Linguistic fossilization is a prevalent phenomenon in adult ESLA and presents a perpetual pedagogical challenge to teachers. Despite controversy about the theoretical concept, research is increasingly showing that persistent erroneousness cannot be attributed to single causal factors. This single case study examines controversial aspects surrounding the concept and formulates criteria for identifying fossilization. The study investigates the conversational output of an independent adult learner over a period of nine months and presents a holistic exploration of causal influences. The findings substantiate that fossilization arises from changing combinations of factors, and that such combinations are unique to the situation of each adult learner. The key to the successful treatment of fossilized errors may lie in identifying their roots, which can be achieved by analyzing output and through discussion with learners in order to gain insight into their experience of the learning process. Results also suggest that a critical perspective on the theoretical construct is needed in order to investigate the phenomenon in adult second language acquisition. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL))

The focus of this dissertation revolved around the phenomenon of friendship, specifically amongst adolescents. Friendship is a universal phenomenon, that occurs in every race, culture and religion. Within friendship there are some universal aspects that were investigated. The research attempted to understand the phenomenon of friendship amongst the developmental phase of the adolescent. Furthermore, the effect of friendship on the adolescent’s general psychological functioning had been investigated. The research came to the conclusion that friendship does have a positive influence on an adolescent’s general psychological functioning but that some psychological factors, such as communication skills, social skills and self confidence need to be developed to a certain extent in order for friendship to have a positive influence on the adolescent’s psychological functioning. If these psychological factors are however not in place, friendship may to a certain extent highlight an adolescent’s weaknesses and reinforce his/her social inadequacy, inferiority, lack of self confidence and negative self talk. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The quality of education in South Africa has come increasingly under scrutiny for various reasons and learners ‘performance in mathematics is one of the main areas of concern. Learners in secondary schools in Nzhelele East Circuit in Limpopo Province, South Africa, are not performing well in mathematics. Learners who want to pursue careers such as civil engineering, medicine and other qualifications where mathematics is a prerequisite find it difficult to follow these careers. The study used focus group discussions with 20 Grade 12 learners, face-to-face semi-structured interviews with six teachers and four SMT to investigate factors affecting grade 12 learners performance in mathematics in two secondary schools. The study highlighted socio-cultural and psychological factors that are seen to be barriers in mathematics performance. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that affect Grade 12 learners’ performance in mathematics. As there are many factors, this study's main emphasis was on the influence of the home environment, teachers’ competence and attitudes in teaching mathematics, learners’ attitudes towards mathematics and strategies that can be used to improve learners’ performance in mathematics. The afore-said were named themes each of which related to questions contained in the semi-structured interview schedule. The study included literature review from Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. Qualitative research method was used. Interviews were conducted with SMT, teachers and learners. The researcher set out to answer the following question What are the dominant and most profound socio-cultural and psychological factors of the Grade 12 mathematics learners affecting performance in the Nzhelele East Circuit, Vhembe District of Limpopo Province? The following points will also be taken into consideration during this research. How do learner performance trends in mathematics education look like among Grade 12 mathematics learners in the Nzhelele East Circuit, Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, and South Africa? What are the teacher-based factors established to have been contributory to the state of learner performance in mathematics in the selected participant schools? What are the School Management Team (SMTs) factors established to have been contributory to the state of learner performance in mathematics in the selected participant schools? THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Aim This study investigates the dominant and most profound socio-cultural and psychological factors affecting learner performance in mathematics among Grade 12 learners in the Nzhelele East Circuit, Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, and South Africa. Objectives The objective of this study was to explore the socio-cultural and psychological factors in the home and school environment that affect Grade 12 learners performance in mathematics at Nzhelele East Circuit, Vhembe District of Limpopo Province. Based on the above question the following were findings of the research. • Mathematics is believed to be a critical school subject in most regions of the world in general, and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. • A plethora of governments – especially those in developing economies where governments are targeting industrialization and technological development believe mathematics is