This study aims to find out what students think about bilingualism as well as whether there are advantages and disadvantages of it, based on the children's perspective. All children in this class are bilingual, is thus a mother tongue other than Swedish. All were born in Sweden but has parents who are originally from / born in other countries in addition to having mom who was born in Sweden but originally from another country. In my study I have chosen to use qualitative methods in which I used semi-structured interviews and non participant observations. In the study, I have come to interview the children think that being bilingual is good, they mean that there are some drawbacks to this except that it can sometimes be a bit hard when someone does not understand. Also what they think is good with bilingualism is that you can use the languages depending on where you are, if they go to their homeland, they speak their mother tongue with people, relatives because they do not understand Swedish. Or sometimes they need their mother tongue during lesson time when they do not understand a word. Or when they work together with someone who speaks the same language as them, then they sometimes speak the language because it is easier to explain and understand. Being bilingual has formerly been regarded as something negative, but with time, this in turn has changed. Today it has become increasingly common to be bilingual or multilingual, the more languages you know, the better you can get in the society, and then you can switch between languages. To know two languages gives the individual a broader cultural experience.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the strategies that pedagogues in pre-school use to promote language development for multilingual children using the digital notepad. My two questions I have assumed are: 1 - What attitude does the pedagogues have for the digital notepad as a tool in language development? 2 - How do the pedagogues use the digital notepad as language development tools for multilingual children? Are different apps used in comparison with children who have Swedish as a native language? To my help to gather material, I have used the methods of unstructured non-participation observation as well as qualitative semistructured interviews. I have made an observation and interviewed three educators at two different pre-schools in a city in central Sweden. In the result, differences arise in such a good attitude towards language development for multilingual children and how the learning board is used for this purpose. All the pedagogues are positive to the digital notepad as tools and take advantage of the opportunities for interaction and communication that it offers. The involvement and strategies of the digital notepad as language development tools for the multilingual children in preschool are influenced partly by previous experiences and competencies regarding the subject, but also by the different values ​​and norms in the pre-school.

I denna studie kommer det att undersökas hur böcker väljs i förskolan och om barnens inflytande tas till vara. Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur förskollärarna uppfattar bokvalet i förskolan men också hur de arbetar med bokvalet. Metoden för denna undersökning består av fyra kvalitativa intervjuer. Undersökningen genomfördes i en liten kommun med fyra förskollärare som arbetar på två olika förskolor i samma kommun. I resultatet visar det sig att förskollärarna väljer böcker för att bidra till barnens språkutveckling. / This study will examine how books are chosen in preschool and if children´s influence is considered by the teachers. The purpose of this study is to find out how preschool teachers perceive the book choise in preschool but also how they work with the book choice. The method of this study was four qualitative interviews. This survey was conducted in a small municipality with four preschool teachers working in a two different preschools in the same municipality. From the analysis of the results the conclusion is drawn that preschool teachers choose books to contribute to the children’s language development.

