Objectives: To review, develop, and validate appropriate methods for quality control testing of sublingual (SL) tablets; to formulate and characterize new generations of SL tablets of epinephrine (E) for the potential first-aid treatment of anaphylaxis; and to evaluate the effects of non-medicinal ingredients (NMIs) on the in vitro characteristics and in vivo bioavailability of the formulated tablets. Methods: A custom-made apparatus and a novel method that simulates SL conditions were evaluated for dissolution testing of SL tablets. An electronic tongue (e-Tongue) was used to assess the degree of E bitterness and to demonstrate the masking effects of sweetening and/or flavoring agents. The effect of several NMIs in various properties on the in vitro characteristics of new generations of E SL tablets was evaluated. Formulations with the best in vitro characteristics, containing E 30 mg and 40 mg, were evaluated in vivo using our validated rabbit model and compared with placebo SL tablets (negative control) and E 0.3 mg intramuscular (IM) injection (positive control). Results: The novel in vitro dissolution testing resulted in accurate and reproducible data and was capable of detecting the effect of minor changes in formulations. Using the e-Tongue, E bitartrate had an extremely bitter taste which was masked to various degrees by the addition of aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and citric acid alone or in combination. Citric acid alone masked the bitter taste by >80%. The evaluation of NMIs revealed that the best formulation contained specific proportions of mannitol and coarse and fine grades of microcrystalline cellulose. Appropriate comparative testing resulted in the selection of a taste-masked E SL formulation with optimum in vitro characteristics. This formulation containing E 40 mg resulted in similar bioavailability to E 0.3 mg IM. This formulation containing E 30 mg had higher bioavailability than placebo, but lower bioavailability than E 40 mg tablets. Conclusions: Grades and proportions of NMIs carefully selected using appropriate in vitro testing resulted in successful formulations. The results of these in vitro tests enabled the development of the optimum E SL tablet formulation which was bioequivalent to the EpiPen. These tablets are potentially suitable for Phase 1 studies in humans and might transform the first-aid treatment of anaphylaxis in community settings.

Taiwan is a country colonized by various regimes over the past four hundred years. The research first adopted the narrative inquiry-an autobiography on my journey to find my Taiwanese identity and mother tongue loss. Secondly, a phenomenological study on three Taiwanese families was conducted to secure an in-depth complex understanding on the scope and extent of the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan, of the thoughts and feelings about losing mother tongues, of the role of political power, the colonial history and other sociocultural contexts in the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan. Ten features and eleven themes were identified in this study. The political power and colonial history are important factors of mother tongue loss among my three participant families.

Syftet med denna studie är att utforska hur individer upplever sin prestation och själva inlärningssituationen då kunskap som ska läras in på ett språk ska återges på deras modersmål i form av tentamen eller i andra diskussionssituationer. Sex personer intervjuades om deras upplevelser att läsa kurslitteraturen på ett främmande språk och sedan återge den inlärda kunskapen på deras modersmål, i detta fall, svenska. Intervjumaterialet analyserades utifrån induktiv tematisk metod. Ur analysen framträdde tre huvudteman: förståelse av innehåll, förmågan att kunna uttrycka sig och slutligen, översättningsproblematiken. Den första två teman visade att prestation inte anses bli negativt påverkad av att den inlärda kunskapen ska återges på modersmålet. Tvärtom, kurslitteraturens språk förlorar betydelse så snart budskapet uppfattas av läsaren. / The aim of the current study is to explore how individuals see their performance and the learning situation itself when material presented in a certain language has to be recounted in the individual's mother tongue in the form of exams or discussion. Six people were interviewed about their experiences of reading textbooks in a foreign language and then recounting the acquired knowledge in their mother tongue, in this case, Swedish. Inductive thematic approach was used to analyse the interview data. During analysis three main themes emerged: understanding the content, the ability to express oneself and finally, translation-related problems. The first two themes showed that recounting acquired knowledge in the mother tongue is not considered to have a negative influence on performance. On the contrary, as soon as the reader comprehends the message the language of the textbook becomes irrelevant.

