Objetivo: descrever e comparar, por meio das análises perceptivo-auditiva e videofluoroscópica, as emissões das sílabas /pa/ e /sa/ e suas respectivas posições de língua em indivíduos fissurados de palato e não fissurados. Material e Método: foi realizado um estudo retrospectivo em 100 indivíduos com fissura labiopalatina operada com disfunção velofaríngea, sendo 52 do sexo masculino e 48 do sexo feminino (X=15,6 anos DP=±10 anos), e 21 não fissurados, sendo 18 do sexo feminino e 3 do sexo masculino (X=20 anos DP=±6,3 anos). Foram analisadas as emissões dos fonemas /p/ e /s/ isolados, em sílabas, em vocábulos e em frases, por meio da avaliação perceptivo-auditiva. Foi utilizada a videofluoroscopia na visão lateral durante o repouso e a emissão de /papapa/ e /sasasa/. A partir de uma linha vertical imaginária (Z), que separava o espaço entre a língua e a parede posterior da faringe, foram estabelecidas cinco diferentes posições de língua. A presença de fístula no palato e a relação entre os arcos dentários também foram analisadas. Resultados e Conclusões: os fissurados apresentaram maior deslocamento posterior da língua do que os não fissurados durante a emissão da sílaba /pa/ (P<0,0001). Na sílaba /sa/, somente os fissurados apresentaram deslocamento da língua. As emissões de golpe de glote e emissão de ar nasal/fraca pressão/mímica facial nas sílaba /pa/ e /sa/ apresentaram deslocamento posterior da língua. A comparação entre a avaliação perceptivo-auditiva e a posição da língua na videofluoroscopia, mostrou que profissionais experientes podem apresentar dificuldade em identificar determinados tipos de distúrbios articulatórios compensatórios. As presenças de fístula no palato e de alteração na oclusão dentária nos fissurados, não provocaram deslocamento posterior da língua nas sílabas /pa/ e /sa/. / Purpose: to describe and to compare, by means of perceptual speech analysis and videofluoroscopic assessment of tongue positions during the emissions of syllables /pa/ and /sa/ in subjects with and without cleft palate. Material and Method: A retrospective study of 100 subjects presenting with cleft lip and palate operated with velopharyngeal dysfunction was carried out, 52 males and 48 females (X=15,6 years SD=±10 years of age), and 21 noncleft individuals, being 18 females and 3 males (X=20 years SD=±6,3 years of age). Phonetic description of the emission of phonemes /p/ and /s/ isolated, in syllables, in words and phrases was utilized by means of perceptive-auditive evaluation, and videofluoroscopy in the lateral view during rest and emission of /papapa/ and /sasasa/. From a vertical imaginary line (Z), which separated the space between the tongue and the posterior pharyngeal wall, five different tongue positions were established. The presence of palatal fistula and the relation between the dental arches were analysed as well. Results and Conclusions: The cleft individuals presented greater posterior tongue displacement than their counterparts in the syllable /pa/ (P<0,0001). In the /sa/ syllable, only the cleft individuals presented tongue displacement. The glottal stop emissions and nasal air emission/weak pressure/facial grimacing in the /pa/ and /sa/ syllables presented posterior tongue displacement. The comparison between the perceptive-auditive evaluation and tongue position on the videofluoroscopy showed that experienced professionals may present difficulty in identifying certain types of compensatory articulation errors. The presence of palatal fistula and dental oclusion alterations in cleft individuals, did not cause posterior tongue displacement in the /pa/ and /sa/ syllables.