The purpose of this study is to determine and to compare the emergence and acquisition of /R/ in simple onset, as well as the influence of linguistic and extralinguistic variables during the acquisition of this phoneme by children who live in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil and Crissiumal, RS, Brazil. The sample consisted of 76 interviews in Crissiumal and 60 interviews in Santa Maria, a total of 136 subjects. The children were aged between 1:6 and 4:2. The speech data from Santa Maria are from a database system which contains speech samples of children with typical phonological development. The database system was created through a research project. To collect data from Crissiumal, the children should observe the thematic drawings, part of the Child s Phonological Assessment (YAVAS; HERNANDORENA; LAMPRECHT, 1991) and they should name the drawings to perceive the way they produce the /R/. The data were analyzed in each age group to have an acquisition profile. After that, for the statistical analyzes related to the linguistic variables preceding and following context, tonicity, number of syllables and word position; and the extralinguistic variables age and sex, the Statistical Program VARBRUL was used. This program is used in quantitative variationist analysis and phonological acquisition. Through the data analysis, it was possible to observe that the /R/ emerges when the children are 2:0 in Santa Maria and when the children are 2:2 in Crissiumal. In Santa Maria the phoneme is acquired when the children are 3:6 in initial onset and 3:4 in medial onset. In Crissiumal the phoneme is acquired when the children are 4:2 in initial onset and 4:0 in medial onset. Besides, in Santa Maria the statistical program selected the linguistic variables following context and number of syllables in initial onset and the extralinguistic variable sex in initial and medial onset. In Crissiumal, the linguistic variable tonicity was selected in initial onset and the variable following context was selected in medial onset. From the collected data, it is possible to verify that the children from Santa Maria acquire the phoneme earlier than the children from Crissiumal. Another relevant aspect is that most linguistic and extralinguistic variables affect the /R/ acquisition in different ways, according to the dialectal variant which is used in the considered place. / O objetivo geral deste estudo é determinar e comparar a aquisição e o surgimento do rforte em onset simples, bem como a influência das variáveis linguísticas e extralinguísticas na aquisição deste fonema por crianças residentes nos municípios de Santa Maria-RS e Crissiumal-RS. A amostra de fala utilizada na pesquisa é composta por 76 entrevistas em Crissiumal e 60 entrevistas em Santa Maria, com um total de 136 informantes. Os sujeitos possuem idades entre 1:6 e 4:2. Os dados de fala de Santa Maria são provenientes de um banco de dados que contém amostras de fala de crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico, o qual foi criado a partir da realização de um projeto de pesquisa. Para a coleta de dados em Crissiumal, foi solicitado que as crianças observassem desenhos temáticos, parte da Avaliação Fonológica da Criança (AFC) (YAVAS, HERNANDORENA & LAMPRECHT, 1991) e também que nomeassem as figuras para observar a forma como elas produzem o r-forte . Os dados foram analisados por faixa etária para se chegar a um perfil aquisitivo. Após, para as análises estatísticas em relação às variáveis linguísticas contexto precedente, contexto seguinte, tonicidade, número de sílabas e posição na palavra; e das variáveis extralinguísticas sexo e idade, contou-se com o apoio do Pacote Computacional VARBRUL, que é um pacote estatístico amplamente utilizado em análises quantitativas variacionistas e de aquisição fonológica. Através da análise dos dados, constatou-se que o /R/ surge aos 2:0 nas crianças residentes em Santa Maria e aos 2:2 nas crianças residentes em Crissiumal. Em Santa Maria, o fonema é considerado adquirido aos 3:6 em onset inicial e aos 3:4 em onset medial. Já em Crissiumal o fonema se estabiliza em onset inicial aos 4:2 e em onset medial aos 4:0. Além disso, em Santa Maria o programa estatístico selecionou as variáveis linguísticas contexto seguinte e número de sílabas em onset inicial e a variável extralinguística sexo, tanto em onset inicial quanto em onset medial. Em Crissiumal, a variável linguística tonicidade foi selecionada em onset inicial e a variável linguística contexto seguinte foi selecionada em onset medial. Concluindo, a partir dos dados coletados, é possível constatar que as crianças residentes em Santa Maria adquirem o /R/ mais cedo que em Crissiumal. Outro aspecto relevante é que a maioria das variáveis linguísticas e as variáveis extralinguísticas consideradas afetam a aquisição do /R/ de forma distinta, conforme a variante dialetal utilizada.

Today the majority of children and teenagers in many countries spend a great deal of time doing extramural English activities, where playing games is included. It is therefore important to study how extramural English activities affect students’ proficiency. This thesis aims to investigate how games as an extramural activity, and extramural English activities in general could benefit upper secondary EFL and ESL students’ English language proficiency. The method used was that of a systematic literature review where six studies from varying places and with participants of varying ages and levels of education were analyzed and compared. The results show that five of the articles found a positive correlation between time spent on extramural English activities and English grades and/or vocabulary, while on study showed that there was no correlation between time spent on extramural English activities and development of academic vocabulary in students who had already reached a high level of proficiency. More research is needed in the field, particularly studies establishing causation rather than just correlation, longitudinal studies, as well as studies investigating whether gender is an important factor affecting the potential benefits of extramural English activities.