According to the Constitution of South Africa (1996), as well as the Schools Act of South Africa (1996), everyone has the right to education in the language of their choice. The advantage of being educated in one’s home language is a well-known and accepted as a demonstrated fact (Oosthuizen, Rossouw & De Wet, 2004:22). Unfortunately, Oosthuizen et al. (2004:22) remark that the biggest problem in education today, is that home language education cannot be given to everyone in South Africa. As a result many parents choose English as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) for their children, since they believe English is the language of empowerment. Although English Second Language (ESL) learners pose a challenge to educators in the class, they still have a right to quality education. Therefore, thorough planning is essential to ensure that these learners are taught according to their needs. The primary aim of this research study was to determine if primary school educators designed their lesson planning to accommodate ESL learners with a limited English proficiency. The primary aim could only be determined if the following sub-aims were successfully analysed: *To determine through a literature investigation which specific language barriers ESL learners, with limited English language proficiency, experience during a lesson. *To determine through a literature investigation why lesson planning is important; *To determine to what extent educators accommodate language barriers to learning of ESL learners, with a limited English language proficiency, in their lesson plans. *To determine how educators reflect on their lesson plan, in order to determine whether ESL learners, with limited English language proficiency, coped with the lesson. *To establish which modifications, if any, educators make after reflection to accommodate ESL learners with limited English language proficiency in the follow lesson planning? A Qualitative research method was followed during the study. Data was collected for the research study by doing a document analysis and semi-structured interviews with primary school educators who are currently in the teaching profession and have ESL learners in their class. A convenience sample was used, where the nearest parallel medium school was chosen with participants readily available. The following findings emerged from the study: According to the literature study, the most common specific language barriers which ESL learners with limited English proficiency experience in the classroom are: *Experience it difficult to express themselves in English; *Educators disparity in language between learners and educators; *a limited English vocabulary; and *struggling with comprehension of English. Findings of the empirical study showed that the participants do not plan for accommodations for ESL learners who may experience barriers to learning. They indicated that since English is the LOLT of the school and because they feel that the learners should be proficient in the language they do not need to plan for possible misunderstandings or communication problems that could occur because of a language barrier. However, they did acknowledge that a limited vocabulary and ways of expression can cause communication problems. / MEd, Learner Support, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Taiwan is a country colonized by various regimes over the past four hundred years. The research first adopted the narrative inquiry-an autobiography on my journey to find my Taiwanese identity and mother tongue loss. Secondly, a phenomenological study on three Taiwanese families was conducted to secure an in-depth complex understanding on the scope and extent of the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan, of the thoughts and feelings about losing mother tongues, of the role of political power, the colonial history and other sociocultural contexts in the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan. Ten features and eleven themes were identified in this study. The political power and colonial history are important factors of mother tongue loss among my three participant families.

Objectives: To review, develop, and validate appropriate methods for quality control testing of sublingual (SL) tablets; to formulate and characterize new generations of SL tablets of epinephrine (E) for the potential first-aid treatment of anaphylaxis; and to evaluate the effects of non-medicinal ingredients (NMIs) on the in vitro characteristics and in vivo bioavailability of the formulated tablets. Methods: A custom-made apparatus and a novel method that simulates SL conditions were evaluated for dissolution testing of SL tablets. An electronic tongue (e-Tongue) was used to assess the degree of E bitterness and to demonstrate the masking effects of sweetening and/or flavoring agents. The effect of several NMIs in various properties on the in vitro characteristics of new generations of E SL tablets was evaluated. Formulations with the best in vitro characteristics, containing E 30 mg and 40 mg, were evaluated in vivo using our validated rabbit model and compared with placebo SL tablets (negative control) and E 0.3 mg intramuscular (IM) injection (positive control). Results: The novel in vitro dissolution testing resulted in accurate and reproducible data and was capable of detecting the effect of minor changes in formulations. Using the e-Tongue, E bitartrate had an extremely bitter taste which was masked to various degrees by the addition of aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and citric acid alone or in combination. Citric acid alone masked the bitter taste by >80%. The evaluation of NMIs revealed that the best formulation contained specific proportions of mannitol and coarse and fine grades of microcrystalline cellulose. Appropriate comparative testing resulted in the selection of a taste-masked E SL formulation with optimum in vitro characteristics. This formulation containing E 40 mg resulted in similar bioavailability to E 0.3 mg IM. This formulation containing E 30 mg had higher bioavailability than placebo, but lower bioavailability than E 40 mg tablets. Conclusions: Grades and proportions of NMIs carefully selected using appropriate in vitro testing resulted in successful formulations. The results of these in vitro tests enabled the development of the optimum E SL tablet formulation which was bioequivalent to the EpiPen. These tablets are potentially suitable for Phase 1 studies in humans and might transform the first-aid treatment of anaphylaxis in community settings.

