brasileiro. Para tanto, iniciamos nosso percurso investigando o lugar dado a ela nos métodos e abordagens de ensino de línguas, desde práticas utilizadas no século XVII até os dias atuais, o que nos leva inclusive a abordar o Quadro Europeu Comum de Referência para as Línguas (2001) e os efeitos de sentido que ele tem produzido no espaço de enunciação (GUIMARÃES, 2002) brasileiro. Em seguida passamos, por um lado, a observar como foram retomados os sentidos instaurados pelos já referidos métodos e abordagens, ao colocá-los em relação, fundamentalmente, com alguns dos documentos oficiais que regem o ensino nesse país; e, por outro, ao entrar em contato com os estudos desenvolvidos no campo da linguagem no Brasil em torno de aspectos relacionados a nosso objeto com o intuito de avançar na compreensão de sua complexidade. Posteriormente, passamos a analisar o funcionamento do trabalho com a CA em dois livros didáticos entendidos estes como instrumentos linguísticos (AUROUX, 1992) e, por último, em duas atividades e/ou experiências efetivamente realizadas em sala de aula, que designaremos cenas e que se caracterizam por não estarem mediadas diretamente por um livro didático. Esse estudo, que realizamos a partir, fundamentalmente, do dispositivo teórico da Análise do Discurso de linha materialista, nos permite observar que tanto nos métodos e abordagens como nos livros didáticos bem como no terreno real das práticas de ensino/aprendizagem predomina um trabalho espontâneo com a CA, uma diluição dela em outras habilidades ou competências e, por vezes, uma forte subordinação à compreensão leitora. Nesse sentido, nosso investimento vai na direção de pensar essa designação como insuficiente e de responder à necessidade de vinculá-la à dimensão da oralidade, como trabalho de interpretação da materialidade do oral o que implica considerar aspectos discursivos / The purpose of this masters degree study is to contribute to the study of listening comprehension (LC) of the Spanish language by Brazilian learners in the teaching-learning processes which we define as being part of the production conditions of a process of inscription by a subject in the other language (SERRRANI-INFANTE, 1997b, 1998b). The study starts from the hypothesis that this dimension has been little exploited in its specificities and even less in its relationship with the series of singularities that characterizes Brazilian learner. For this purpose of this study, we began our journey by investigating how this dimension has been placed as far as methods and approaches of language teaching are concerned, from practices used in the seventeenth century to the present day, which leads us even to approach the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) as well as the effects of meaning that it has being producing in the Brazilian space of enunciation (GUIMARÃES, 2002). Then, we continue our study, on the one hand, by observing how the senses brought by such methods and approaches were taken up, to put them, fundamentally, in relation to some of the official documents governing the education in this country; and, on the other hand, by contacting the language-related studies developed in Brazil around aspects related to our object in order to advance the understanding of its complexity. Afterwards, we began to examine the functioning of the work with the LC in two textbooks - which are both understood as linguistic instruments (AUROUX, 1992) - and, finally, in two activities and / or experiences performed effectively in the classroom, hereinafter referred to as \"scenes\" that are characterized by being not mediated directly by a textbook. This study, supported primarily from theoretical and methodological Discourse Analysis from a materialistic perspective, allows us to observe that both methods and approaches in textbooks as well as in real teaching-learning practice where a spontaneous approach with the LC is likely to predominate, by diluting such LC in other \"skills\" or \"competences\" and sometimes a strong subordination to reading comprehension. In that sense, our investment goes toward thinking that designation as insufficient and to respond to the need to link it to the orality dimension as a work of interpretation of the so-called oral materiality\" - which implies considering discursive aspects