crucial for facilitating development and advancement of the general populace of their regions. • Mathematics is a compulsory subject in most education systems around the world. • There are a variety of complexities and constraints affecting the teaching and learning of mathematics in most regions of the world. • There is poor learner performance in mathematics. This is indicated by high failure rate in mathematics during end-of-year learner assessments. • The reasons for the poor performance of learners in mathematics in the selected schools were vast and intertwined. • Efforts have been made at international level to intervene with regard finding solutions to complexities and constraints affecting teaching-learning environment in mathematics. • The complexities and constraints affecting the teaching-learning environment of mathematics in South Africa stem from South Africa's past era of apartheid education. • Mathematics has been a major target of improvement and transformation by the post-apartheid government in South Africa. • Regardless of the efforts made by the post-apartheid government in South Africa to improve and transform teaching-learning environment in mathematics, there are perpetual complexities and constraints still hindering progress, and this affects learner output in mathematics. • Mathematics is one of the poorly performing subjects in the post-apartheid education system in South African schools – especially those schools which are based in formerly disadvantaged areas such as homelands and townships. • There is a growing body of literature investigating the complexities and constraints affecting the teaching-learning of mathematics in South Africa. Apart from the conclusions based on general observations, the study furthermore concluded that critical learner-based factors, teacher-based factors and SMT-base factors contributed to the state of affairs in the selected participant schools. This study therefore concluded thus: • Learner-based factors Mathematics learners were poorly prepared in the lower grades for senior grades. In other words, learners lacked proper foundation and background in mathematics. Learners were not well taught the basics of mathematics in previous grades. Furthermore, mathematics learners lacked assistance with homework for example because the majority of parents were illiterate and therefore not involved in supervision of learners beyond school environment. Learners showed negative attitude towards their teachers and the subject. Learners were not self-motivated in mathematics. • Teacher-based factors Teachers did not have enough workshops on how to teach mathematics, and also on content knowledge improvement. Less creative teachers were teaching mathematics. Teachers lacked support from their principals. The majority of teachers lacked passion in mathematics. • School Management Teams (SMTs) factors This study concludes that mathematics teachers were not receiving adequate support from the School management Teams (SMTs). Lack of teacher support by SMTs stems from poor organisation of supervisory roles expected from SMTs. Teachers' work is not being properly monitored and supervised. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the conclusions drawn from the study, the following recommendations are crucial, and they have to be implemented: • Recommendations to the Department of Education This study recommends that the Department of Education should monitor or revisit the methods of teaching and learning of mathematics. Assessment should also be revisited to ensure that the mathematics paper is not too long for the learners during examinations. Enlisted service providers who facilitate teacher workshops for mathematics must be conversant with content requirements of mathematics. Considerations should be made to simplify the mathematics question paper. The Department of Education should also provide necessary resources such as textbooks timeously. Knowledgeable mathematics specialists and advisers could be enlisted to visit regular visits to schools to assist teachers and learners throughout the year. • Recommendations to the School Management Teams (SMTs) The SMT should ensure that their educators are adequately qualified to teach mathematics. as a subject as well as being able to teach their learners in a way that they understand the subject. In addition, teachers who are knowledgeable in teaching mathematics should be appointed to teach mathematics. The SMTs should also ensure that compulsory workshops are provided for mathematics teachers at school level. Furthermore, the SMTs should ensure that educators are able to identify learners that are under-performing, monitor the utilisation of study time and assist in resolving problems regarding the poor performance of such individual learners. School Management Teams shall facilitate additional after-hours lessons and sessions to assist learners identified as lacking in home environment assistance for example. Moreover, SMTs should also encourage all Grade 12 mathematics learners to participate in supervised extra mathematics lessons and extra-mural activities in order to develop and build their self-confidence and positive self-esteem. In addition, the SMT members should be more supportive to their mathematics teachers. Continuous moderation of teachers' work should be encouraged. School Management Teams (SMTs) should also develop motivational programmes and instruments to encourage and motivate learners in their respective schools. For example, performing learners could be awarded with prizes in public – especially during school organised functions which might include learners, teachers and parents. • Recommendations to the teachers The teachers should make it a point that they attended mathematics workshops