This diploma thesis have special pedagogical character and it focuses on language development of children from multilingual environment. The reason for this focus is their increasing number. However, there are still relatively few publications on this topic in the Czech Republic because more emphasis is placed on bilingualism. In the theoretical part, is trying to cover the complexity of language development and then deal with the concepts of multilingualism and bilingualism. In the practical part there is a qualitative research investigation based on three case studies of children from multilingual environment. The individual studies describe in detail their language development, including the possible mixing of language codes, and possible communication disabilities. Also, there is trying to find which of the language becomes relaxed for the children. Interviews with parents and class teacher mainly used to obtain data.

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This thesis is concerned with aids intended for the speech development of children with hearing impairment. The theoretical part summarizes the subject matter of hearing impairment, the possibilities of compensatory aids, speech development, speech therapy intervention and aids helping the speech development of people with hearing impairment. The theoretical part is mostly dedicated to the Speech Viewer aid, which has inspired the development of the new Hlásek application, which originated as a part of the inter-university cooperation of Charles University and ČVUT in Prague within working on two diploma theses. The introduction of the empirical part of the thesis describes the created application and with the use of gathering and analysis of data, interviews and observation, it follows the contribution of the application to the development of basic features of speech of children with hearing impairment. The results of the empirical investigation are processed with the help of graphs and thus they clearly represent the advances of the children in individual parts of the application. The conclusion of the thesis is dedicated to the future development of the application and the establishment of further possible cooperation with Children's Hearing Centre Tamtam. KEYWORDS Hearing impairment, Hlásek...

Diploma Thesis Evaluation of the vocabulary in pre-school children with specific language impairment mainly deals with the diagnosis of the specific language impairment. Theoretical part is the analysis of the available literature. It deals with the characteristics of preschool age, speech development and diagnosis of specific language impairment. The Case study compares the active and passive vocabulary of children without any disability and children with specific language impairment. Keywords: Preschool child, specific langure impairment, diagnosis, speech development, vocabulary