Cette thèse porte sur l’étude des stratégies de compréhension de l’oral des apprenants de français dans le contexte hétéroglotte thaïlandais. Nos travaux ont pour objectifs d’étudier ainsi que d’analyser les stratégies de la compréhension de l’oral, le rôle du multimédia dans l’acquisition de cette compétence et de proposer des macro-tâches d’entraînement individuel à la compréhension de l’oral du français en tant que langue étrangère dans des environnements multimédias. Nos deux expérimentations ont été menées auprès de 30 apprenants de français en tant que langue étrangère au centre de langues étrangères de l’université Suan Dusit Rajabhat, à Bangkok en Thaïlande. Nous avons effectué différents modes de collectes de données : observation, questionnaire et entretien. La réalisation de cette recherche nous a permis non seulement de répondre aux questions initiales mais aussi de valider nos hypothèses et d’obtenir des résultats positifs et favorables chez les apprenants, comme point de départ de l’amélioration de la compétence d’écoute. Le type de stratégie employée dépend du niveau linguistique. Les apprenants adaptent leurs stratégies d’écoute aux types de tâches à résoudre et de documents sonores. Ils sont favorables à nos tâches d’écoute médiatisées avec les supports TIC permettant un rythme d’apprentissage personnalisé qui facilite la gestion et la répartition du temps, l’individualisation et l’autonomie dans l’apprentissage, sans regard ni jugement unique du formateur, mais une gestion partagée de l’évaluation. Tous les apprenants ont tiré le plus grand profit de ces expérimentations d’entraînement à l’écoute qui leur permettent d’améliorer leur compétence dans la compréhension de l’oral ainsi que leur autonomie. Cette étude analytique nous amènera à tirer profit, pour l’enseignement et l’entraînement de l’utilisation des stratégies adéquates, pouvant être intégrées en début d’apprentissage linguistique, qui seraient bénéfiques à la compréhension de l’oral ainsi qu’à d’autres compétences langagières (compréhension de l’écrit, production orale et production écrite) du français en tant que langue étrangère. / This thesis focuses on the study of listening strategies to learn French in the Thai heteroglott context. Our work has two main aims. The first is to study and analyze listening strategies and the role of multimedia in the acquisition of this skill. The second is to provide individual macro-task training in multimedia environments to improve listening comprehension of French as a foreign language. The study was conducted with 30 learners of French as a foreign language at the institute of language, art and culture at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand. We collected the data by using three different methods : observation, questionnaire and interview. The realization of this research has enabled us not only to respond to initial questions and to validate our assumptions, but also to develop methods that can be used by learners as a starting point to improve the skill of listening. We found that the type of listening strategy employed depended on the learner’s language level. Students adjusted their listening strategies according to the type of task that needed to be carried out and the type of sound recording. Students used the support of ICT to learn at their own pace, manage their time more effectively, be more autonomous, and learn according to their individual needs without the need for feedback from the teacher. All learners have taken advantage of our listening training experiments to enable them to improve their listening skills and be more autonomous learners. This analytical study has enabled us to devise and make use of the best teaching and training strategies for early language learning that can improve learners’ listening and other language skills (reading, speaking and writing) when studying French as a foreign language.

本教學實驗旨在探討如何教導國中生認識英語弱化音。筆者身為英語母語人士經常看到即使有十年或二十年學習經驗的英語學習者，仍舊無法完整了解母語人士講述的內容，原因就是弱化音與連音所造成的困擾，本研究藉著教導學生具備相關辨識能力，希望了解學生對這樣學習的成果與反應。 研究首先施行前測，取得比較基準，接著設計並在課堂實施了七個節次的教學，包括四堂連音、三堂弱化母音。課後再施行後測。前後測比較之下並無顯著統計差異。但是針對學生所作的問卷調查發現，學生覺得學到了聽力技巧與能力有所進步。此外協同教師在訪談中也表示，此教學對學生的聽力技巧與能力有所助益。 根據本次研究經驗，筆者提出教學建議，認為教授國中生弱化音與連音確有必要，也期待這樣的教學應該盡早提供，而非等到高中或大學，以免為時已晚。 / This study looks at teaching reduced sounds to junior high school students. It started with the premise that even people who have studied English for ten or twelve years still cannot understand online materials spoken by native speakers of English. The reduced sounds and linked sounds baffle them. This study investigated the student reaction to hearing reduced vowels. A pretest was administered to establish a baseline. Four contractions and three reduced vowels were presented in the lessons. Then a post-test was given. The statistics showed no measurable change between pretest and post-test scores. However there are other ways to measure progress. In the survey given with the post-test, a number of students responded that they felt they had learned listening skills, and that their listening comprehension had improved. There were also interviews with co-teachers. These interviews also bore out that teachers felt the students’ listening comprehension had improved. The writer, as an active participant in the study, feels that teaching reduced sounds in junior high school is worthwhile. One should present more reduced sounds and linked words early on, and not wait until senior high school or university.