Speech and language pathologists (SLP) use vocabulary tests as one of several means of investigating and evaluating suspected speech and language disorders. A test widely used when assessing receptive vocabulary is Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) IV. Several different Swedish translations of PPVT-IV exists today, most of which have not yet been studied. Since earlier studies have confirmed that Swedish translations of PPVT lack a steadily increasing level of difficulty, Swedish SLPs are uncertain as to how applicable the test is on a Swedish population. In this study, a Swedish translation of PPVT-IV was revised with the purpose of constructing a steadily increasing level of difficulty. The study comprised 172 monolingual children from grade 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, tested by the authors of this thesis. The participants were recruited from ten schools in Uppsala. For 21 of the 228 PPVT-IV items, two different translations were tested to enable adjustment of the level of difficulty afterwards. Based on the results of the participants, a revised translation was developed with a more steadily increasing level of difficulty. Further adaptations are still needed before standardised norms can be developed for a Swedish population. The results for every grade displayed an average score above the American age standards. Participants from grade 1 performed one year above, participants from grade 3, 5 and 7 all performed two years above, and participants from grade 9 performed six to eight years above the American age standards for the corresponding age. / Logopeder använder ordförrådstest som ett av flera instrument för att utreda och bedöma misstänkta språkliga svårigheter. Ett test som ofta används vid bedömning av det receptiva ordförrådet är Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) IV. På svenska finns idag flera olika översättningar av PPVT-IV vars användbarhet ej undersökts. Tidigare studier har visat att svenska översättningar av PPVT har brister i form av en ojämnt stigande svårighetsgrad och logopeder är därför osäkra på hur användbart testet är. I föreliggande studie reviderades en svensk översättning av PPVT-IV med syfte att konstruera en jämnt stigande svårighetsgrad. Studien omfattade 172 enspråkiga elever från årskurs 1, 3, 5, 7 och 9 testade av författarna till föreliggande uppsats. Deltagarna rekryterades från tio skolor i Uppsala. För 21 av de 228 uppgifterna i PPVT-IV testades två ord per uppgift för att möjliggöra justering av testets svårighetsgrad i efterhand. Utifrån deltagarnas resultat utarbetades en översättning som ger testet en mer jämnt stigande svårighetsgrad. Ytterligare revideringar behöver dock göras för att jämna ut svårighetsgraden ännu mer innan det är aktuellt att ta fram normer för en svensktalande population. I jämförelse med den amerikanska standardiseringen presterade de svenska deltagarna från samtliga årskurser i genomsnitt betydligt högre än motsvarande åldrar i den amerikanska populationen. Deltagarna från årskurs 1 presterade ca ett år högre, deltagarna från årskurs 3, 5 och 7 presterade ca två år högre och deltagarna från årskurs 9 presterade ca sex till åtta år högre än motsvarande åldrar inom den amerikanska standardiseringen.

Because most–if not all–intensive English programs (IEP) assign students to specific levels based on a placement test that does not involve any form of explicit vocabulary testing, some degree of variation in lexical knowledge of students within an individual class should not be surprising. However, very little research has ever quantified this variation. The current study fills the gap in this important area of TESOL research by investigating vocabulary variation among intermediate-level students at one IEP. Participants (N=79) were split into two main proficiency groups, high intermediate (N=28) and low intermediate (N=51). The 2K, 3K, and 5K levels from the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) were used as a vocabulary measure. In this study, VLT scores were analyzed by proficiency level and by students' original individual classes (N=7). The results revealed considerable vocabulary variation. In some instances, vocabulary size varied by 900 word families per student. First language influence was also investigated by comparing the largest two language groups in the sample, Arabic (N= 28) and Spanish (N=12). Spanish-speaking students significantly outperformed the Arabic speaking students in all vocabulary measures (except for the 2K level). The study, therefore, raises questions about the approaches used in teaching a class that has both Spanish and Arabic speakers. Implications and suggestions for further studies are discussed.