Objetivo: Estudar a habilidade motora do lábio e da língua em indivíduos com fissura isolada de palato e em indivíduos com fissura de palato associada à fissura labial, comparativamente a indivíduos sem fissura labiopalatina. Método: Participaram do estudo 88 crianças de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 9 e 12 anos, distribuídas em três grupos: 28 crianças com fissura pós-forame incisivo operada, 30 com fissura transforame incisivo unilateral operada e 30 sem fissura labiopalatina ou má oclusão que constituiu o grupo controle. Avaliou-se a mobilidade dos lábios e da língua, a partir de imagens gravadas de 12 movimentos dos lábios e 17 da língua; a atividade eletromiográfica do lábio superior obtida com eletrodos bipolares de superfície durante a protrusão dos lábios, considerada atividade máxima, e na produção da silaba pa, calculando-se a porcentagem da máxima atividade labial utilizada na emissão da sílaba; além do teste da DDC a partir da repetição das sílabas pa, ta, ca e da sequência pa-ta-ca, analisando-se para as sílabas os parâmetros fornecidos pelo programa Motor Speech Profile Advanced (MSP) da KayPENTAXTM, e para a sequência pataca a contagem do número de emissões por segundo. Resultados: Quanto à mobilidade, verificou-se menor escore para os lábios no grupo controle comparado aos dois grupos fissura e menor escore para a língua no grupo controle que no grupo com fissura transforame. Em relação à atividade eletromiográfica, não houve diferença entre os grupos para a protrusão labial, mas a porcentagem da máxima atividade utilizada na emissão da sílaba foi maior no grupo pós-forame comparado aos grupos controle e transforame. Para a DDC, obteve-se maior número de emissões por segundo e menor tempo médio entre as emissões da sílaba ca no grupo controle comparado ao grupo transforame e maior número de emissões por segundo da sequencia pataca no grupo controle que no grupo pós-forame. Conclusão: Na amostra estudada, a mobilidade labial foi reduzida nos grupos com fissura e a mobilidade lingual foi reduzida no grupo transforame comparado ao grupo sem fissura; maior porcentagem da atividade máxima labial para produzir a silaba pa foi utilizada na fissura pós-forame; a velocidade de emissão da sílaba ca foi menor na fissura transforame, assim como na fissura pós-forame houve menos emissões da sequência pa-ta-ca que no grupo sem fissura. / Objective: To investigate the tongue and lips motor ability in subjects with isolated cleft palate as well as in subjects with cleft palate associated with cleft lip compared to subjects without cleft lip and palate. Methods: Eighty eight children with both genders, between the ages of 9 and 12 years old, took part in this investigation. Being distributed in three groups: 28 children with repaired isolated cleft palate, 30 with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate and the control group which consisted of 30 children without cleft lip and palate or malocclusion. This investigation assessed the lips and tongue mobility through recorded images of 12 lips movements and 17 tongue movements; the electromyographic activity of the upper lip, which was obtained through bipolar surface electrodes during the protrusion of the lips, considered as the maximal activity, and during the production of the syllable \"pa\", by calculating the percentage of the lips maximal activity used in the syllable emission and the DDK test through the repetition of the syllables pa, ta, ca and the sequence pa-ta-ca, by analyzing the syllables through the parameters provided by the program Motor Speech Profile Advanced (MSP) of the KayPENTAXTM, and the sequence pataca by counting the number of emissions per second. Results: Regarding the mobility, it was verified a lower score to the lips in the control group than in the other two groups with cleft, and a lower score to the tongue in the control group than in the group with unilateral cleft lip and palate. Regarding the electromyographic activity, there was no difference between the groups as to the protusion of the lips, but the percentage of the maximal activity used in the syllable emissions was greater in the group with isolated cleft palate than in the groups control and unilateral cleft lip and palate. As to the DDK, it was verified a greater number of emissions per second and a lower mean time between the emissions of the syllable ca in the control group compared to the group with unilateral cleft lip and palate and a greater number of emissions per second of the sequence pataca in the control group than in the group with with isolated cleft palate. Conclusion: In the investigated sample, the mobility of the lips was decreased in the groups with cleft and the mobility of the toungue was decreased in the group with unilateral cleft lip and palate compared to the group without cleft; an increased percentage of the maximal activity to produce the syllable pa was used in the group with the isolated cleft palate; the rate of the emission of the syllable ca was lower in the unilateral cleft lip and palate, as in the group with isolated cleft there were lower emissions of the sequence pa-ta-ca than in the group without cleft.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Languages)) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / Refer to the document / University of Limpopo

