This study reports on the investigation of the educators teaching methods at Grade 4 First Additional Language. The study focused on selected schools in Moretele APO. It took into consideration the teaching methods and the challenges of the environment educators found themselves in teaching FAL. The study used a qualitative method to investigate the teaching of FAL. The experiences and the qualifications of educators were taken into consideration during the empirical study when the observations and the interviews were conducted. The empirical investigation revealed that educators did not know how to teach reading in FAL. They knew less about new approaches to teaching reading and that reading was treated as a separate entity from speaking and writing. The conditions that they found themselves were appalling due to lack of motivation, overcrowding in classes, lack of resources and lack of support from the Department of Education. / Language Education, Arts and Culture / M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

This study focussed on teacher training in the context of distance education. It investigated the impact on practice of an English methodology course offered by Unisa’s Department of English Studies at certificate level. The unit of analysis was a group of eight student teachers registered for the module ACEEN26 Teaching English: General Principles offered by Unisa’s Department of English Studies. This module aims to help students to understand the approaches that underpin Outcomes-based Education (OBE) and how these translate into practice in the English First Additional Language (FAL) classrooms. To investigate the participants’ classroom practices, the study adopted an open and inductive approach aimed at gauging their thinking with regard to teaching, learning, assessment and how these understandings reflected OBE practices. The aim was to determine how the eight students made sense of this phenomenon given their own epistemologies within the unique contexts in which they worked. Data collection consisted of a mix of lesson observations, in-depth audio-taped interviews and analysis of documents. The interview was the main data-gathering technique. All these instruments were supplemented by field notes based on informal observations which were entered in a reflective journal. The picture that emerged was of teachers who worked under demanding conditions as they tried to implement complex and sometimes contradictory policies and were constantly under the pressure of policy demands. Their practices were, to a large extent, inconsistent with the OBE approach to teaching and learning. Although they gained some theoretical surface knowledge from the course, the students’ practice remained traditional because of two main reasons emanating from the findings: their inability to internalise the theory to make it an integral part of their mental repertoire and the negative impact of disabling contextual factors.The study constituted an evaluation of the course and therefore fed directly into the whole concept of dialogue and student support which are necessary prerequisites for success in distance education. As a teacher educator, this research was also a way of illuminating my teaching practices through practical research that simultaneously informs the field of teacher education. Based on the training needs identified, a re-contextualised curriculum for the ACE English programme was proposed. This proposed new programme reflects my stance that instead of continuing to focus on pouring resources into dysfunctional schools, we should concentrate on the lowest denominator in the system — the teacher. / Educational Studies / D. Litt. et Phil (English)

In South Africa, the topic of reading has been of great interest on the development of language since it has been estimated that 12 million learners will go through the education system per year. A key concern for all these learners is language. The majority of South African learners do not speak English as their home language, yet the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. It is important for these learners to become fluent in the LoLT as the future of education is dependent upon it. South Africa has been struggling since 2001 to implement a programme in schools that will improve the Literacy abilities of learners. An in-depth study was undertaken to determine whether the THRASS methodology would possibly improve the reading and spelling abilities of Grade 2 English second learners at an inner city school in Pretoria. The research explored the reading and spelling difficulties encountered by these learners. A profile of the Grade 2 English second language learner was compiled. An understanding of how the THRASS programme works has been included. The results from the research indicated that the reading abilities of the Grade 2 learners had improved, however, there was not a significant difference in their spelling abilities. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Magistro darbe analizuojamas vaikų dienos centrų vaidmuo tenkinant mokinių specialiuosius ugdymosi poreikius. Tyrime dalyvavo 109 dalyviai: 60 Šiaulių miesto bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų pedagogų, 40 Lietuvoje veikiančių vaikų dienos centrų darbuotojų, 5 Šiauliuose įsikūrusio dienos centro ugdytiniai, 3 minėto dienos centro ugdytinių tėvai (globėjai) ir specialioji pedagogė. Anketinės apklausos metodu siekta išsiaiškinti, bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų atstovų žinių pobūdį apie vaikų dienos centrus ir požiūrį į juose vykdomą veiklą bei galimą bendradarbiavimą. Taip pat, tirta Lietuvje veikiančių dienos centrų darbuotojų nuomonė, apie jų įstaigų veiklą, siūlomas paslaugas, pagalbos pobūdį. Siekta įvertinti vaikų dienos centrų teikiamų paslaugų įvairovę ir kryptingumą mokyklinio amžiaus vaikams ir jų tėvams. Užsibrėžta išsiaiškinti, kiek vaikų dienos centrus lankančių mokinių turi specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių. Interviu apklausa tirta specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių turinčių mokinių bei jų tėvų nuomonė apie dienos centrus ir juose teikiamas paslaugas. Taip pat, siekta atskleisti vaikų dienos centro, kaip papildomo resurso, tenkinant specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių turinčių mokinių poreikius galimybę. Tyrimu nustatyta, kad didelė dalis mokyklų pedagogų mažai domisi vaikų užimtumu po pamokų, nežino, ar jų klasės ugdytiniai lanko dienos centrą. Pripažįstamas informacijos apie vaikų dienos centrus trūkumas. Labiau pabrėžiamas teigiamas vaikų dienos centrų vaidmuo mokinių užimtumo ir ugdymo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Master‘s thesis analyses the role of day care centers in meeting needs of pupils with special educational needs. To reach the result, was used questinnaire method. 109 people were involved in researc: 60 school pedagogues from Siauliai, 40 day care center specialists from all over Lithuania, 5 pupils from the day care center of Siauliai, 3 patents and a special needs educator who works in the same day care center. The main task of the questinnaire method was to find out the schools of general education knowledge of the nature of the child day care centers, and they approach to their current activities and possible cooperation. Also to find out the day care center specialist opinion about their institutions, the services offered and the nature of assistance. The objective was to assess the children's day care centers for the various services provided and the orientation of school-age children and their parents. Aims to determine the number of children attending day care centers to students with special educational needs. Interview Survey were studied the special needs students and their parents' views on a day care center and its services. It also aimed to reveal the child day care center as an additional resource to meet the needs of special education (learning) needs of students with access needs. The study found that a large part of the school teachers have little interest in children's after-school jobs, do not know whether the class of learners attending day care... [to full text]

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of Same-Language Subtitles (SLS) on the subject-specific comprehension and the academic literacy levels of EAL students on the Vaal Triangle Campus of North-West University (NWU). Essentially, the study aimed to determine whether exposing students studying through English as an Additional Language (EAL) to subtitled lectures (live or recorded lectures) would help improve their comprehension of the academic content as well as their receptive academic literacy skills, compared to students who were not exposed to subtitled lectures. This study stems from the identification of an academic performance-related issue on the Vaal Triangle Campus of NWU. Indeed, campus statistics show that the throughput rate of EAL students remains low, and that these students‟ academic literacy levels are inadequate. In other words, EAL students on this campus are underachieving and seem to have difficulties in mastering academic English. Based on various studies that showed SLS to be a valuable tool in terms of learning and academic literacy, this study proposed to introduce SLS (both live via respeaking and offline) in the university classroom as a learning aid, thus optimising the time students spend in lectures. Very little information was available in South Africa on the impact of SLS on the subject-specific comprehension of EAL students in a tertiary academic context. Furthermore, it had been anticipated that a certain number of technical constraints were likely to be encountered during the empirical investigation. These two factors made it difficult to predict what other factors could influence the outcome of the study. As a result, the study was based on the principle of Action Research, a research method characterised by the fact that the research is carried out in as many cycles as may be necessary in order to achieve the optimal conditions for a specific intervention. Three cycles were necessary to reach the optimal design of the present study so that a confident conclusion could be made regarding the impact of SLS on comprehension and academic literacy. For each cycle, the intervention was carried out over an academic semester. In the first cycle, a test group composed of EAL first-year Economics students was exposed to live SLS via respeaking during class, while a control group (also composed of EAL first-year Economics students) attended the same class at a different time, without SLS. In the second cycle, the live SLS via respeaking were replaced with offline SLS. The intervention was taken out of the regular classes and was carried out in the context of practical revision classes scheduled specifically for the purpose of the intervention. The test group viewed subtitled videos of lectures, while the control group viewed videos without subtitles. After each viewing, all participants were required to complete a short comprehension test. This cycle was also conducted in first-year Economics. The basic design of the third cycle was similar to that of the second cycle, but for the fact that the intervention took place in the context of a Psychology module, which, unlike the Economics module, was taught without the lecturer making use of slides. After these three research cycles were completed, it could be concluded that offline SLS indeed have a positive impact on the subject-specific comprehension and the receptive academic literacy skills of EAL students in a tertiary academic context. This conclusion was supported by the following findings: 1. The first research cycle pointed towards a slight, but statistically insignificant benefit in terms of both comprehension and academic literacy. However, at this stage of the empirical investigation, the technical constraints made it difficult to draw a precise conclusion in that respect. 