Text in English / This study examined the vocabulary and academic literacy levels of undergraduate students at the University of Namibia, as well as the effects of an explicit and an implicit vocabulary programme on vocabulary development and academic literacy. The study also sought to determine the effects of the programmes on students’ attitudes about vocabulary and explicit vocabulary strategies. The relationship between students’ vocabulary size, academic literacy levels, and their self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge was examined. Many students had not reached the desired word mastery and did not have adequate academic literacy skills to cope with the demands of university. Students in the explicit group modestly improved receptive vocabulary knowledge at the end of the intervention but there was no significant improvement in academic literacy skills. Overall, students showed an increase in positive responses regarding their attitudes to vocabulary. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

Résumé La présente thèse doctorale vise à déterminer sous quelles conditions la garde non-maternelle est associée (positivement/négativement) au niveau de stress et au développement cognitif des enfants. Elle comporte une recension des écrits et trois articles empiriques. Le premier article présente une recension des écrits (de type méta-analytique) qui synthétise les études portant sur le stress des enfants en services de garde et ayant utilisé le niveau de cortisol comme indicateur. Les résultats montrent que la garde non-maternelle est associée au niveau de stress des enfants, se reflétant dans des concentrations de cortisol élevées. Les niveaux de stress élevés s’observent particulièrement chez les enfants qui au départ ont tendance à être retirés, anxieux ou qui sont gardés dans un milieu de faible qualité. Cependant, certains éléments indiquent que les élévations de cortisol à la garderie sont temporaires et qu’elles disparaissent au fur et à mesure que l’enfant s’adapte à son milieu. Le deuxième article de thèse, réalisé dans le contexte de l’Échantillon longitudinal national des enfants et des jeunes [ELNEJ] (n = 3093), vise à déterminer dans quelle mesure l’association entre la fréquentation des services de garde et l’acquisition du vocabulaire réceptif au préscolaire dépend du milieu familial de l’enfant. Les résultats indiquent qu’à l’intérieur du groupe d’enfants défavorisés, ceux ayant été gardés à temps plein dans la première année de vie obtiennent des scores supérieurs sur une mesure de vocabulaire réceptif administrée à 4 ½ ans, comparativement aux enfants restés à la maison avec la mère (d=0.58). Le troisième article, réalisé dans le contexte de l’Étude longitudinale des enfants du Québec [ELDEQ]; (n=2,120), vise à documenter les bénéfices à long terme de la fréquentation des services de garde par les enfants issus de milieux désavantagés sur la préparation scolaire et les compétences académiques. Les résultats révèlent que les enfants dont la mère n’a pas terminé ses études secondaires obtiennent de meilleurs résultats sur une mesure de préparation scolaire cognitive (d=0.56) et de vocabulaire réceptif (d=0.30) en maternelle, et de connaissance des nombres (d=0.43) en première année, s’ils ont fréquenté un service de garde sur une base régulière. Par ailleurs, la garde non-parentale n’est pas associée aux compétences cognitives des enfants de milieux sociaux favorisés. L’objectif du quatrième article est d’examiner les facteurs de sélection quant à l’utilisation des services de garde dans le contexte de l’ELDEQ. Les résultats montrent que l’absence d’emploi de la mère pendant la grossesse, le faible niveau d’éducation de la mère; le revenu insuffisant de la famille, avoir plus de 2 frères et sœurs, la surprotection maternelle, et le faible niveau de stimulation cognitive sont associés à une faible utilisation des services de garde (30.7% de l’échantillon québécois). En d’autres termes, les enfants qui sont les plus susceptibles de retirer des avantages des services de garde sur le plan du développement, en raison de la présence de facteurs de risque dans leur milieu familial, sont aussi ceux qui utilisent le moins les services de garde. / Abstract The present doctoral thesis aims at determining under which conditions child-care experiences may be associated (positively or negatively) with children’s stress levels and cognitive development. It comprises one literature review and three empirical studies. The first study is a literature review (meta-analysis type) which summarizes the studies on child-care experiences and children’s stress (as indexed by cortisol) in order to identify individual and environmental conditions under which child-care is associated with elevated cortisol concentrations. Findings suggest that child-care may be more stressful, as reflected in higher salivary cortisol concentrations, for children who are less socially competent or who received low quality child-care services. However, some