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This study examined the effects of a computer-mediated intervention on "at-risk" preschool students' receptive vocabulary development, computer-literacy skills, and enthusiasm for leaning. Twenty-two preschool-aged children attending an urban primary public school and participating in government subsidized school lunch program participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control-group design and case-study participant observations were used for data collection. Students were assigned to one of two treatment groups. Eleven preschool students with pretest School Readiness Composite (SRC) standard scores of 80, or below, on the Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), were assigned to the intervention group. Eleven pre-school students matched by age level and teacher comprised the comparison group. The intervention group received computer-mediated instruction while the comparison group received classroom teacher instruction. The first research question examined the effect of the intervention on students' receptive vocabulary analyzing groups' pretest and posttest BBCS-R School Readiness Composite mean scores. Combined analysis of a Two-Factor Repeated Measures and a Posttest only ANCOVA revealed that computer-mediated instruction was as effective as classroom teacher instruction in helping "at-risk" students acquire readiness receptive vocabulary. The second research question examined the effect of the intervention on "at-risk" student's computer-literacy skills analyzing participants pretest and posttest mean scores on the Computer Input Observation Rubric (CIOR), a rubric developed by the researcher. Analysis of One-Factor ANOVA and of Two-Factor Repeated Measures indicated that computer intervention significantly increased students' computer literacy skills. The third research question examined the impact of computer-mediated intervention on preschool students' enthusiasm for learning and followed descriptive case study methodology. Students' level of task involvement and positive-self statements confirmed enthusiasm for learning with technology.

Behovet av tolkar inom hälso- och sjukvården har ökat i takt med att antalet flerspråkiga individer ökar i dagens samhälle. Detta medför högre krav på sjukvården att upprätthålla kvalitén på god hälso- och sjukvård för alla. Logopeder kommer ofta i kontakt med flerspråkiga personer och är då i många av fallen i behov av tolkar vid utredningar eller behandlingar. I dagsläget finns det endast ett fåtal studier tillgängliga som beskriver de utmaningar i ett samarbete med logoped, som kan upplevas ur tolkens perspektiv. Syftet med studien är därmed att undersöka tolkars roll och få fram deras perspektiv av logopedisk utredning och behandling av flerspråkiga personer. Ökad kunskap om tolkens perspektiv skulle kunna tydliggöra de utmaningar och välfungerande arbetssätt som kan finnas och bidra till att förstärka samarbetet mellan tolk och logoped.Materialet för studien består av enkätsvar från 209 tolkar som arbetar i olika delar av Sverige. Information om tolkarna sammanställdes i tabeller för att kunna ge en överblick över bakgrundsinformation samt svar på ett antal fasta frågor om deras perspektiv och erfarenheter av tolkning inom logopediska aktiviteter. Många av de fasta frågorna hade också möjlighet till fritextsvar, vilket i hög grad utnyttjades av de tolkar som besvarade enkäten. Fritextsvarenanalyserades med tematisk analys. Resultatet påvisade att många av tolkarna överlag upplevde samarbetet med logopederna som positivt, men att det finns förbättringsområden. Det främst förekommande området var att tolkarna upplevde att logopederna inte hade tillräcklig kunskap över hur tolkarna bör utföra sitt yrke (utifrån yrkesetiska principer). En förbättrad förståelse förvarandras professioner skulle kunna öka den ömsesidiga förståelsen i samarbetet mellan tolk och logoped. Att kunna få ta del av de material som ska användas innan ett besök hos logopeden för att kunna förbereda sig, är något som tolkarna angav skulle kunna förbättra deras egen prestation och på så sätt även bidra till ökad patientsäkerhet. / The need for interpreters in health care has increased as the number of multilingual individuals increases in today´s society. This entails greater demands on healthcare services to maintain a high quality of healthcare for all. Speech therapists often encounter multilingual people and are then in many cases in need of interpreters during assessments or interventions. Currently, there are only a few studies available that describe challenges that may occur in collaborationsbetween interpreters and speech and language therapist, viewed from the interpreters’perspective. The purpose of this study is thus to investigate the role of interpreters and emphasise their perspective on speech and language therapy activities (e.g. assessment and intervention) for multilingual people. Increased knowledge of the interpreters’ perspective may reveal challenges, as well as identify well-functioning working methods that exist. Results of the study may contribute to strengthening the collaboration between interpreters and speech and language therapists.The material for the study consists of questionnaire responses from 209 interpreters from different parts of Sweden. To provide a comprehensive overview of their answers,information about the interpreters was compiled in tables. Free text answers were an accompanying option to many of the fixed questions. The interpreters' free text answers were analysed using thematic analysis. Overall, the results showed that many of the interpreters perceived the collaboration with the speech therapists as positive, but that there are areas for improvement. The most commonly addressed area was that the interpreters felt that the speech therapists did not have sufficient knowledge of how interpreters are required to perform their profession (by oath of conduct). An improved understanding of each other's professions might increase the degree of satisfaction in the collaboration between interpreter and speech and language pathologist. Getting access to the materials that are to be used for assessment or intervention, before the appointment to be interpreted, would provide the interpreter with a fair chance to prepare appropriately. This is something that a majority of the interpreters in the present study pressed would improve their own performance and thus also increase patient safety.