Résumé Cette étude s’intéresse aux influences de la langue maternelle (l’arabe), sur l’apprentissage du français chez les apprenants libyens dans un milieu institutionnel : le département de français à l’université de Benghazi et de Tripoli en Libye. Elle se penche sur les erreurs morphosyntaxiques en productions écrites que commettent les apprenants libyens en français langue étrangère, et sur les difficultés interlinguales dont souffrent ces apprenants. L’objectif de cette étude, c’est d’identifier et de classer les erreurs commises par les étudiants libyens dans leurs productions écrites, puis d’étudier et d’analyser les causes de celles-ci, afin de chercher des procédures pour les corriger. Elle vise à amener une réflexion sur l’enseignement de la langue française en Libye et sur les possibilités d’améliorer quelques-unes des démarches d’enseignement utilisées au sein de ces départements de français. Elle vise aussi à proposer une analyse des différents aspects de l’enseignement du français langue étrangère qui peuvent être transposés dans le cadre libyen, à proposer des idées pédagogiques, et à aborder enfin les différentes théories en relation avec cet enseignement. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons tout d’abord retracé l’évolution de l’enseignement de la langue française en Libye. Ensuite, nous avons abordé quelques notions ayant une importance remarquable dans notre travail d’étude. Nous avons abordé dans un second temps différents points de vue concernant certaines études réalisées en apprentissage (ou acquisition) d’une langue étrangère. Par la suite, nous avons examiné les fonctionnements morphosyntaxiques opératoires de certains constituants des phrases en arabe en comparant avec le français. Nous avons présenté notre corpus, les modalités de classements et certaines des erreurs relevées dans les copies des apprenants. Enfin, et grâce aux résultats livrés par cette analyse, nous avons été amené à présenter quelques perspectives et propositions didactiques qui peuvent être utiles à l’enseignement de la langue française en Libye, et à ouvrir des possibilités pour l’amélioration des démarches d’enseignement utilisées dans ce pays. / Abstract This study investigates the influence of native language (Arabic) on the learning of French among Libyan learners in an institutional setting : the French department at the University of Benghazi and Tripoli in Libya. It examines the morphosyntactic errors the learners commit in their written productions, and the interlingual difficulties they face. The purpose of this study is to identify and classify those errors, and to investigate their causes so as to offer procedures to correct them. The study aims to bring a reflection on the teaching of French in Libya and the opportunities to improve some of the teaching approaches that are used in the departments of French language. It also aims to discuss or present a number of strategies in teaching French as a foreign language that could be implemented in the Libyan context, and to address various theories linked to this teaching. To achieve these goals, we first traced the evolution of the teaching of French language in Libya. Then we discussed a number of concepts of major significance for our study. We discussed in a second time different views on certain studies in learning (or acquisition) of a foreign language. Next, we examined the morphosyntactic characteristics of some linguistic features of Arabic in comparison with French. We presented our corpus, our ranking methods, and the errors identified in the learners’ submissions. Following the conclusions drawn from the latter analysis, we presented some didactic strategies that may be useful for the teaching of French language in Libya or that may add new perspectives to existing approaches.

The aim of this study was to quantify the density of taste pores on the anterior region of the tongue, in adult males and 8 to 9 year old boys. Earlier studies had shown that, although 8 to 9 year olds were poorer than adults at sensing the tastant sucrose using a whole mouth procedure, localised regions of the tongue in male children were more sensitive than equivalent regions in adults. This study aims to detemine whether the age differences in sensitivity is related to a difference in taste pore density. Two areas of the tongue, for which children had previously been shown to have higher sensitivity than adults, were examined using a videomicrosocpy technique and the number and diameter of taste pores were measured. Children were found to have a greater density of taste pores, however the number of taste pores per papilla were similar in children and adults. It was found to be likely that the greater sensitivity of localised areas on the children's tongue is due to a greater taste pore density. The reduced sensitivity reported using whole mouth stimulation may be due to a reduced capacity to assimilate taste input from the whole mouth or due to different relative contributions to whole-mouth taste from the various receptive fields in the mouth. / Master of Science (Hons)

