The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelation between teaching, testing and assessment of English as a foreign language in the Swedish school system. The focus is on the Swedish National test of English, and teaching and assessment of English in Swedish schools. A comparison with the Cambridge testing system is part of the study which has given rise to questions regarding the validity and reliability of the Swedish National test of English. The study was carried out through qualitative questionnaires and interviews aimed at 5 English teachers working within the Swedish School system. The findings of the primary data suggest that the test is, with the exception of its marking procedures, regarded highly by the interviewees. The results of the interviews and questionnaires also suggest that the common factor between teaching, testing and assessment of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in the Swedish school system appears to be the syllabus and, thus, indirectly, the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

The theoretical part of this diploma thesis provides a broader academic context for the research presented in the theoretical part and is concerned with the specifics of the writing assessment. It proposes reasons why writing should be assessed, describes methods of assessment and scoring, and also examines writing tests. At the end of the theoretical part, the presumed controlling idea, called the washback effect, which significantly influenced the course of the research in the practical part of the thesis, is presented. The practical part is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the types of scoring ESL grammar school teachers employ for assessing grammar school pupils. The aim was to discover how many of them use analytical and/or multiple-trait scoring. It was revealed that analytical scoring the most used means of assessment. Holistic scoring was next, followed by multiple-trait and lastly primary-trait scoring. Other scoring procedures are rarely employed. The second part is a case study of assessment criteria of selected teachers which compares these criteria against those used in Cambridge English: Preliminary examination and the Czech state secondary school-leaving exam. The author of the thesis tried to identify criteria or descriptors which appear across these systems and could,...

Background. Within the South African context there is a large body of research regarding the associations between maternal gestational drinking and diagnosable child FASDs. However, there remains a paucity of local research regarding the impacts of other kinds of maternal drinking behaviours (e.g. past and present maternal drinking) and related socio-demographic factors on developmentally sensitive areas of child neurocognitive functioning, such as executive functioning (EF). Methods. This study was cross-sectional in design, utilising a gender balanced sample of N=464 children between the ages of 9.00 and 15.12 (year.months) in three rural areas within the Western Cape. Information regarding maternal drinking behaviours (before, during and after pregnancy) and related socio-demographic factors was collected via structured interviews with mothers or proxy respondents. Six subtests from the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Battery (CANTAB), were used to assess three aspects of child EF namely: (1) processing speed, assessed by the MOT and RTI subtests, (2) attention, assessed by the MTT and RVP subtests and (3) memory, assessed by the SWM and PAL subtests. Findings. For all three maternal alcohol use behaviours examined, there was an apparent non-significant trend whereby children of mothers who reported alcohol use (before, during and after pregnancy) performed worse (on average) than children of mothers reporting non-alcohol use on the EF subtests. Several of the socio-demographic factors were found to act as significant predictors of subtest specific EF performance including child sex (RTI: B=.46, p<. 01; MTT: B=.05, p<.05), child age (RTI: B=.27, p<.05; MTT: B=.11, p<.01), home language (MOT: B=- .13, p<.05), maternal employment (MTT: B=-.04, p<.05) and household size (SWM: B=-1.29, p<.05). Conclusions. These study findings provide initial insights into the impacts of different types of maternal drinking behaviours and related socio-demographic factors on child EF outcomes within the context of an LMIC, South Africa.

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Исследование посвящено изучение роли понятия империя в исторических работах Эдмунда Бёрка. В ходе изучения темы была применена методология Кембриджской истории по помещению текста в интеллектуальный контекст времени. Источниками для работы стали ряд публицистических произведений британского публициста, а также его эпистолярное наследие. Результатом работы стало выделение представления Бёрка о империи и том как она должна выглядеть в XVIII в. / This study explores the role of the concept of empire in the historical writings of Edmund Burke. In the course of the study the methodology of Cambridge History of placing the text in the intellectual context of time was applied. The sources for the work were a number of publicistic works of the British publicist, as well as his epistolary heritage. The result of the work was the highlighting of Burke's view of the empire and how it should look like in the eighteenth century.

