This study of the motivation to learn English as L2 (as a second/foreign language) provides a local model of L2 motivation which employs a new contextualised perspective. It is based on the socio-cultural backgrounds of the learners and their social relations. This model not only incorporates insights from major debates in the field, but it is also in harmony with recent trends of L2 motivation research. The study had three major objectives. First, it sought to identify the factors that represent Omani students’ motivation to learn English in Oman. Second, it attempted to verify the effects of social relations on motivation. Third, it examined the mechanisms employed by the learners which influence their motivation through personal relations. Since this study views motivation as a complex bundle of constructs, it was more feasible to adopt its most significant factors as determined by the immediate socio-cultural context. Interest and Self-efficacy (SE) were established as the two main constructs representing Omani students’ motivation to learn English as L2. The ‘L2 Motivation Osmosis Model’ was suggested to offer an explanation of the workings of influence on students’ L2 motivation in Oman. This study employed a mixed methodology. A quantitative method was used to confirm the importance of Interest and SE for Omani students. A qualitative study was then designed to further verify this and ascertain the devices employed to influence learners’ motivation. The first question was answered using quantitative and qualitative data. Correlation and Linear Regression statistics were used to verify the importance of Interest and SE. This question was also examined through the students’ depictions of motivated English as L2 learners and the reasons they provided for liking English and why people in Oman learn it. The second question inspected the role of social relations in influencing students’ motivation. The third question studied the devices used by people which influence students’ motivation. The analysis also revealed the importance of the affective dimension expressed through the concept of ‘closeness’, which explains the type and strength of the influence initiated through social relations. This study emphasised the need to consider the socio-cultural context of learners in designing programs and recruiting teachers and the necessity of providing help, encouragement and emotional support. Instead of simply giving recommendations of good practice, the findings of this study provide practitioners with guidelines on how to devise their own plans and guiding principles.

<p> <p>&nbsp / </p> </p> <p align="left">The underlying theme of this thesis is identification, classification, detection and prediction of cellular network faults using state of the art technologies, methods and algorithms.</p>

La sclérose latérale amyotrophique (SLA) est une maladie neurodégénérative due à une dégénérescence des motoneurones. Plus de 40 mutations du gène TARDBP ont été identifiées chez des patients SLA. Les défauts biochimiques de ces mutations étant encore inconnus, les modèles animaux sont présentement la seule mesure possible d’un phénotype. Pour étudier les conséquences physiopathologiques d’une de ces mutations, nous avons développé deux lignées transgéniques de poisson zébré, exprimant le gène humain TARDBP soit de type sauvage, soit avec la mutation G348C liée à la SLA, sous le contrôle d’un promoteur de choc thermique. Ces lignées ont été étudiées sur trois générations, après avoir établi un protocole de choc thermique induisant une expression ubiquitaire du transgène. Les embryons transgéniques de la génération F2 de la lignée exprimant la mutation développent un phénotype moteur suite à un choc thermique de 38.5°C pendant 30 minutes lorsque les embryons sont à 18 heures post-fertilisation. 60% des embryons ont une réponse anormale au toucher. De plus, une réduction de 28% de la longueur de pré-branchement des axones des motoneurones est observée. Ces résultats indiquent que notre lignée exprimant la protéine mutante TDP-43 est un modèle génétique de la SLA prometteur, qui ouvre des perspectives pour la compréhension de la physiopathologie de la maladie et la découverte de molécules thérapeutiques. / Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease due to motoneurons degeneration. More than 40 mutations of the gene TARDBP, coding for the protein TDP-43 have been found in ALS patients. As the biochemical defects of these mutations are not known, in vivo models are currently the only windows onto the pathology. To study the pathophysiological consequences of one of these mutations, we have generated two stable zebrafish transgenic lines, expressing the human gene TARDBP, either the wild-type version, or the G348C mutated version linked to ALS, under the control of a heat shock promotor. These lines were studied for three generation, after establishing a heat shock protocol sufficient to induce a ubiquitous expression of the transgene. The transgenic embryos of the F2 generation of the line expressing the mutant protein develop a motor phenotype after a 38.5°C heat shock for 30 minutes when the embryos are 18 hours post-fertilization. 60% of these embryos have an abnormal touch escaped evoked response, and a 28% reduction of the pre-branching axonal length of the motoneurons axons. These results indicate that our line expressing the mutant TDP-43 protein is a promising genetic model of ALS, opening perspectives for the pathophysiological understanding of the disease, and the discovery of new therapeutics.