as organised by various stakeholders. Teachers' interest in mathematics could be improved by improving their knowledge of subject content in mathematics, and personal recognition by authorities. Performing teachers could also be recognised and awarded with prizes publicly at school gatherings and meetings. Teachers should also be encouraged to obtain further qualifications and skills in mathematics. • Recommendations to the learners Efforts should be made to improve learners’ attitudes towards mathematics, and in addition to their mathematics teachers. Learners should be made aware of national target for mathematics education and the implications thereof. This could be achieved by utilizing educators – especially those who teach Guidance as a subject to learners to provide more convincing evidence of the spin-offs of obtaining good passes in mathematics in South Africa. SUGGESTION FOR AREAS NEEDING FURTHER STUDY There is a need to conduct follow-up research on: • applied strategies and instrument to improve learner attitude towards mathematics. • Establishing whether the complexities and constraints affecting learner performance in mathematics affect both girl and boy learners the same considering that their circumstances and conditions might materially differ. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Introduction: adequate sleep is essential to maintain a healthy life. Inadequate sleep causes various health impacts. The Centers for disease control and prevention (CDCP) from the USA announced in 2015 that sleep disorders and insufficient sleep are global health epidemics. Globally, immigration has risen especially in Sweden compared to past decades. Immigration is one of the factors of social determinants of health. Since immigration show an increasing trend, it is necessary to give much attention to the sleep health of immigrants in a health science context. Aim: The main purpose of this study is to explore the prevalence and factors associated with sleep disturbances among immigrants in Sweden. Method: Cross-sectional survey study conducted by distributing self-administered questionnaires online. Results: the prevalence of sleep disturbance among immigrants in Sweden was 69.16% (n=83). The most common self-identified factors associated with sleep disturbance were stress (62.4%, n=73) as psychological factors and high room temperature (48.3%, n=58) as environmental factors Conclusion: These findings show the necessity of taking immediate action to prevent further sleep consequences and climate change effects because of the increasing immigration trend. Future research studies can focus more on interventions that could control the impact of climate change-related sleep disturbances.

Thesis (M.A. (Criminology and Criminal Justice)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The incidence of child sexual abuse is reaching new statistical highs in South Africa. Studies indicate that every second a child is raped in South Africa. Therefore, Child Sexual Abuse requires abstained approaches to be fastened, solid knowledge foundation and understanding. Failure to respond precisely and treat sexually abused children with sensitivity and professionalism (SAPS officials, healthcare practitioners and the judiciary) limit chances for a successful prosecution and victory to conquer psychological impairments on victims. Therefore, this research explored experiences in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in the treatment of and response to child sexual abuse. The study was confined to Polokwane Policing Cluster (PPC) involving a sample from the South African Police Services (SAPS), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Social Department (DSD). This qualitative study adopted non-probability purposive sampling. Initially, the researcher targeted a population of fifteen (15) officials within the PPC who work directly with cases of CSA. However, two officials were not willing to form part of the study. This research was guided by the following objectives to: 1. Determine responses of the CJS to children as victims of sexual offences within the PPC; 2. Establish the protection of psychological well-being of children as victims of sexual offences in Polokwane Policing Cluster; and 3. Review regulatory legislative frameworks addressing the treatment of children as victims of sexual offence in Polokwane Policing Cluster. Moreover, this study examined causes and impacts associated with CSA. The study further reveals consequences of CSA and offer suggested mechanisms stemming from selected participants whom, among others include, but not limited to the following: using the legislative framework approach; the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996; protection of children‟s rights and broad statutory approaches for the treatment of sexual offence victims.

Der Einsatz von digitalen Menschmodellen erlaubt neben einer frühzeitigen ergonomischen Analyse die Gestaltung von Arbeitsprozessen und stellt ein hilfreiches Werkzeug in der Produkt- und Prozessgestaltung dar. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrages soll auf ausgewählte Schwerpunkte der Entwicklung des digitalen Menschmodells „The Smart Virtual Worker“ eingegangen werden. Das Forschungsprojekt soll einen Beitrag zur Lösung, der mit dem demografischen Wandel der Gesellschaft einhergehenden Herausforderungen leisten. Die daraus resultierenden Forschungsschwerpunkte liegen insbesondere in der Einbeziehung von Alterungs- und psychischen Faktoren in die Bewegungsgenerierung des Menschmodells und der Modellierung von Umweltbedingungen. In Umsetzung des Projektes wurde ein erstes Arbeitsszenario erarbeitet, auf dessen Basis die vorgenannten Forschungsaufgaben interdisziplinär gelöst werden sollen.