2. In the second research cycle, the SLS seem to have had a significant impact on the receptive academic literacy skills of the test group, compared to the control group. However, no such impact could be noted in terms of subject-specific comprehension. This was attributed to the presence of a confounding variable, namely slides used during the lectures. This once more made it impossible to draw a confident conclusion regarding the impact of SLS on comprehension. 3. The third research cycle made a more confident conclusion regarding the impact of SLS on subject-specific comprehension possible. Indeed, the results of the statistical analyses show that the test group performed significantly better in their semester test (covering the work done in all the recorded lectures) than the control group, which was not exposed to any videos at all. On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that SLS in their offline form have a positive impact on the subject-specific comprehension and the receptive academic literacy skills of EAL students in a tertiary academic context, specifically if the students are given sufficient time to get used to the mode. This study seems to indicate that the benefits of SLS for comprehension can be recorded provided that students are exposed to the intervention over a longer period of time. However, there may be further scope for refinement as far as this study is concerned. It is therefore important that the topic be investigated further. / MA, Language Practice, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Disertacijoje sprendžiama papildomų ekranų įtakos meandrinių lėtinimo sistemų dažninėms savybėms įvertinimo problema. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai – planariosios meandrinės lėtinimo sistemos (PMLS) su papildomais ekranais, jų modeliai ir analizės bei sintezės metodai. Darbo tikslas – ištirti PMLS su papildomais ekranais, sukurti naujus modelius ir jų tyrimo metodikas leidžiančias įvertinti lėtinimo sistemų kraštų bei galų efektus, sukurti tokių lėtinimo sistemų parametrinės sintezės metodiką. / The dissertation investigates the issues of influence of additional shields on frequency characteristics of meander slow-wave system. The main objects of research include planar meander slow-wave systems with additional shields, their models and the methods of analysis and synthesis. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the planar meander slow-wave systems with additional shields by creating new models and their investigation techniques which allow to evaluate the effects on the edges and ends of slow-wave systems and create the technique for parametric synthesis of such slow-wave systems.

The assessment of pain in children has been an enduring theme in the research literature over many decades, with particular focus on how pain can be adequately measured and the extent of under-measurement of pain (American Academy of Pediatrics 2001; Coyne, 2006; McCaffery & Beebe 1989; Subhashini et al., 2009). Definitions of pain, and hence development of pain measurement tools, are often criticised for not addressing the influence of culture and ethnicity on pain (Bates et al., 1993; McCaffery & Beebe 1989; Zinke, 2007), in children, the perception and expression of pain is also affected by cognitive development (Hallström and Elander, 2004). Whilst there has been an increase in the number of children living in the United Kingdom (UK) who do not speak English as their first language, it has been acknowledged that the measurement and management of pain by health service professionals relies predominantly on their experience with English speaking children (RCN, 2009). This study aimed primarily to examine how primary school age children in key stage 1 who speak English as a primary or additional language experience, express, and explain pain. This aim was addressed through three research questions: (1) how do primary school age children in key stage 1 talk about pain? (2) What are the similarities and differences in the language used to talk about pain by children with English as a primary and additional language? (3) Are there differences in the perceptions of pain by children of different age, gender, language background, and country of birth? A second aim was to examine whether language would affect actions taken by final year child health students and nurses working in Minor Injuries Units to manage pain in primary school age children. Study objectives were addressed using a two phase mixed methods design. The first aim was addressed using six focus group interviews with groups of primary school children (aged 4-7) (Phase 1). Two methods were used in the interviews: use of drawings from the Pediatric Pain Inventory (Lollar et al., 1982) to capture the language used by children to describe pain and observation of the