pieces of evidence suggest that cortisol elevations in child-care are transient and fade out as children grow older The second study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth [NLSCY]; (n=3093). The goal is to determine whether the association between non-maternal care and receptive vocabulary skills depend upon children’s home environment. Results show that children from low socioeconomic status who received full-time (< 25 hours/week) child-care services in their first year of life obtain higher scores on a measure of receptive vocabulary at 4 ½ years than those who were cared for by their mothers (d=0.58). The goal of the third study is to document further the longer-term benefits of early child-care attendance on disadvantaged children’s school readiness and school achievement. This study uses data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development [QLSCD]; (n=2120). Findings reveal that child-care services produce benefits over maternal care for children from low educated mothers on a measure of receptive vocabulary (d=0.30) and cognitive school readiness (d=0.56) in kindergarten, and number knowledge in first grade (d=0.43). Overall, child-care services produce no advantage or disadvantage for children who do not experience risks in their home. The objective of the fourth study is to identify key family factors associated with low child-care services utilization, using the QLSCD sample. Results show that maternal unemployment during pregnancy, low levels of maternal education; insufficient household income, having more than two siblings, high levels of maternal overprotection, and low levels of cognitive stimulation are associated with lower child-care services use (30.7% of the Quebec sample). In sum, children who are the most likely to benefit from child-care services in terms of their development are also those who are less likely to receive it.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-05-14T12:53:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Lilian Meibach Brandoles de Matos.pdf: 996674 bytes, checksum: eba58161dd0ba0a0613078ecbfdbdb12 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-14T12:53:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lilian Meibach Brandoles de Matos.pdf: 996674 bytes, checksum: eba58161dd0ba0a0613078ecbfdbdb12 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-12 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The domain of language is one of the fundamental elements for social life and fundamental in thought processes. The oral language can be receptive and expressive: the receptive refers to the individual's ability to understand what he hears, that is, to understand oral language; the expressive represents the individual's ability to speak and communicate orally. The present study has the main objective to identify the extension of the receptive vocabulary of a group of Brazilian children of elementary school and its relation with the reading comprehension. For this it was necessary: to verify the extension of the receptive vocabulary of students from 1st to 5th year; check reading comprehension; to investigate the relationship between the extension of the receptive vocabulary and the reading comprehension; to verify how the variable age behaves in the receptive vocabulary analyzes, the reading comprehension and the relation between them. The sample came from a private school that serves children from families of high socioeconomic status in the city of São Paulo. 95 students participated from the 1st to 5th year of elementary school. Two instruments were used: Peabody Image Receptive Vocabulary Peabody Test and Reading and Sentence Comprehension Test (TELCS). The results obtained in this study were expressed as mean and standard deviation for each age group, school year, receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension test. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted and Tukey's post hoc test was also used. The evaluation of the receptive vocabulary with the Peabody test allowed us to conclude that there is a significant difference in Peabody performance according to age and school year. The results indicated that the children had a growing extension of the receptive vocabulary and level of reading comprehension, according to the increase of age and schooling. It was possible to observe a significant correlation between the extension of the receptive vocabulary and the level of reading comprehension of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students / O domínio da linguagem é um dos elementos fundamentais para a vida social e fundamental nos processos de pensamento. A linguagem oral pode ser receptiva e expressiva: a receptiva refere-se à capacidade do indivíduo de compreender o que ouve, isto é, compreender a linguagem oral; a expressiva representa a habilidade do indivíduo para falar e se comunicar oralmente. O presente estudo tem por objetivo central identificar a extensão do vocabulário receptivo de um