The object of the research was the employees of the "Linkom" branch of the city of Yekaterinburg. The subject of the study was the individual psychological characteristics of the staff (the type of personality corresponds to the organizational environment, the level of stress-resistance of the staff, the level of communication skills, the level of personality conflict, the psychological climate in the organization). The master's thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of literature (58 sources) and 11 applications, including summary tables of research data and forms of methodologies. The volume of the master's thesis is 86 pages. In the introduction, the urgency of the research problem is revealed, the goal and objectives of the research are set, the object and the subject of the research are determined, the basic and additional hypotheses are formulated, the methods and the empirical basis are specified, as well as the stages of the research, the scientific novelty, the theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter includes a review of foreign and domestic literature on the topic of the study, a description of the factors of staff turnover. Socio-psychological aspects of staff turnover are separately examined. Conclusions on the first chapter are the results of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It contains a description of the sample, organization, methods and results of the study, obtained from the seven methods used: 1) the questionnaire of professional self-determination by J. Holland; 2) questionnaire "Determining the type of future profession" E.A. Klimova; 3) questionnaire "Assessment of the level of conflictual personality" Rogova V..I; 4) questionnaire "Assessment of the psychological climate in the organization" Lutoshkina L.N.; 5) questionnaire "Professional stress" Golovatskoy S.L; 6) questionnaire "Communicative propensities" Sinyakovskiy V.V. and Fedorishina B.A.; 7) questionnaire to determine the degree of satisfaction with their profession and work for N. Zhirin and E. Ilyin. Statistical analysis used the analysis of means. The conclusions of Chapter 2 include the main results of the empirical study. In conclusion, the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses put forward, are presented in a generalized form, the practical significance of the study is substantiated and possible prospects for further development of this problem are described. / Объектом исследования сотрудники подразделения ООО «Линком» г. Екатеринбурга. Предметом исследования стали индивидуально-психологические особенности персонала (соответствие типа личности организационной среде, уровень стрессоустойчивости сотрудников, уровень сформированности коммуникативных навыков, уровень конфликтности личности, психологический климат в организации). Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, двух глав, заключения, списка литературы (58 источника) и 11-ти приложений, включающих в себя сводные таблицы данных исследования и бланки методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 86 страниц. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются основная и дополнительная гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме исследования, описание факторов текучести кадров. Отдельно рассматриваются социально-психологические аспекты текучести кадров. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Вторая глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание выборки, организации, методов и результатов исследования, полученных по семи использованным методикам:1) опросник профессионального самоопределения Дж. Голланда; 2) опросник «Определение типа будущей профессии» Е.А. Климова; 3) опросник «Оценка уровня конфликтности личности» Рогова В.И.; 4) опросник «Оценка психологического климата в организации» Лутошкина Л.Н.; 5) опросник «Профессиональный стресс» Головацкой С.Л.; 6) опросник «Коммуникативные склонности» Синяковского В.В. и Федоришина Б.А.; 7) опросник на выявление степени удовлетворенности своей профессией и работой по Н. Жирину и Е. Ильину. При статистической обработке использовался анализ средних. Выводы по главе 2 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам, обоснована практическая значимость исследования и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики.

This research examined 50 financial education programs within the state of Florida. The purpose of the research was to survey financial education program providers to see how they are evolving to meet the sociological, psychological and behavioral factors that affect individual’s financial decision making. In constructing the survey I referenced articles, journals and publications regarding how certain factors can affect an individual and their ability to apply financial education to their daily life. This review of previous research showed that tailored education, to determine a participant’s means, ability and goals, is the best way to help participants achieve financial independence. In this literature review no specific details were found on how programs are evolving or how existing program offerings are filling the need for tailored financial education. This topic is important because financial decisions that people make will not only affect current generations but also future generations. I contacted 50 agencies with a 27 question survey regarding their basic organizational structure, funding, program details, success determinants, primary program goals and focus, and marketing strategies. 36% of those contacted, or 18 organizations, responded. All responses were compiled and compared to determine relationships among program structures, offerings, and goals. The primary findings were that most organizations opened after 2000, have budgets under $100,000 funded primarily by two main sources, and their main goals are to provide basic knowledge and education to help participants improve financial decisions. In addition, most programs conduct a pre-post survey or get participant feedback to evaluate programs and use the number of participants at meetings as their main success factor. The majority of programs do not collect financial information, however they provide one-on-one counseling to focus on tailoring education to 501+ participants per year. Recommendations for future research are to increase the number of respondents, look deeper into funding requirements, the program lifecycle, marketing strategies employed and their effectiveness, and what specific financial education topics programs are addressing. This will add to existing research by providing a broader view of the financial education landscape and help programs to evolve to meet the need for tailored education.