The work is mainly focused on the issues of developmental dysphasia and its therapy. The first part describes the development of human speech, then ontogenetic development of man, communication ability and impaired speech development. A separate chapter is devoted to developmental dysphasia, its etiology, symptomatology, and then the therapy. The second part focuses on establishing a therapeutic material, where tasks are compiled according to the individual needs of the reference boys with developmental dysphasia.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die Schreientwicklung von Säuglingen und die dabei auftretenden Regularitäten und Gesetzmäßigkeiten untersucht. Es wurde dazu eine Analyse von Grundfrequenzverläufen (Melodien) in Säuglingsschreien der ersten 5 Lebensmonate von 30 medizinisch unauffälligen monozygoten Zwillingen durchgeführt. Diese Studie belegt, daß der Säuglingsschrei weit mehr ist, als nur ein angeborenes biologisches Alarmsignal, das Ausnahmesituationen in der Kommunikation vorbehalten bleibt. Die gefundenen Gesetzmäßigkeiten in der Entwicklungen der Schreimelodie berechtigen, den Säuglingsschrei in eine Reihe mit frühen Nichtschrei-Vokalisationen als essentielle Wegbereiter für den Spracherwerb zu stellen. Den durch umfangreiche Studien anderer Autoren bereits nachgewiesenen Perzeptionsleistungen junger Säuglinge können durch die hier gefundenen, komplexen Leistungen bezüglich der Melodieentwicklung im Schrei nunmehr auch ebenbürtige Produktionsleistungen gegenübergestellt werden. Die analysierten 1700 Schreimelodien wurden durch einen Vergleich in Ähnlichkeitsklassen eingeteilt. Es wird ein Klassifizierungssystem vorgeschlagen, das sechs Ähnlichkeitsklassen (Melodietypen) definiert, die auf prinzipiellen Formeigenschaften (langsamen Modulationseigenschaften) der Schreimelodien beruhen. Die Formeigenschaften der Melodietypen sind also bis auf lineare Transformationen der Zeitachse und einem konstanten Shiftwert in der Frequenzachse (bei ungeändertem Frequenzhub) invariant. Alle Schreimelodien wurden eindeutig den gebildeten Melodietyp-Klassen zugeordnet und ohne irgendwelche Skalen-Transformationen in Frequenz oder Zeit dargestellt. Die Konsistenz aller im Rahmen der vorliegenden Studie durchgeführten Untersuchungen hat die vorgeschlagene Klassifizierung gerechtfertigt. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß die Synchronizität und die Konkordanz in der Melodieentwicklung für die Zwillinge eines Paares deutlich größer ist als für nichtverwandte Zwillinge gleichen Geschlechts und Alters. Die Monozygotie der Zwillinge und die damit erhaltene höhere Synchronizität der Entwicklung ließen die Universalität der Entwicklung wesentlich prägnanter hervortreten, als dies bei einer durchschnittlichen Population der Fall gewesen wäre. Es konnte eine kontinuierliche, gesetzmäßige Melodieentwicklung bei allen Zwillingen nachgewiesen und in Form eines Entwicklungsdiagramms dargestellt werden. Es wurde eine höhere Konkordanz und Synchronizität zwischen den monozygoten Zwillingen der gleichen Paare bezüglich der Art der erzeugten Melodietypen und deren absoluten Häufigkeit in einem bestimmten Alter gefunden. Dies und die ebenfalls nachgewiesene Fähigkeit der Zwillinge zur hohen formähnlichen Reproduktion der Melodien sind ein starkes Argument für die Beteiligung genetischer Faktoren an der Erzeugung der Melodietypen nach einem internen zerebralen Programm. / The cry development of babies and the regularly occurring phenomena and principles are discussed in the present paper. The time variations of the fundamental frequency (melodies) in babies cries in the first five months of life was analyzed in 30 medically normal monozygotic twins. This study documents that the baby s cry is far more than only an innate biological alarm signal which is reserved to exceptional situations of communication. The developmental principles of the cry melody found justify the categorization of the baby s cry on the same level as other early noncry vocalizations as essential precursors for the acquisition of speech. The perceptual capacity of young infants as already demonstrated by extensive studies of other authors can now also be compared to equivalent cry production on the basis of the complex phenomena found with regard to cry melody development of melody in the cry. The 1,700 cry melodies analyzed were classified into similarity classes by means of a comparison. A system of classification defining six similarity classes (melody types) which are based on fundamental form characteristics (slow modulation properties) of the cry melodies was suggested. The form characteristics of the melody types are invariant apart from linear transformations of the time axis and a constant shift value in the frequency axis (with unchanged frequency hub). All cry melodies were unequivocally assigned to the classes of melody type formed and visualized in frequency or time without any scale transformations. The consistency of all the investigations conducted in the present study justify the suggested classification. It could be shown that the synchronicity and the concordance in the melody development for monozygotic twins is very much greater than that for unrelated twins of the same sex and age. The monozygosity of the twins and the greater synchronicity of the development thereby attained resulted in the universality in the development being manifested very much more distinctly than would have been the case in an average population. A continuous regular development of melody could be demonstrated in all twins and depicted in the form of a development diagram. A greater concordance and synchronicity between the monozygotic twins of the same pair was found with regard to the characteristics of the melody types produced and their absolute frequency at a certain age. This and the likewise demonstrable ability of the twins to reproduce the melodies in a highly similar form are very strong arguments corroborating a role of genetic factors in the production of the melody types according to an internal cerebral program.

Summary Objective The purpose of this study was to describe the early vocalization skills in children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) at 6 and 12 months of age and compare these early vocalization measures to later speech and vocabulary development at 30 months of age. Methods The participants in the study included 13 children without cleft lip or palate (NCLP) who were typically developing and 13 children with CLP matched for age, gender and socioeconomic status. Standardized measures of cognition, language, hearing, and prelinguistic vocalization measures were administered at 6 and 12 months and speech production, and vocabulary measures were collected at 30 months of age. Results Group differences were observed in both receptive and expressive language development at 12 and 30 months of age. Group differences were observed in the frequency of babbling and Mean Babbling Level at 12 months and speech sound accuracy and vocabulary production at 30 months of age. Significant correlation coefficients were observed between babbling frequency at 6 months and consonant inventory size, vocabulary at 30 months for the children with clefts and PCC-R for noncleft children. Conclusions This study documented that young children with clefts have persistent vocalization and vocabulary deficits well beyond palate closure. Measures of babbling frequency, Mean Babbling Level and consonant inventories provide clinically effective means of identifying these early deficits. Additionally, these measures may provide a tool for monitoring the effects of early intervention programs that promote facilitation of sound and vocabulary development.