A presente tese carrega o ônus de afirmar a relevância dos textos de Henry David Thoreau para a filosofia moral. Duas estratégias paralelas foram utilizadas para cumprir a tarefa. A primeira consiste na discussão pormenorizada de um conjunto de autores que apresentaram para Thoreau diferentes visões sobre a moralidade e o papel da filosofia na tecitura de uma vida digna de ser vivida: o Unitarismo de William Ellery Channing, as doutrinas do Scottish Common Sense de Dugald Stewart e Thomas Reid, o utilitarismo teológico de William Paley, o intuicionismo racional dos Platonistas de Cambridge (representados aqui por Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson e Ralph Waldo Emerson – dois dos principais nomes do Transcendentalismo da Nova Inglaterra e Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin e Thomas Carlyle – primeiros intérpretes do Idealismo Alemão para o mundo de língua inglesa. A segunda estratégia articula a reação de Thoreau a essas diferentes posições sobre a moralidade, mostrando como, a partir dessa reação, ele foi capaz de formular um exercício de pensamento moral, cristalizado, emblematicamente, na escritura de Walden. O conceito de “identidade ficcional” foi pensado para capturar as diferentes técnicas utilizadas nesse exercício. / The present thesis carries the burden of asserting the relevance of Henry David Thoreau´s texts for moral philosophy. Two parallel strategies have been used to complete the task. The first is a thorough discussion of a group of authors who presented to Thoreau different views on morality and the role of philosophy in the weaving of a life worthy of being lived: William Ellery Channing´s Unitarianism, the doctrines of the Scottish Common Sense - Dugald Stewart and Thomas Reid, William Paley´s theological utilitarianism, rational intuitionism of Cambridge Platonists (represented here by Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson and Ralph Waldo Emerson - two of the leading names of New England Transcendentalism and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin and Thomas Carlyle - first interpreters of German Idealism to the English-speaking world. The second strategy articulates Thoreau´s reaction to these different positions on morality, showing how, from this reaction, he was able to formulate an exercise in moral thinking, crystallized, emblematically, in the writing of Walden. The concept of "fictional identity" was designed to capture different techniques used in this exercise.

A presente tese carrega o ônus de afirmar a relevância dos textos de Henry David Thoreau para a filosofia moral. Duas estratégias paralelas foram utilizadas para cumprir a tarefa. A primeira consiste na discussão pormenorizada de um conjunto de autores que apresentaram para Thoreau diferentes visões sobre a moralidade e o papel da filosofia na tecitura de uma vida digna de ser vivida: o Unitarismo de William Ellery Channing, as doutrinas do Scottish Common Sense de Dugald Stewart e Thomas Reid, o utilitarismo teológico de William Paley, o intuicionismo racional dos Platonistas de Cambridge (representados aqui por Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson e Ralph Waldo Emerson – dois dos principais nomes do Transcendentalismo da Nova Inglaterra e Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin e Thomas Carlyle – primeiros intérpretes do Idealismo Alemão para o mundo de língua inglesa. A segunda estratégia articula a reação de Thoreau a essas diferentes posições sobre a moralidade, mostrando como, a partir dessa reação, ele foi capaz de formular um exercício de pensamento moral, cristalizado, emblematicamente, na escritura de Walden. O conceito de “identidade ficcional” foi pensado para capturar as diferentes técnicas utilizadas nesse exercício. / The present thesis carries the burden of asserting the relevance of Henry David Thoreau´s texts for moral philosophy. Two parallel strategies have been used to complete the task. The first is a thorough discussion of a group of authors who presented to Thoreau different views on morality and the role of philosophy in the weaving of a life worthy of being lived: William Ellery Channing´s Unitarianism, the doctrines of the Scottish Common Sense - Dugald Stewart and Thomas Reid, William Paley´s theological utilitarianism, rational intuitionism of Cambridge Platonists (represented here by Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson and Ralph Waldo Emerson - two of the leading names of New England Transcendentalism and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin and Thomas Carlyle - first interpreters of German Idealism to the English-speaking world. The second strategy articulates Thoreau´s reaction to these different positions on morality, showing how, from this reaction, he was able to formulate an exercise in moral thinking, crystallized, emblematically, in the writing of Walden. The concept of "fictional identity" was designed to capture different techniques used in this exercise.