grupo de crianças brasileiras do Ensino Fundamental I e sua relação com a compreensão da leitura. Para isso foi necessário: verificar a extensão do vocabulário receptivo de alunos de 1º a 5º ano; verificar a compreensão da leitura; investigar a relação entre a extensão do vocabulário receptivo e a compreensão da leitura; verificar como se comporta a variável idade nas análises do vocabulário receptivo, na compreensão da leitura e na relação entre elas. A amostra foi proveniente de uma escola particular que atende crianças de famílias de nível socioeconômico alto da cidade de São Paulo. Participaram 95 alunos do 1º ao 5º ano do ensino fundamental. Foram utilizados dois instrumentos: Teste de Vocabulário Receptivo por Imagens Peabody e Teste de Leitura e Compreensão de Sentenças (TELCS). Os resultados obtidos neste estudo foram expressos sob a forma de média e desvio-padrão para cada faixa etária, ano escolar, vocabulário receptivo e teste de compreensão de leitura. Foi conduzida uma análise de variância (ANOVA) e utilizado também o teste post hoc de Tukey. A avaliação do vocabulário receptivo com o teste Peabody permitiu concluir que existe diferença significativa no desempenho no Peabody em função da idade e ano escolar. Os resultados indicaram que as crianças tiveram uma crescente extensão do vocabulário receptivo e do nível de compreensão de leitura, conforme o aumento da idade e escolaridade. Foi possível observar uma correlação significativa entre a extensão do vocabulário receptivo e o nível de compreensão de leitura dos alunos do 3º, 4º, e 5º ano

<p>In a school for children from 6-9 years in a small town in the southeast of Sweden, is areading activity program in progress since 8 years. The original purpose of this program wasto enhance the student’s reading interest. All of the students read at least one book a week andthen they review the book in front of the class.</p><p>The purpose of the present study was to examine vocabulary, word retrieving, narrative skillsand grammatical abilities in children in this school. The objectives were to investigate if thechosen language abilities in these children were different compared to normative data andearlier studies in children at comparable ages. Furthermore, the aim was to study if narrative skills correlated with vocabulary, word retrieving and grammatical ability.</p><p>The examination was carried out by testing 65 students in the school regarding the chosenlanguage abilities. The results showed that these students had better vocabulary compared to American normative data and earlier Swedish studies. In narratives they produced stories inchronological order and they included a large amount of information. Narrative abilitiescorrelated with receptive vocabulary, word retrieving and grammatical abilities.</p><p>It was concluded that reading promoting activities may have affected these student’s languageabilities in a positive way.</p> / <p>I en skola för barn mellan 6 och 9 år i en liten stad i sydöstra Sverige pågår sedan 8 år tillbakaen aktivitet vars ursprungliga syfte var att öka elevernas läsintresse. Alla elever läser minst enbok i veckan och gör därefter en recension som de läser upp i klassen.</p><p>Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera ordförråd, ordmobilisering, narrativ förmågasamt grammatisk förmåga hos eleverna på den utvalda skolan. Frågeställningarna varhuruvida utvalda språkförmågor hos eleverna skiljde sig från normativa data och tidigarestudier av barn i jämförbara åldrar. Vidare undersöktes om narrativ förmåga hade någotsamband med ordförråd, ordmobilisering och grammatisk förmåga.</p><p>Undersökningen gjordes genom att 65 elever på skolan testades med avseende på de utvalda språkförmågorna. Resultatet visade att dessa elever hade ett bättre ordförråd jämfört medamerikansk normering och tidigare svenska studier. Gällande elevernas narrativa förmåga berättade de i kronologisk ordning och återgav många delhändelser i historien. Resultatetvisade också att narrativ förmåga hade samband med impressivt ordförråd, ordmobiliseringoch grammatisk förmåga.</p><p>Slutsatsen var att den läsfrämjande aktiviteten kan ha påverkat dessa elevers språkförmågorpositivt.</p>

In a school for children from 6-9 years in a small town in the southeast of Sweden, is areading activity program in progress since 8 years. The original purpose of this program wasto enhance the student’s reading interest. All of the students read at least one book a week andthen they review the book in front of the class. The purpose of the present study was to examine vocabulary, word retrieving, narrative skillsand grammatical abilities in children in this school. The objectives were to investigate if thechosen language abilities in these children were different compared to normative data andearlier studies in children at comparable ages. Furthermore, the aim was to study if narrative skills correlated with vocabulary, word retrieving and grammatical ability. The examination was carried out by testing 65 