Unlike auditory-only speech perception, little is known about the development of auditory-visual speech perception. Recent studies show that pre-linguistic infants perceive auditory-visual speech phonetically in the absence of any phonological experience. In addition, while an increase in visual speech influence over age is observed in English speakers, particularly between six and eight years, this is not the case in Japanese speakers. This thesis aims to investigate the factors that lead to an increase in visual speech influence in English speaking children aged between 3 and 8 years. The general hypothesis of this thesis is that age-related, language-specific factors will be related to auditory-visual speech perception. Three experiments were conducted here. Results show that in linguistically challenging periods, such as school onset and reading acquisition, there is a strong link between auditory visual and language specific speech perception, and that this link appears to help cope with new linguistic challenges. However this link does not seem to be present in adults or preschool children, for whom auditory visual speech perception is predictable from auditory speech perception ability alone. Implications of these results in relation to existing models of auditory-visual speech perception and directions for future studies are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

O objetivo desta tese é analisar os modos de vida na cidade de Belterra. Foram analisados dois períodos de tempo (1934-1945 / 1995-2011) da vida social do lugar, para identificar como a ação do capital, com base no apoio estatal, se deslocou para a Amazônia Brasileira, se apropriou de grandes porções do território, destruiu ou desorganizou os modos de vida preexistentes em nome das exigências do mercado internacional. No primeiro período, buscou-se identificar como ocorreu o processo de ressocialização do migrante em uma cidade-empresa da Companhia Ford Industrial do Brasil, baseada na criação de uma hierarquia sociofuncional do sistema fordista de produção e uma restrição da convivência dos americanos em relação aos brasileiros. No segundo período, analisamos a presença da soja na cidade e em seu entorno. O rural e o urbano estão contidos na cidade, simultaneamente, como práticas socioculturais que não se fazem pela oposição. A ligação entre os dois períodos encontra-se nas mudanças dos modos de vida preexistentes, no uso predatório da natureza e na enunciação de estereótipos pelos de fora contra a população do lugar sob o abrigo da fala do desenvolvimento. As técnicas usadas foram a observação de campo, as entrevistas, as conversas informais, o levantamento bibliográfico, documental e fotográfico. Permitindo a construção de mapas que resumem estes movimentos. Pudemos realizar entrevistas com perguntas semi-estruturadas para tratar dos dois períodos de tempo considerados em nossa pesquisa. Desse modo, observamos que na cidade praticada, onde se realiza a mediação entre o lugar e a totalidade-mundo, os híbridos presentes na vida cotidiana e o contexto de sua realização nos informam sobre a Amazônia e, em particular, da presença étnica (quilombola e indígena), do rural e do urbano na cidade, uma vez que a vida naquele espaço subnacional não se realiza pelas oposições criadas pelo pensamento abstrato. / The aim of this thesis is to analyze the Belterra ways of life. We analyzed two time periods (1934-1945 / 1995-2011) of the social life of the place, to identify how the action of the Capital, based on governmental support, moved to the Brazilian Amazon, has appropriated large pieces of territory, destroyed or disrupted the ways of life in the name of the requirements international market. In the first period, attempted to identify how was the process of reintegration of migrants into a city-company Ford Industrial Company of Brazil, based on creating a hierarchy sociofuncional Fordist production system and a restriction of living of Americans and Brazilians. In the second period, we analyzed the presence of soy in the city and the around it. The rural and urban are contained in the city simultaneously and socio-cultural practices that are not made by the opposition. The connection between the two periods lies in the changes of "ways of life" pre-existing, the predatory use of nature and the enunciation of stereotypes by "outsiders" against the population of the place with the shelter of speech development. The techniques used were field observations, interviews, informal conversations, the bibliographic, documentary and photographic, allowing the construction of maps that summarize these social movements. We could do interviews with semi-structured questions to address the two time periods considered in our research. Thus, we observed that practiced in the city, where it mediates between the place and the whole world, hybrids present in everyday life and the context of its performance tell us about the Amazon and in particular the presence of ethnic (quilombola and indigenous), the rural and urban life since the sub-space that is not realized by the oppositions created by abstract thinking.

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