Whether or not the mother tongue is to be used in the language classroom has long been a subject of heated argument among language teachers in China. The great success of the communicative approach in second language teaching seems to have strengthened some peoples' belief that the mother tongue should be completely avoided in language teaching. It is, therefore, of great importance in China, and perhaps of interest to foreign language teachers in other countries as well, to analyse the situations of foreign language teaching and learning, including the difference between second language and foreign language teaching, in order to see whether controlled use of the mother tongue can in fact make teaching and learning effective and efficient. Chapter 1 reviews the major language teaching methods and approaches now in use within and outside China. These methods and approaches are categorized in accordance with the ways of the learning they represent, and the advantages and problems of these methods and approaches are analysed. The differences between foreign language learning and second language learning are examined in Chapter 2. Since foreign language learners have different aims and objectives, a different environment and possibly different motives, their ways of learning are bound to be affected. Theories of language learning compound and co-ordinate bilingualism, independent and interdependent bilinguals, acquisition and learning, are also discussed in relation to the influence of these theories on language teaching as well as the reasons why people use the mother tongue in foreign language teaching. However, it is the teacher's responsibility to select the appropriate techniques for presenting and practising the target language. In the case of foreign language learning the use of the mother tongue is not only possible but can be effective and efficient. Chapter 3 focuses on the foreign language teaching situation in China. It includes a description of and comments on the changes in methods in the last 50 years as well as some important arguments in academic circles associated with the issue of the use of the mother tongue in foreign language teaching. Chapter 4 describes the author's investigation in the form of questionnaires sent to foreign language teachers and observations of foreign language classrooms. Answers to the questionnaires appear to confirm the existence of the problems in the use of the mother tongue. Analysis of the observations reveals possible solutions to the problems. Practical suggestions about the actual use of the mother tongue in the foreign language teaching are offered in Chapter 5. For teaching, it seems possible to use the mother tongue to teach/explain : 1) new concepts; 2) abstract ideas; 3) different points; 4) target language grammar; 5) translation skills; and 6) target language culture. Mother tongue is also very helpful for teachers in their compiling of teaching materials. On the other hand, students can use mother tongue in their learning; it helps them practise as well as gather historical and cultural background information.

Les travaux effectués au cours de cette thèse ont pour but d'utiliser la modalité tactile pour permettre au chirurgien de guider une aiguille jusqu'à une cible tout en conservant la modalité visuelle dédiée à l'observation du champ opératoire. Pour ce faire, le paradigme de suppléance perceptive utilisant le dispositif visuo-tactile lingual (Tongue Display Unit -TDU-) de Bach-y-Rita est exploité. Le travail de recherche que nous avons réalisé concerne le guidage d'un geste de ponction par des informations spatiales électrotactiles linguales. L'objectif de notre étude est d'évaluer les performances d'un système de guidage chirurgical électrotactile lingual et les capacités discriminatives tactiles spatiales de la langue. Pour cela, différentes expériences ont été réalisées. Deux séries d'expériences fondamentales psychophysiques ont permis d'analyser les seuils de perception et de confort électrotactiles linguaux sur différentes régions de la surface de la langue, ainsi que sa capacité à discriminer des patterns électrotactiles directionnels. Les résultats sont très hétérogènes en fonction de la position de la stimulation sur la langue et dépendent de la tâche perceptive effectuée. De plus, deux expériences appliquées à la réalisation de trajectoire de ponction en utilisant le guidage TDU ont montré qu'un guidage électrotactile lingual permettait d'orienter une aiguille très précisément jusqu'à une cible percutanée de quelques millimètres avec peu d'entrainement.

<p>Syftet med min undersökning är att jämföra hur svenska pedagoger arbetar med sång och musik på en förskola med barn som har svenska som modersmål respektive en förskola med barn som har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Jag observerade och intervjuade tre kvinnliga förskollärare från två olika förskolor. Resultatet visade att pedagogerna på de båda förskolorna arbetade mycket med det språkliga, men på olika sätt. Pedagogerna som arbetade med barn med ett annat modersmål än svenska hade mer språkliga mål och syften med sitt sång- och musikarbete och framhävde mer den språkliga förståelsen medan pedagogen som arbetade med barn som hade svenska som modersmål mer såg på vikten av att göra det lättare för barnen att minnas, samt på utvecklingen av det sociala, exempelvis samspel och gemenskap. Pedagogen som arbetade med barn som hade svenska som modersmål, gav barnen mer utrymme för samtal och frågor än vad pedagogerna på den andra förskolan gjorde och gav mer utrymme för båda könen. Jag hoppas att detta arbete bidrar till ny kunskap hos de som läser det, när det gäller vikten av att ha sång och musik som en del i förskolan för barnens utveckling, inte bara språkligt utan även motoriskt och socialt.