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Background: Language impairment associated with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has been documented since the late 19th century, yet little is understood about the pervasiveness or nature of these deficits. The common clinical view among healthcare professionals is that communication difficulties can be attributed solely to the motor speech disorder dysarthria. Recent literature raises the possibility of more central processing deficits. Impairments in naming ability and comprehension of complex grammatical constructs have been frequently reported in some patients with MND. However, there is now growing evidence of spelling impairment, which could suggest the contribution of a more phonologically based deficit. In addition, the close relationship between MND and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) raises questions about the connection between the language impairments seen in MND patients and those documented in patients with the primary progressive aphasia (PPA) syndromes associated with FTD. Aims: This thesis examines the nature of speech and language deficits in people with MND and the extent to which expressive communication impairment can occur above and beyond dysarthria. In particular, the study explores: i) to what extent these language impairments can be attributed to deficits in working memory, executive functioning and/or disease severity; ii) what spelling errors can reveal about the integrity of lexical, phonological and orthographic processing; iii) whether similar patterns of impairment can be seen in PPA syndromes; iv) the relationship between language impairment and bulbar onset; and v) the impact these findings have on clinical management of MND patients. Methods: MND patients from across Scotland with changes in speech and/or language were tested using a neuropsychological battery of experimental and standardised tests of naming, spelling, syntactic comprehension, prosody and phonological and orthographical awareness. Patients were also screened for levels of dysarthria, executive functioning and working memory deficits, and results compared to those of matched controls. Findings: As a group, MND participants performed significantly worse than matched controls on measures of naming, spelling, orthographical awareness, grammatical comprehension, affective prosody and verbal fluency, but not working memory. However, based on patterns of individual impairment, of which spelling impairment formed a distinctive marker, the patient group divided into dichotomous subgroups, with 44% of participants categorised as ‘linguistically impaired’, while the remainder displayed little to no impairment. Those participants identified as linguistically impaired did not differ significantly from other MND participants on measures of disease severity, disease duration or dysarthria severity, although significantly more bulbar onset than limb onset participants were linguistically impaired. Spelling error patterns were suggestive of deficits at both a lexical and sublexical level, and were comparable to those reported in PPA literature. These findings suggest that dysarthria may be masking linguistic deficits in almost half of dysarthric MND patients, and highlight the importance of multidimensional assessment of language for effective clinical management.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Michelle Bourgeois, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication Disorders. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 6, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2009. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, page: .

Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal estudar como se dá a percepção de crianças pequenas durante uma visita a um museu de microbiologia. Mais do que identificar os conhecimentos das crianças em relação ao tema microrganismos, nossa intenção nessa investigação foi estudar quais elementos estão envolvidos na aprendizagem de temas científicos durante uma visita a uma exposição. Para isso, elegemos o conceito de percepção como foco de análise, no sentido que este assume dentro da teoria sociocultural. Foram analisados dados coletados durante visitas de famílias com crianças entre quatro e seis anos à exposição permanente \"O Mundo Gigante dos Micróbios\" do Museu de Microbiologia do Instituto Butantan (São Paulo - SP). O referencial teórico teve aporte principal na teoria sociocultural, no que diz respeito à aprendizagem como processo social, que se desenvolve no convívio com os outros. Baseamonos em obras de Vigotski (2007; 2009); Allen (2002) e Silva (2008) para compor o escopo teórico e as categorias de análise de dados. Elaboramos com base em Campos (2013) um sistema de categorias de análise que buscam identificar quais tipos de conversas se estabelecem durante a visita das crianças ao museu. Esse sistema de categorias se divide em três frentes: conversas centradas na percepção, conversas de conexão e conversas de maior elaboração conceitual. Os resultados apontam para a grande predominância das conversas centradas na percepção, que englobam operações cognitivas de nomeação, identificação, caracterização, afetividade, além das falas que expressam o próprio uso dos objetos expositivos e espaço da