SyfteUndersöka påverkan av kronisk orofacial smärta och psykologiska faktorer på sömnkvalitet vid käkmuskelmyalgi.Material och metoderDenna retrospektiva studie omfattade 37 patienter (6 män, 31 kvinnor, medelålder: 49 år) med käkmuskelmyalgi. Sömnkvalitet (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), smärtintensitet och smärtrelaterad funktionsnedsättning (Graded Chronic Pain Scale), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), ångest (General Anxiety Disorder-7), stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10) och katastrofiering (Patient Catastrophizing Scale) undersöktes med varierade formulär. Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) användes för att identifiera patienter med myalgi i käkmuskulatur.Resultat75% av patienterna rapporterade dålig sömnkvalitet, 73% rapporterade minst mild depressionsgrad, 54% rapporterade minst mild ångest, 59% rapporterade måttlig stressnivå och 38% rapporterade kliniskt relevant katastrofiering. Försämrad sömnkvalitet var relaterad till depression (rs = 0.45, n = 37, p = 0.008) ångest (rs = 0.46, n = 37, p = 0.007), stress (rs = 0.43, n = 37, p = 0.014) och katastrofiering (rs = 0.37, n = 37, p = 0.034). Multivariat logistisk regression visade att smärtintensitet, smartrelaterad funktionsnedsättning, depression, ångest, stress, katastrofiering och antal käkmuskler med refererad palpationssmärta förklarade dålig sömnkvalitet signifikant (p = 0.031).KonklusionSömnkvaliteten hos patienter med käkmuskelmyalgi påverkas i hög grad av kronisk smärtintensitet, smärtrelaterad funktionsnedsättning, antal käkmuskler med refererad palpationssmärta och depression samt ångest, stress och katastrofiering. / AimInvestigate the influence of chronic orofacial pain and psychological factors on sleep quality in patients with myalgia of the masticatory muscles.Material and methodsThis retrospective study included 37 patients (6 men, 31 women, mean age: 49 years) with masticatory muscle myalgia. Sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), pain intensity and pain-related disability (Graded Chronic Pain Scale), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7), stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10) and catastrophizing (Patient Catastrophizing Scale) were assessed by questionnaires. The Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) were used to identify patients with myalgia.Results75% of the patients reported poor sleep quality, 73% reported at least mild depression degree, 54% reported at least mild degree of anxiety, 59% reported at least a moderate stress level and 38% reported a clinically relevant degree of catastrophizing. Impaired sleep quality was related to degree of depression (rs = 0.45, n = 37, p = 0.008), anxiety (rs = 0.46, n = 37, p = 0.007), stress (rs = 0.43, n = 37, p = 0.014) and catastrophizing (rs = 0.37, n = 37, p = 0.034). Multivariate logistic regression showed that characteristic pain intensity, degree of pain-related disability, depression, anxiety, stress, catastrophizing and number of masticatory muscle sites with referred pain significantly explained poor sleep quality (p = 0.031).ConclusionSleep quality in patients with masticatory myalgia is influenced by chronic pain intensity and related disability, number of masticatory muscle sites with referred pain as well as depression, anxiety, stress and catastrophizing.

The quest towards resolving concerns about transportation energy consumption and emissions across nations has created more interests to investigate factors responsible for households’ car ownership. While literature holds an extensive body of investigation usually compartmentalised in individual different disciplines, limited efforts have been made to promote inter-linkages of this strand of research across different disciplines. To fill this gap, this study developed an integrating Multinomial logit (MNL) model to examine the impact of some rarely-investigated and conventional explanatory variables, including: ethnicity, accommodation tenure, settlement nature, mental belief, environmental concern, geographical regions, household structure, driving licence, number of household income earners and household income, on car ownership. Analysis based on rich data sets of British Household Survey and US Consumer Expenditure Survey found not only the conventional explanatory variables to be significantly linked to the number of cars in the US and UK households, but also the rarely-investigated psychological variables were found to be significantly linked as well. As Socio-demography, Geography and Psychology impact on how people and households process information and assess market offers (e.g., products and services), this study presents findings which have beneficial implications for policymakers and transportations planners, including those who would like to alter people’s behaviour from private car ownership to public transportation use, car sellers in terms of how to identify and reach potential customers, provision of alternative forecasting approaches to car ownership scholars as well as possible consideration for general car ownership decision making. Caution should be taken when interpreting the relationship between psychological factors and car ownership since the psychological factors adopted are measure representatives from databases used with limitations in the factor structure for a representative sample of the countries’ population.