students in the school regarding the chosenlanguage abilities. The results showed that these students had better vocabulary compared to American normative data and earlier Swedish studies. In narratives they produced stories inchronological order and they included a large amount of information. Narrative abilitiescorrelated with receptive vocabulary, word retrieving and grammatical abilities. It was concluded that reading promoting activities may have affected these student’s languageabilities in a positive way. / I en skola för barn mellan 6 och 9 år i en liten stad i sydöstra Sverige pågår sedan 8 år tillbakaen aktivitet vars ursprungliga syfte var att öka elevernas läsintresse. Alla elever läser minst enbok i veckan och gör därefter en recension som de läser upp i klassen. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera ordförråd, ordmobilisering, narrativ förmågasamt grammatisk förmåga hos eleverna på den utvalda skolan. Frågeställningarna varhuruvida utvalda språkförmågor hos eleverna skiljde sig från normativa data och tidigarestudier av barn i jämförbara åldrar. Vidare undersöktes om narrativ förmåga hade någotsamband med ordförråd, ordmobilisering och grammatisk förmåga. Undersökningen gjordes genom att 65 elever på skolan testades med avseende på de utvalda språkförmågorna. Resultatet visade att dessa elever hade ett bättre ordförråd jämfört medamerikansk normering och tidigare svenska studier. Gällande elevernas narrativa förmåga berättade de i kronologisk ordning och återgav många delhändelser i historien. Resultatetvisade också att narrativ förmåga hade samband med impressivt ordförråd, ordmobiliseringoch grammatisk förmåga. Slutsatsen var att den läsfrämjande aktiviteten kan ha påverkat dessa elevers språkförmågorpositivt.

Résumé La présente thèse doctorale vise à déterminer sous quelles conditions la garde non-maternelle est associée (positivement/négativement) au niveau de stress et au développement cognitif des enfants. Elle comporte une recension des écrits et trois articles empiriques. Le premier article présente une recension des écrits (de type méta-analytique) qui synthétise les études portant sur le stress des enfants en services de garde et ayant utilisé le niveau de cortisol comme indicateur. Les résultats montrent que la garde non-maternelle est associée au niveau de stress des enfants, se reflétant dans des concentrations de cortisol élevées. Les niveaux de stress élevés s’observent particulièrement chez les enfants qui au départ ont tendance à être retirés, anxieux ou qui sont gardés dans un milieu de faible qualité. Cependant, certains éléments indiquent que les élévations de cortisol à la garderie sont temporaires et qu’elles disparaissent au fur et à mesure que l’enfant s’adapte à son milieu. Le deuxième article de thèse, réalisé dans le contexte de l’Échantillon longitudinal national des enfants et des jeunes [ELNEJ] (n = 3093), vise à déterminer dans quelle mesure l’association entre la fréquentation des services de garde et l’acquisition du vocabulaire réceptif au préscolaire dépend du milieu familial de l’enfant. Les résultats indiquent qu’à l’intérieur du groupe d’enfants défavorisés, ceux ayant été gardés à temps plein dans la première année de vie obtiennent des scores supérieurs sur une mesure de vocabulaire réceptif administrée à 4 ½ ans, comparativement aux enfants restés à la maison avec la mère (d=0.58). Le troisième article, réalisé dans le contexte de l’Étude longitudinale des enfants du Québec [ELDEQ]; (n=2,120), vise à documenter les bénéfices à long terme de la fréquentation des services de garde par les enfants issus de milieux désavantagés sur la préparation scolaire et les compétences académiques. Les résultats révèlent que les enfants dont la mère n’a pas terminé ses études secondaires obtiennent de meilleurs résultats sur une mesure de préparation scolaire cognitive (d=0.56) et de vocabulaire réceptif (d=0.30) en maternelle, et de connaissance des nombres (d=0.43) en première année, s’ils ont fréquenté un service de garde sur une base régulière. Par ailleurs, la garde non-parentale n’est pas associée aux compétences cognitives des enfants de milieux sociaux favorisés. L’objectif du quatrième article est d’examiner les facteurs de sélection quant à l’utilisation des services de garde dans le contexte de l’ELDEQ. Les résultats montrent que l’absence d’emploi de la mère pendant la grossesse, le faible niveau d’éducation de la mère; le revenu insuffisant de la famille, avoir plus de 2 frères et sœurs, la surprotection maternelle, et le faible niveau de stimulation cognitive sont associés à une faible utilisation des services de garde (30.7% de l’échantillon québécois). En d’autres termes, les enfants qui sont les plus susceptibles de retirer des avantages des services de garde sur le plan du développement, en raison de la présence de facteurs de risque dans leur milieu familial, sont aussi ceux qui utilisent le moins les services de garde. / Abstract The present doctoral thesis aims at determining