exposição pelas crianças. Esses resultados reforçam nossa ideia inicial de que dentre todas as operações e processos ligados à aprendizagem que o museu pode provocar, a percepção é o que ocorre com maior frequência e intensidade. Este trabalho reforça a necessidade de aprofundar as investigações em torno dessa temática para estudar as possibilidades de aprendizagem promovidas pelo museu de ciências para as crianças pequenas. / This work aimed to study how young children\'s perception develops during a visit to a museum of Microbiology. More than identifying the knowledge of children in relation to the microorganisms theme, our intent in this research study was to understand what elements are involved in science learning during visits to an exhibition. In that way, we chose the concept of \'perception\' as the focus of our analysis in terms of the meaning it takes within the sociocultural theory. We analyzed data collected during family visits with children between four and six years old to the permanent exhibition \"The Giant World of Microbes\" at the Museum of Microbiology in the Instituto Butantan. (São Paulo, Brazil). The main theoretical framework was primarily based on the sociocultural theory, with regard to learning as a social process that develops in the interaction with others. We rely on works of Vygotsky (2007; 2009); Allen (2002) and Silva (2008) to compose the theoretical scope and categories of data analysis. We drafted a system of categories of analysis based on Campos (2013) that seeks to identify which types of conversations occur during children\'s visits to the museum. This category system is divided into three types: perception-oriented conversations, connecting conversations and conversations with greater conceptual elaboration. Results point to a great prevalence of perception-oriented conversations which encompass cognitive operations of naming, identifying, characterizing, affection, besides children\'s own words that express the specific usage of the displayed objects and exhibition space. Such results emphasize our initial idea that among all operations and processes associated to learning that the museum is able to trigger, perception is the one more frequently and more intensely applied. This study emphasizes the need to deepen investigations on such theme in order to study learning possibilities promoted by science museums to young children.

The current study is an attempt to provide insights into the nature of tensions and consistencies between teachers’ belief-practice relationships and how these impact on teaching practices. The study aims to address three main research gaps. Firstly, it explores EFL teachers’ belief-practice consistency level in relation to the teaching of speaking, an understudied curricular domain. Secondly, the phenomenon is examined from two major perspectives: teachers’ perceptions of their own pedagogical contexts and their core-peripheral belief systems, thus using a multi-perspective approach which is usually not the case with other studies in the field. Finally, the study took place in Kazakhstani secondary school EFL classrooms, a geographical context which has not featured at all in the language teacher cognition literature to date. Using a multiple-case design and multiple methods of data collection, the research project explored the relationship between four EFL teachers’ stated beliefs and classroom practices in relation to the teaching of speaking. The teachers were interviewed and observed over a period of nine months. The findings provide evidence of how speaking instruction unfolded in the classroom and the multiplicity of factors which shaped teacher decision-making and behavior. Specifically, the insights from my study highlight the impact of a) teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical contexts, b) their core and peripheral beliefs, and c) the interaction of all these factors on the enactment of their speaking instruction beliefs. These findings carry important implications for the field of language teacher cognition, and for teacher education and professional development.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal estudar como se dá a percepção de crianças pequenas durante uma visita a um museu de microbiologia. Mais do que identificar os conhecimentos das crianças em relação ao tema microrganismos, nossa intenção nessa investigação foi estudar quais elementos estão envolvidos na aprendizagem de temas científicos durante uma visita a uma exposição. Para isso, elegemos o conceito de percepção como foco de análise, no sentido que este assume dentro da teoria sociocultural. Foram analisados dados coletados durante visitas de famílias com crianças entre quatro e seis anos à exposição permanente \"O Mundo Gigante dos Micróbios\" do Museu de Microbiologia do Instituto Butantan (São Paulo - SP). O referencial teórico teve aporte principal na teoria sociocultural, no que diz respeito à aprendizagem como processo social, que se desenvolve no convívio com os outros. Baseamonos em obras de Vigotski (2007; 2009); Allen (2002) e Silva (2008) para compor o escopo teórico e as categorias de análise de dados. Elaboramos com base em Campos (2013) um sistema de categorias de análise que buscam identificar quais tipos de conversas se estabelecem durante a visita das crianças ao museu. Esse