children’s placing of pain drawings on red/amber/green paper to denote perceived severity of pain. Following data collection, the vocabulary of each child was assessed using a standardised lexical test (British Picture Vocabulary Score version II - BPVS II) (Dunn et al., 1997). To address the second aim, a factorial survey was conducted (Phase 2) with nurses working in Minor Injuries Units and child health nursing students to determine whether language has an impact on decisions made about the management of children in pain following a minor injury. Phase 1 findings demonstrated that children from English as an Additional Language (EAL) backgrounds used less elaborate language when talking about pain but tended to talk about the pictures prior to deciding where they should be placed. The children’s placement of pain drawings varied according to language background, gender, and age. The calculated language age of English lexical comprehension (BPVS II score) of monolingual children (M=69.85, SD=19.27) was significantly higher than EAL children (M=47.93, SD=14.32; t (32) = 3.60, p =0.001, two-tailed). However, when these differences were explored in terms of year group, the differences remain significant with foundation and year 2 but not with year 1. For the EAL children, there were also significant relationships between BPVS II score and length of stay in the UK (spearman’s rho 0.749, p = 0.33). The Phase 1 findings were used to construct vignettes, describing hypothetical care situations, for Phase 2. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse the impact of a child’s age, gender, language, parent’s language, injury mechanism, and reaction to pain on the way in which the child’s pain would be assessed and whether parents or an interpreter would be invited to assist in pain assessment. Findings demonstrated that observing the child’s behaviour is the most significant assessment process that is used to assess EAL children, rather than the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), which was used with non-EAL children. This is significant as VAS is the mostly widely used tool to assess pain in health care settings. However, VAS is only effective if it can be understood by the child. Further, MIU nurses and child health students were more likely to involve parents who speak English well than those who speak English poorly but would ask for an interpreter if their involvement was necessary. In order for the respondents to explain their decisions, they were asked an open ended question for each vignette. They reported that language and age of children are the most common difficulties they faced during assessment of pain. Therefore, they suggested some solutions, like using an age appropriate tools for assessing younger children. Respondents also identified that using an interpreter is a time consuming process, which might delay the management of pain. In light of the growing numbers of EAL children in the UK; this research has application in a number of contexts. The variation in language would apply if children were reporting their own pain. However, the findings emphasise the need for sufficient time to be allocated to pain assessment to allow an individualised approach. Study findings suggest several factors that may be important in assessing pain in EAL children; these should be explored further in the context of clinicians’ assessment of pain. The implications of the study impact on policy, practice, education, and future research.

This diploma thesis is focused on the origin and history of elementary education system in the area Prague- west. The work is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practic. The theoretical part chronologically introduces the history of the schools since their inception ( complete dissolution ), to the present. The history of a particular schools in this area is the material source used to formulate the project for for students of different schools as the general public. The main aim of this project is to familiarize pupils with the history of their school and to strengthen the students' relationship to the school. The project will be realized in the school year 2014/2015. All proposed activities and expected outcomes are formulated according to the Framework Educational Programme.

The theses is referring to The Comparison of Health Insurance Systems in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and the Neetherlands. It is focusing on three main components of the medical insurance system, the insurance companies, the healthcare providers and the insured parties. Each of these components has a significant role within the medical system and as their representation in distinct areas is quite broad, I prefered to choose the key areas where the medical insurance figures the most. Each chapter characterises one of the main components of the medical insurance system. First two chapters are the introduction and the models of financing of different medical systems. Third chapter depicts the main characteristics of the insurance system in each country. Fourth chapter names the rights and the duties of the insured person. Fifth chapter is acknowledged to the insurance companies and their role in the financement of the medical system. The last component of the medical system, the health care providers, are defined in the sixth chapter. The conclusion is attributed to the comparisson between the countries regarding the components listed above. The main goal of the theses is to present the differences between the health insurance systems and to evaluate the advantages and disadvanteges in...