under which conditions child-care experiences may be associated (positively or negatively) with children’s stress levels and cognitive development. It comprises one literature review and three empirical studies. The first study is a literature review (meta-analysis type) which summarizes the studies on child-care experiences and children’s stress (as indexed by cortisol) in order to identify individual and environmental conditions under which child-care is associated with elevated cortisol concentrations. Findings suggest that child-care may be more stressful, as reflected in higher salivary cortisol concentrations, for children who are less socially competent or who received low quality child-care services. However, some pieces of evidence suggest that cortisol elevations in child-care are transient and fade out as children grow older The second study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth [NLSCY]; (n=3093). The goal is to determine whether the association between non-maternal care and receptive vocabulary skills depend upon children’s home environment. Results show that children from low socioeconomic status who received full-time (< 25 hours/week) child-care services in their first year of life obtain higher scores on a measure of receptive vocabulary at 4 ½ years than those who were cared for by their mothers (d=0.58). The goal of the third study is to document further the longer-term benefits of early child-care attendance on disadvantaged children’s school readiness and school achievement. This study uses data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development [QLSCD]; (n=2120). Findings reveal that child-care services produce benefits over maternal care for children from low educated mothers on a measure of receptive vocabulary (d=0.30) and cognitive school readiness (d=0.56) in kindergarten, and number knowledge in first grade (d=0.43). Overall, child-care services produce no advantage or disadvantage for children who do not experience risks in their home. The objective of the fourth study is to identify key family factors associated with low child-care services utilization, using the QLSCD sample. Results show that maternal unemployment during pregnancy, low levels of maternal education; insufficient household income, having more than two siblings, high levels of maternal overprotection, and low levels of cognitive stimulation are associated with lower child-care services use (30.7% of the Quebec sample). In sum, children who are the most likely to benefit from child-care services in terms of their development are also those who are less likely to receive it.

Text in English / This study examined the vocabulary and academic literacy levels of undergraduate students at the University of Namibia, as well as the effects of an explicit and an implicit vocabulary programme on vocabulary development and academic literacy. The study also sought to determine the effects of the programmes on students’ attitudes about vocabulary and explicit vocabulary strategies. The relationship between students’ vocabulary size, academic literacy levels, and their self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge was examined. Many students had not reached the desired word mastery and did not have adequate academic literacy skills to cope with the demands of university. Students in the explicit group modestly improved receptive vocabulary knowledge at the end of the intervention but there was no significant improvement in academic literacy skills. Overall, students showed an increase in positive responses regarding their attitudes to vocabulary. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

Keywords: Advanced learners, bilingual students, vocabulary, student vocabulary size, case study, receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary Secondary-school teachers at Czech schools are encountering an increasing number of students who are significantly ahead of their peers. These students are either bilinguals or advanced learners. Regardless of the students' proficiency, the Czech education system enforces these students to keep attending further English classes, which often positions their teacher before a burdening question of what to teach these students. Scientific research postulates that a potential weakness of the said type of students could be vocabulary. This hypothesis was verified in this thesis, with the aid of Paul Nation VLT and Laufer & Nation Productive Vocabulary tests. The second goal of this thesis was to set a typical profile of advanced-learner and bilingual student through a survey. Results from the tests confirmed a significant deficiency in all of twelve test-subjects' productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary tests nonetheless revealed large receptive vocabulary size with eleven of tested subjects. Based on these findings, the recommended method for students this advanced is to allow them more autonomy, particularly through extensive reading, and to assign them...