sistema de categorias se divide em três frentes: conversas centradas na percepção, conversas de conexão e conversas de maior elaboração conceitual. Os resultados apontam para a grande predominância das conversas centradas na percepção, que englobam operações cognitivas de nomeação, identificação, caracterização, afetividade, além das falas que expressam o próprio uso dos objetos expositivos e espaço da exposição pelas crianças. Esses resultados reforçam nossa ideia inicial de que dentre todas as operações e processos ligados à aprendizagem que o museu pode provocar, a percepção é o que ocorre com maior frequência e intensidade. Este trabalho reforça a necessidade de aprofundar as investigações em torno dessa temática para estudar as possibilidades de aprendizagem promovidas pelo museu de ciências para as crianças pequenas. / This work aimed to study how young children\'s perception develops during a visit to a museum of Microbiology. More than identifying the knowledge of children in relation to the microorganisms theme, our intent in this research study was to understand what elements are involved in science learning during visits to an exhibition. In that way, we chose the concept of \'perception\' as the focus of our analysis in terms of the meaning it takes within the sociocultural theory. We analyzed data collected during family visits with children between four and six years old to the permanent exhibition \"The Giant World of Microbes\" at the Museum of Microbiology in the Instituto Butantan. (São Paulo, Brazil). The main theoretical framework was primarily based on the sociocultural theory, with regard to learning as a social process that develops in the interaction with others. We rely on works of Vygotsky (2007; 2009); Allen (2002) and Silva (2008) to compose the theoretical scope and categories of data analysis. We drafted a system of categories of analysis based on Campos (2013) that seeks to identify which types of conversations occur during children\'s visits to the museum. This category system is divided into three types: perception-oriented conversations, connecting conversations and conversations with greater conceptual elaboration. Results point to a great prevalence of perception-oriented conversations which encompass cognitive operations of naming, identifying, characterizing, affection, besides children\'s own words that express the specific usage of the displayed objects and exhibition space. Such results emphasize our initial idea that among all operations and processes associated to learning that the museum is able to trigger, perception is the one more frequently and more intensely applied. This study emphasizes the need to deepen investigations on such theme in order to study learning possibilities promoted by science museums to young children.

En stor del av unga barn spelar digitala spel på sin fritid och flera studier har visat på positiva effekter på ungas engelskaförmåga genom detta. Med tanke på dess potential för lärande vore det intressant att undersöka lärares uppfattningar om dem och hur de använder dem. Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka på vilka sätt som lärare i engelska för lågstadiet använde digitala spel i sin engelskundervisning samt vilka utmaningar och möjligheter de ansåg fanns i detta användande. Inom ramen för studien genomfördes fem intervjuer med lärare från olika kommuner och skolor i Sverige. Intervjuernas innehåll kategoriserades genom den fenomenografiska ansatsen. Resultatet diskuterades även utifrån ramverken LTC och TPACK. Resultatet visade att alla utom en lärare använde digitala spel i engelskundervisningen i syfte att variera undervisningen eller att motivera eleverna. Bingel och elevspel.se användes mest. Utmaningar som lärarna såg med spelen var tidsåtgången, teknik som strular, en svårighet att anpassa spelen ur ett didaktiskt perspektiv samt att det skulle öka elevernas skärmtid ytterligare. Möjligheterna de såg var motivation, variation, nivåanpassning, mer självgående elever samt att spelen gjorde lärandet lustfyllt. Inställningen till digitala spel verkar bero på ålder, intresse och yrkesverksamma år, samt deras uppfattning om teknologisk och ämnesspecifik kunskap.

The purpose of this study is to explore upper secondary school English teachers' beliefs and practices for free online machine translation (FOMT) tools. It is believed that students are using these tools, but the focus of this study is to highlight what teachers think and how they are addressing FOMT usage by students. Participants are currently teaching various English levels in upper secondary schools throughout Sweden and have varying degrees of experience. This study includes a brief background of previous studies detailing teachers' attitudes and methods for incorporating machine translation (MT) in their language teaching. The theoretical framework used for this study is language teacher cognition and translation in language teaching. The results reveal that the previous research conducted in this area has not yet influenced teachers' language classrooms methods. Teachers' education and language learning experience may explain this disconnect to current research. There is a common theme that teachers do not mind using FOMT tools in their personal lives but strongly recommend other sources for their students.