The overall aim of the study was to take part of teachers' experiences and work force mother-tongue education and literacy development in the Sámi School. The study was conducted through interviews with twelve teachers who teach at two Sámi schools. The focus has been on looking how to work with native speakers teaching at the Sámi School, what factors promote / hinder students' development of their first or second language, and the importance of collaboration between the schools` various professions work with multilingual students reading and writing skills. Through interviews of various categories of teachers, I have tried to visibility problems of the education of minority language children and their reading and writing skills. I discuss the teaching, the importance and the lack / availability of communication and consensus between different categories of teachers. The study reveals the importance of adequate education for the teachers and the lack of Sámi teaching materials. From a sociocultural perspective, the situated and creative learning opportunities, where the teaching is based on students' prior knowledge and experience, is a factor that contributes to literacy development. The study also shows that mother tongue education contributes to students' identity is strengthened and that they will be confident with their background. / Det övergripande syftet med studien var att ta del av lärares erfarenheter och arbetsformer gällande modersmålsundervisning och läs- och skrivutveckling i sameskolan. Studien har genomförts genom kvalitativa intervjuer med tolv lärare som undervisar vid två sameskolor. Fokus har lagts på att titta hur man arbetar med modersmålsundervisningen vid sameskolorna, vilka faktorer främjar/hindrar elevernas utveckling av sitt första respektive andraspråk samt vilken betydelse samverkan mellan specialpedagoger, klasslärare och modersmålslärare har kring arbetet med flerspråkiga elevers läs- och skrivutveckling. Genom intervjuer av olika lärarkategorier har jag försökt synliggöra problematiken kring undervisning av minoritetsspråkiga barn och deras läs- och skrivutveckling. I studien diskuteras det kring undervisningen, vikten av och bristen/tillgången på kommunikation och samsyn mellan olika lärarkategorier. Studien synliggör även vikten av adekvat utbildning till undervisande pedagoger och bristen på samiskt läromedel. Ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv är de situerade och kreativa lärande tillfällena, där undervisningen utgår från elevernas tidigare kunskaper och erfarenheter, en faktor som bidrar till läs- och skrivutveckling. Studien visar också att modersmålsundervisningen bidrar till att elevernas identitet stärks och att de blir trygga.

The study aims to contribute to a debate on the benefits of exposing children to early second language acquisition and maintenance of their mother tongue in early childhood settings. The study uses a qualitative interpretative approach, using a case-study method. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, and data collected were thematically analyzed.

The present thesis on bilingual education, with its foci on linguistic heterogeneity and language policy 'from below', covers the first 15 years in the officially multilingual new South Africa. The post-apartheid era has seen South Africa's pro-multilingual Constitution and the language-in-education policy for schools being sidelined in favour of an English-oriented mindset. The subversion of the policy's additive bi/multilingual intent in favour of a replacive 'English-as-target-language' approach indexes a collusion between the political class and the African-language speaking majority, and has been accompanied by systemic underachievement. While the linguistic market beyond school is not necessarily unified in its monolingual habitus, choices for the poor are constrained by a lack of alternatives. Within the implementational spaces afforded by the policy environment, groups such as Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) have attempted to demonstrate an alternative approach that valorised mother-tongue-based bilingual education. These alternative education initiatives (1995-2009) form the substance of the five published pieces in the present portfolio, capped by the summative thesis. They were written while the author was still a member of PRAESA, and collectively address topics such as language policy initiatives 'from below', the role of surveys in gauging language behaviour and creating language awareness, a multilingual training of trainers programme for southern Africa, a bilingual teacher in-service programme foregrounding different teacher identities in relation to policy realisation, and a classification system for schools by language medium that factors in mother tongues while making allowance for linguistic heterogeneity. The thesis reflects critically on the prevailing monoglossic language ideology informing these studies, and suggests the need for a heteroglossic approach oriented to language as a resource.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze teachers approach to multilingual children's behavior in certain situations. I will also explore the educator’s attitude and approach toward the situation where children who are excluded by other peers, because of the peers use of divergent language. I choose qualitative interview as method, interviewing seven teachers working at pre-schools, with chosen choice I expect to gain insight into the teacher's reasoning behind their approach and strategy towards situations where children use other language than Swedish. The results shed light on several interesting factors that determined how the educator responded to the forth mentioned situation. The general perception at pre-schools is that multilingual children should be given space to use their native tongue, as this flourishes their language developments. We can also find basis for this when reading the official pre-school steering documents, the Swedish curriculum, Läroplanen. What this document lack though is presenting solutions how the educators can work constructively with the children. It's rather encouraged for each school to discuss their own methods and approaches as a team. My conclusion is that there is no blue print to follow for solving these situations, the educator's conduct and strategy is based on individual experience and situational. But a common thread that emerged in my research is that all educators expressed the importance to acknowledge all children and involve them in the activities regardless of language, it is the teacher’s duty to support and to be present as the children will need pedagogical support in this matter. Not to forget though, that teachers are frequently faced with situations where they have to decide whose rights to prioritize; the single child who ends up alone outside the peers group and lose his/her entitlement based on the norm "everyone should be involved" or the playing children who is doing nothing but employing their rights to speak in their mother language?