L'informatique en nuage révolutionne complètement la façon de gérer les ressources. Grâce à l'élasticité, les ressources peuvent être provisionnées en quelques minutes pour satisfaire un niveau de qualité de service (QdS) formalisé par un accord de niveau de service (SLA) entre les différents acteurs du nuage. Le principal défi des fournisseurs de services est de maintenir la satisfaction de leurs consommateurs tout en minimisant le coût de ces services. Du point de vue SaaS, ce défi peut être résolu d'une manière ad-hoc par l'allocation/-libération des ressources selon un ensemble de règles prédéfinies avec Amazon Auto Scaling par exemple. Cependant, implémenter finement ces règles d'élasticité n'est pas une tâche triviale. D'une part, la difficulté de profiler la performance d'un service compromet la précision de la planification des ressources. D'autre part, plusieurs paramètres doivent être pris en compte, tels que la multiplication des types de ressources, le temps non-négligeable d'initialisation de ressource et le modèle de facturation IaaS. Cette thèse propose une solution complète pour la gestion des contrats de service du nuage. Nous introduisons CSLA (Cloud ServiceLevel Agreement), un langage dédié à la définition de contrat de service en nuage. Il adresse finement les violations SLA via la dégradation fonctionnelle/QdS et des modèles de pénalité avancés. Nous proposons, ensuite, HybridScale un framework de dimensionnement automatique dirigé par les SLA. Il implémente l'élasticité de façon hybride : gestion réactive-proactive, dimensionnement vertical horizontalet multi-couches (application-infrastructure). Notre solution est validée expérimentalement sur Amazon EC2.

This thesis explores how learner independence was implemented as a curricular goal at a tertiary level Preparatory Programme (PP) in the United Arab Emirates. This exploratory-interpretive case study shows how students and teachers at the English programme responded to an Independent Learning Log (ILL) and how they interpreted learner autonomy with respect to the ILL. The study analyzes how various interpretations of autonomy affected the students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the ILL. The interviews and the surveys used in this study were conducted between 20122014. The data was examined using Critical Discourse Analysis and was coded with NVivo software. As a result of the data analysis, the researcher identified themes related to student and teacher roles in the promotion of autonomy, learner representations in TESOL, and issues of control and agency, in the language classroom and out-of-class. The findings suggest that, in the teachers’ discourse, students are assigned passive roles and are often represented as lacking, deficient, and in need of control. Furthermore, the teachers are represented as the agents and controllers of education. These findings are supported by other studies from different cultural settings. This suggests that the US and THEM divide is not unique to the context of this study, but, rather, that it reflects a broader issue that is characteristic of TESOL discourse. In the discussion section, the researcher demonstrates how the themes identified in this study draw on a Social Order perspective in education. It is argued that this conceptual model remains ingrained in teachers’ and students’ group consciousness as the default model for learning. We conclude that learner independence as an educational goal is incompatible with this way in which students and teachers conceptualise education. In order for autonomy to become a feasible educational goal, we need to re-think how we organise language learning and what roles teachers and students assign each other. Overall, this case study reveals the problems that educators may face when promoting autonomy in a language programme. An understanding of these issues may help future language programmes develop better strategies towards fostering learner autonomy at an institutional level.

This diploma thesis is based on the experiment which took 5 years. In 52 plastic containers were planted four species wetland plants; two species of grasses (Calamagrostis canescens and Deschampsia cespitosa) and two species of sedges (Carex elata and Carex elongata). Three types of water regime were set up with: high, low and fluctuating water level, where the high and low level of water took turns after one year. One year before the data collection the strongest competitor Carex elata was cut out. For the evaluation of the role of water level (environmental stress) and removal of the dominant (competition) we selected two functional trait indicators: specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC). SLA is an indicator of resource strategies, competitiveness and efficiency of light photosynthesis. Species with high SLA are usually better competitors for light, but tolerate harder the environmental stress. LDMC reflects a plants investment in persistent leaf structures and therefore in nutrient retention. A significant effect of water regime on LDMC was observed in the species Deschampsia cespitosa that had higher average values of LDMC in dry water regime, which is indicating higher investment into persistent leaf structures. And the effect of the dominant removal on SLA, where the values of SLA in the containers without removed dominant were higher. Increased SLA implies increased intensity of competition for light. My diploma thesis supported that specific leaf area and leafdry matter content are important functional indicators different types of stress conditions in wetland communities.