A presente tese carrega o ônus de afirmar a relevância dos textos de Henry David Thoreau para a filosofia moral. Duas estratégias paralelas foram utilizadas para cumprir a tarefa. A primeira consiste na discussão pormenorizada de um conjunto de autores que apresentaram para Thoreau diferentes visões sobre a moralidade e o papel da filosofia na tecitura de uma vida digna de ser vivida: o Unitarismo de William Ellery Channing, as doutrinas do Scottish Common Sense de Dugald Stewart e Thomas Reid, o utilitarismo teológico de William Paley, o intuicionismo racional dos Platonistas de Cambridge (representados aqui por Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson e Ralph Waldo Emerson – dois dos principais nomes do Transcendentalismo da Nova Inglaterra e Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin e Thomas Carlyle – primeiros intérpretes do Idealismo Alemão para o mundo de língua inglesa. A segunda estratégia articula a reação de Thoreau a essas diferentes posições sobre a moralidade, mostrando como, a partir dessa reação, ele foi capaz de formular um exercício de pensamento moral, cristalizado, emblematicamente, na escritura de Walden. O conceito de “identidade ficcional” foi pensado para capturar as diferentes técnicas utilizadas nesse exercício. / The present thesis carries the burden of asserting the relevance of Henry David Thoreau´s texts for moral philosophy. Two parallel strategies have been used to complete the task. The first is a thorough discussion of a group of authors who presented to Thoreau different views on morality and the role of philosophy in the weaving of a life worthy of being lived: William Ellery Channing´s Unitarianism, the doctrines of the Scottish Common Sense - Dugald Stewart and Thomas Reid, William Paley´s theological utilitarianism, rational intuitionism of Cambridge Platonists (represented here by Ralph Cudworth), Orestes Brownson and Ralph Waldo Emerson - two of the leading names of New England Transcendentalism and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin and Thomas Carlyle - first interpreters of German Idealism to the English-speaking world. The second strategy articulates Thoreau´s reaction to these different positions on morality, showing how, from this reaction, he was able to formulate an exercise in moral thinking, crystallized, emblematically, in the writing of Walden. The concept of "fictional identity" was designed to capture different techniques used in this exercise.

This thesis takes as its starting point the use of extracts from the works of historical authors who wrote in England in the early to mid twelfth-century. It focuses upon the ways in which their works began to be incorporated into three particular texts in the later twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Through the medium of individual case studies – De Abbatibus (Abingdon), CCCC 139 (Durham) and The London Collection three elements are explored (i) how mediaeval writers used extracts from the works of others in ways which differed from modern practices with their concerns over charges of plagiarism and unoriginality (ii) how the structural and narrative roles which the use of extracts played within the presentation of these texts (iii) how the application of approaches developed in the twentieth century, which transformed how texts are now analysed, enabled a re-evaluation and re-interpretation of their use of source material with greater sensitivity to their original purposes This analysis casts fresh light upon the how and why these texts were produced and the means by which they fulfilled their purposes and reveals that despite their disparate origins and individual perspectives these three texts share two common features: (i) they follow a common three stage pattern of development (ii) they deal with similar issues: factional insecurities and concerns about the quality of those in power over them – using an historical perspective The analysis also reveals the range of techniques which were at the disposal of the composers of these texts, dispelling any notion that they were either unsophisticated or naïve in their handling of their source materials. Together these texts demonstrate how mediaeval authors used combinations of extracts as a means of responding quickly and flexibly to address particular concerns. Such texts were not regarded as being set in stone but rather as fluid entities which could be recombined at will in order to produce new works as required.

Despite increasing concern about the presence of heavy metals, pesticides and other toxins in indoor environments, very little is known about the physical and chemical composition of ordinary household dust. This study represents the first systematic investigation of the mineralogical composition of indoor dust in residential housing in Canada. Specimens of dust were obtained from homes in six geographically separate cities in the Province of Ontario: two located on the metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Precambrian Canadian Shield (Thunder Bay and Sudbury), the other four located on Palaeozoic limestone and shale dominated bedrock (Barrie, Burlington, Cambridge, and Hamilton). Forty samples of household vacuum dust were obtained. The coarse fraction (80 – 300 µm) of this dust was subjected to flotation (using water) to separate the organic components (e.g. insect fragments, dander), natural and synthetic materials (e.g. fibres, plastics) from the mineral residue. The mineral fraction was then analyzed using quantitative point counting, polarizing light microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods. Despite the great distances between the sampling localities and the distinct differences in bedrock geology, the mineral fraction of dust from all six cities is remarkably similar and dominated by quartz and feldspar, followed by lithic fragments, calcite, and amphibole. Some evidence of the influence of local geology can nevertheless be found. For example, a relatively higher proportion of sulphide minerals is observed in the two cities on the Canadian Shield where these minerals are clearly more abundant in the bedrock. Specimens from Sudbury, Canada’s largest mining centre located atop a nickel-sulphide mineral deposit, showed the highest sulphide contents. Quartz is the dominant mineral in all cities. All quartz grains have internal strain features and fluid inclusions that are indicative of a metamorphic-igneous provenance. In all cities, sand is used on the streets as an abrasive for traction during the icy winter season. This sand is obtained in all cases from local glaciofluvial deposits that were ultimately derived principally from the rocks of the Canadian Shield in the last Pleistocene glaciations that affected all of Ontario. Thus, tracking in sand is the most plausible mechanism by which quartz was introduced into these homes since sampling was done, in all cases, in the winter season. The results indicate that glacial deposits dominate the mineral composition of indoor dust in Ontario cities and that nature of the bedrock immediately underlying the sampling sites is relatively of minor importance.