</p><p>The aim with my research is to compare how Swedish pedagogues work with song and music at a preschool with children who have Swedish as their mother tongue, with a preschool with children who has another mother tongue than Swedish. I observed and interviewed three female nursery-school teachers from two different preschools. The result showed that the pedagogues at both preschools worked much with the language but in different ways. The pedagogues who worked with children having another mother tongue than Swedish had more linguistic aims with song and music and brought out the linguistic understanding, while the pedagogue who worked with children who had Swedish as their mother tongue brought out the importance of making it easier for children to remember, and the social development. The pedagogue who worked with children having Swedish as their mother tongue, gave the children more time for conversation and questions than the pedagogues at the other preschool and gave more time for both gender. I hope that this work will contribute to new knowledge for the persons who read it when it comes to the importance of having song and music as a part for children’s development in preschools. Not just for their linguistic development but also for their motor learning and social development</p>

<p>This thesis is a part of a project where a new method, the base descriptor approach, is studied. The purpose of this method is to reduce drift and extract vital information from electronic tongue measurements. Reference solutions, called descriptors, are measured and the measurements are used to find base descriptors. A base descriptor is, in this thesis, a regression vector for prediction of the property that the descriptor represent. The property is in this case the concentration of a chemical substance in the descriptor solution. Measurements from test samples, in this case fruit juices, are projected onto the base descriptors to extract vital and drift-stable information from the test samples. </p><p>The base descriptors are used to determine the concentrations of the descriptors'chemical substances in the juices and thereby also to classify the different juices. It is assumed that the measurements of samples of juices and descriptors drift the same way. This assumption has to be true in order for the base descriptor approach to work. The base descriptors are calculated by multivariate regression methods like partial least squares regression (PLSR) and principal component regression (PCR). </p><p>Only two of the descriptors tested in this thesis worked as basis for base descriptors. The base descriptors'predictions of the concentrations of chemical substances in the juices are hard to evaluate since the true concentrations are unknown. Comparing the projections of juice measurements onto the base descriptors with a classification model on the juice measurements performed by principal component analysis (PCA), there is no significant difference in drift of the juice measurements in the results of the two methods. The base descriptors, however, separates the juices for classification somewhat better than the classification of juices performed by PCA.</p>

<p>The purpose of our examination was to survey how one preschool works with so called language groups, if the mother tongue is important and if the informants can see any complex of problems in the inclusive/exclusive way of working with language groups in the preschool. The literature review provides for example the three most important areas of mother tongue, which are the emotional, the social and the intellectual (Ladberg, 2000). Further it describes the difference between the conceptions integration and inclusion, when today the concept inclusion is preferred (Tøssebro, 2004). We were inspired by qualitative interviews as our method and from a phenomenographic perspective described the informants’ perceptions about the named phenomenon. Three preschool teachers and three mother tongue educationalists constitute the represented informants. The result of our examination shows a clear opinion about the great importance of mother tongue and that the mother tongue educational programme is not considered to be an excluded activity, since the children already are used to the constant groupings in the preschool. Our examination shows many areas in need of improvement, for example the engagement from the municipality and further education for the pedagogues. Further research of the subject is also of importance to be able to improve the mother tongue educational programme with didactic guidelines.</p> / <p>Syftet med vårt examensarbete var att kartlägga hur en förskola arbetar med så kallade språkgrupper, om modersmålet är viktigt och om informanterna uppfattar någon problematik med ett inkluderande/exkluderande arbetssätt i språkgrupperna i förskolan. Litteraturgenomgången pekar bland annat på modersmålets tre viktigaste områden, nämligen det emotionella, sociala och intellektuella (Ladberg, 2000). Vidare redogörs för skillnad mellan begreppen integrering och inkludering då det i dag föredras att använda begreppet inklusion (Tøssebro, 2004). Vi har inspirerats av kvalitativa intervjuer som metod och utifrån ett fenomenografiskt perspektiv redogjort för informanternas uppfattningar kring det nämnda fenomenet. Informanterna utgörs av tre förskollärare samt tre modersmålsstöd</p><p>1. Resultatet av vår undersökning visar en tydlig uppfattning om att modersmålet är otroligt viktigt och att modersmålsverksamheten inte uppfattas som exkluderande då barnen är vana vid förskolans konstanta gruppindelningar. Undersökningen visar även att det finns många förbättringsområden, exempelvis kommunens engagemang och pedagogernas vidareutbildning. Även vidare forskning inom ämnet är viktigt för att få en förbättrad verksamhet med didaktiska riktlinjer.</p>