abstract: This thesis examines the narratives and meta-commentary of Indonesian users of English about their English as a Second Language (ESL) experiences. It approaches interview data with ten Indonesian second language (L2) speakers of English from a narrative analysis/inquiry perspective. Each interview was transcribed according to a modified set of discourse analysis (DA) transcription conventions, then coded by the researcher. The first research question addressed what linguistic devices members of this population used to achieve cohesion and coherence in their narratives, and the second research question examined how members of this population portrayed their L2 selves in their narratives. The data yielded 21 linguistic devices that fell into three levels of frequency. Connectives, discourse markers, and repetition were by far the most common linguistic devices, followed by adverbials, embedded clauses, intensifiers, and the word like (non-comparison uses), which were somewhat frequent linguistic devices. The data also showed that participants constructed their L2 selves using three main categories: agency, identity, and perceptions of English and the U.S.. In regard to identity, participants invoked membership categorization, where they portrayed their identities in relation to other individuals. The study concludes with suggestions for future research, especially relating to Indonesian L2 users of English. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2015

This empirical study investigates how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Swedish upper secondary schools succeed in their use of English prepositions. EFL learners in Sweden today represent a multitude of nationalities and ethnic groups with many different first languages (L1); therefore, English teaching could be subject to change in order to adapt to the new situation. The study is based on an online survey given to pupils taking “English 7” at upper secondary schools in Stockholm. The study aims to find patterns in how pupils with Swedish as their L1 handle English prepositions and use a control group consisting of pupils with another L1 in a comparative analysis based on language transfer. A teacher of English at the respondents’ school was interviewed to elicit teaching methodology and how they use the language diversity in the classroom when teaching prepositions. Even though it was hypothesised that negative language transfer was a factor, the analysis of the focus group shows that negative language transfer from Swedish did not inhibit the focus group’s ability to choose prepositions compared to the control group in the given context. In contrast, positive transfer from Swedish as an L1 contributed to a substantial increase in success rate. However, no clear connection could be made to teaching methodology as the interviewed teacher did not have any specific method for dealing with prepositions and mainly treated teaching prepositions implicitly. Furthermore, the interviewed teacher did not use language diversity in classroom as a tool for learning.

My aim with this study is to investigate the teaching strategies applied in teaching English to students with another mother tongue than Swedish. According to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory, factors such as age, language competence and mother tongue influence can affect language acquisition. SLA theory also states that multilinguals tend to select one of their languages as their primary source of information and this language is the language that most resembles the target language; Swedish and English are both Germanic languages and therefore share language closeness. Results showed that regardless of age and mother tongue, equal numbers of students chose to source Swedish only or both Swedish and their mother tongue when translating texts from English; only 3 chose to source their mother tongue only. There is to date little research that directly connects teaching approaches with SLA, particularly when dealing with multilingualism. I believe a potential area for research could be to investigate the possibility of developing teaching strategies that can potentially harness prior language knowledge. My investigation also showed that English is taught to native and non-native Swedish speakers alike through the medium of the Swedish language; that is to say the course books consist of English text with vocabulary translations and grammatical exercises from Swedish to English. A suggestion would be to reduce the use of the English to Swedish translation methods, particularly for students with a limited knowledge of Swedish, and incorporate into lessons more communicative teaching methods using authentic materials and real situations.

The aim of this comparative study is to investigate language proficiency in English among Swedes and the Finnish-speaking population living in Sweden, henceforth referred to as Sweden Finns. The main issue is to discover to what extent Sweden Finns show similarity and how they differ from Swedes regarding their proficiency in English, concerning grammar and vocabulary. Through a proficiency test, this essay intends to compare and discover any possible tendencies among male and female monolingual and bilingual participants.      Gender issues are rather unexplored in research on bilingualism. Sex, or gender, as a variable has received a limited amount of attention compared with other factors of individual variation, such as age or language learning strategies in the field of SLA.      The results of the statistical analysis of the data indicate that results are varied, and therefore confirm previous results. Sweden Finns score higher as a group on the test than Swedes, but male Swedish participants gave the most correct answers on all questions, followed by female Sweden Finns, then male Sweden Finns and ultimately female Swedes. Interesting, but not statistically significant, findings suggest that the students participating in this study have a good vocabulary size and are acquainted with high-frequency words and pronouns. Most errors were found in the parts concerning irregular verbs and synonyms. Multiple-choice questions received a higher frequency of right answers than open questions.      As the results are varied since this type of study has not been carried out before, it shows that there is a need for nuanced quantitative research in this field of study.