Purpose: The goal of this study is to conduct an LCA and LCC analysis of an additional insulation panel and a sandwich panel, to see which panel has the most benefits regrading environmental effects and economical effects. The purpose of this study is to conduct a research regarding the economical and environmental effect a refurbishment on the exterior walls of an industrial building, is it more beneficial to add insulation to the existing walls or remodel the exterior walls. The European Union has sat a target to reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases within all sectors including the construction sector. The goal is to reduce the emissions by 80-95 % by the year 2050, calculated by the emission rate from the year 1990. Approximately 20 % of the heating produced within in a building seeps out from the exterior walls, this adds to the importance of optimizing a buildings insulating capabilities. The study can be broken down in to three subcategories. (1) How do you add insulation the exterior walls of an industrial building? (2) Which is more economically benefitable, the reconstruction of existing walls or using prefabricated panels with common goal of adding insulting to an existing industrial building. (3) Which alterative has more impact on the environment, using prefabricate panels or reconstruct the existing walls of a building. Method: Methods used to answer the question above include a literature analysis, a document analysis and a case study with the purposes of conducting a life cycle analysis and life cycle cost analysis.     Findings: The results of the study points towards that insulating on externally was a much better option in our case study, it reduced the chances of having to deal with both thermal bridges and damages caused by structural dampness in the walls. The results from the LCA an LCC analysis showed that the additional insulation panels had a significant advantage. When using the additional insulation panels the overall cost of the project was reduced by 30,3% and Carbon dioxide emissions where deducted by 50,8% in comparison with the sandwich panels, when both alternatives had a combined u-value of 0,16 W/m2K. Implications: The study shows the importance of conducting an LCA and LCC analysis in the start-up process of project, to determine which alternative are more beneficial for the project and the environment. The study also shows that with a relative low investment and environmental impact you can improve the U-value of a building Limitations: The study was focused solely around industrial buildings and the study is limited to the exterior walls. No other building components where taken in consideration. Keywords: Insulation, LCA, LCC, Exterior walls, additional insulation, industrial buildings / Syfte:. Målet med studien var att genomföra en LCA- och LCC-jämförelse avtilläggsisolerings panel och sandwichelement för att utvärdera vilken som var merlönsamt ut ett ekonomiskt- och miljöperspektiv. Syftet med studien var att undersökavilket som var mer lönsamt ur ett ekonomiskt- och miljöperspektiv, att tilläggsisoleraeller en ombyggnation av ytterväggarna på en befintlig industrilokal. EU:s mål är att isamverkan med andra utvecklade länder minska utsläppen av växthusgaserna inomalla sektorer däribland även byggbranschen med 80–95 procent fram till år 2050jämfört med 1990 års nivå. Cirka 20 % av värmen från en byggnad går ut genomytterväggar, därför är det viktig att optimera isoleringsförmågan av ytterväggarna.Detta bryts ner i tre frågeställningar: (1) Hur tilläggsisoleras ytterväggar iindustrilokaler? (2) Vilket är mer lönsamt, ombyggnationer av befintliga väggar elleranvändning av prefabricerade element med tilläggsisolering ur ett ekonomisktperspektiv? (3) Hur påverkas miljön vid användning av prefabricerade element kontraombyggnationer av befintliga byggnader?Metod: För att besvara ovanstående frågeställningar har en litteraturstudie, endokumentanalys, ett flertal beräkningar och en fallstudie med livcykelsanalys (LCA)och livcykelskostnadsanalys (LCC) genomförts.Resultat: Resultatet av denna studie visade att tilläggsisolera utvändigt var ett bättrealternativ för vår industrilokal. Värmen från lokalen värmde upp väggen inifrån ochpå det viset minskades risken för köldbryggor och att fuktskador uppstod. Utifrånbåde LCA- och LCC-analysen som genomförts visade den på att tilläggsisoleringspaneler hade ett övertag. Att använda tilläggsisolerings paneler skulle minskakostnaden med 30,3% och koldioxidutsläppen med 50,8% jämfört med enombyggnation med hjälp av sandwichelement då båda produkterna hade ett beräknatU-värde på 0,16 W/m2K.Konsekvenser: Studien visar hur viktigt det är att utföra en LCA samt LCC analys vidbörjan av ett projekt för att kunna avgöra vilket av alternativen som finns tillgängligasom är mest fördelaktiga för projektet. Studien visar också att med relativt litenmiljöpåverkan samt kostnad kan en befintlig lokals U-värde förbättras.Begränsningar: Denna studie behandlar enbart renoveringen av en industrilokal. Denhar avgränsat till ytterväggarna på lokalen och andra byggnadsdelar ingår inte iberäkningen.Nyckelord: Isolering, LCC, LCA, ytterväggar, tilläggsisolering, industrilokal