Abstrakt Språkstörning är en diagnos som innebär att barnet har en språklig svårighet. Barnet har svårt att förstå vad som sägs, att producera och använda ord för att kunna kommunicera med andra. För att dessa barn ska få en optimal språkutveckling under sin förskoletid behöver de möta stöttande och medvetna pedagoger som utformar verksamheten utefter varje barns individuella behov. Barn med språkstörning har ofta kombinationer av andra diagnoser till exempel ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Syftet med vår studie har varit att bidra till fördjupad kunskap kring vilka insatser som görs för barn inom förskolan som befinner sig i en språkstörning eller på grund av sen språkutveckling riskerar att få diagnosen språkstörning. Studien syftar vidare till att undersöka hur specialpedagoger går tillväga för att stödja barn som befinner sig i en språkstörning i förskolan och vilka konsekvenser språkstörningen får för den enskilda individen. Vi har använt oss av semistrukturerade intervjuer och genomfört sex intervjuer med specialpedagoger.   När vi sammanställt resultatet kom vi fram till att specialpedagogerna är medvetna om vad en språkstörning innebär. Specialpedagogerna kartlägger och handleder pedagogerna för att hitta de bästa strategierna för barnens fortsatta språkutveckling. Beroende på stora barngrupper och vilket bemötande barnet får och om pedagogerna är mottagliga för alternativa arbetssätt skapas möjligheter och hinder i verksamheten. Specialpedagogerna uttrycker att barnen behöver samspela med andra och ingå i en vanlig förskolegrupp för att utveckla sitt språk. Förskolans lärmiljö är barnens arena för lärande och inlärning med andra.

This study examined the relationship between emergent imitation skills and social communication skills in 15 to 18 month old infants, using a quantitative correlational research design. Imitation skills are an index of later social cognition and language development, and a critical mechanism in language learning for typically developing children. Social communication skills in this age predict later language skills. The relationship between imitation and social communication is poorly understood in infants. This study looked at the relationship between imitation and social communication at their emergence. This study included 30 typically developing infants, whose participation was volunteered by their parents. They were recruited through posters and word-of-mouth in communities in the Pacific Northwest. Infants’ imitation behaviors were measured using the Motor Imitation Scale (Stone, Ousley, & Littleford, 1997), and their social communication skills were measured using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales- Developmental Profile (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002). This study used a naturalistic observation model so the one-hour play sessions took place in the infants' homes. Sessions were digitally recorded for later scoring and analysis. This study demonstrated a concurrent and predictive relationship between imitation and language understanding in this age group. The study suggests that imitation is an important variable in early language acquisition that needs further study, and needs to be addressed when assessing prelinguistic child development. The study suggests that imitation skills should be fostered early on and provides evidence-based methods for facilitating imitation and language development. / Graduate / 0525 / 0518 / 0620 / 0460 / lhanika@uvic.ca

The primary aim of the study was to verify vocabulary on the Language Development Survey, for typically developing toddlers who attend ethnolinguistically diverse nursery schools. This was investigated through parent report. The need for exploration of the vocabulary of this population stems from the diverse linguistic context to which toddlers are exposed on a day-to-day basis in South Africa. Many parents prefer English as the language of learning for their child, irrespective of whether or not their first language is an alternative vernacular. Thus, toddlers interact with ethnolinguistically diverse peers from a young age, usually within their nursery school. An adapted version of the Language Development Survey was presented to forty middle-class parents within the Emalahleni area. Vocabulary commonly used by toddlers was determined and a comparison of parent responses between the present study and the original American-based survey were drawn. As expected, results revealed that nouns were used most often by toddlers, in keeping with research on vocabulary acquisition. Comparisons drawn between parent responses from the two studies showed highly similar results. Parents reported that nouns, verbs, adjectives and other vocabulary were used similarly by toddlers, despite differences in their linguistic exposure. These findings verify the Language Development Survey as a valuable clinical resource for speech and language therapists managing toddlers within the South African context. Suggestions for future research are provided. AFRIKAANS : Die primêre doel van die studie was om die woordeskat wat in die Language Development Survey gebruik word te bevestig vir tipies ontwikkelende twee-jaar oue kleuters wat etnolinguisties diverse kleuterskole bywoon. Dit is ondersoek deur middel van ouer terugvoer. Die behoefte vir ‘n woordeskat ondersoek van hierdie populasie spruit uit die diverse linguistiese konteks waaraan kleuters op ‘n dag-tot-dag basis in Suid-Afrika blootgestel word. Baie ouers verkies Engels as die taal van onderig vir hul kind, ongeag of hulle moedertaal daarvan verskil of nie. Dit het die gevolg dat kleuters van jongs af met etno-linguisties diverse ouderdomsgenote interaksie het, gewoonlik in die kleuterskool. ‘n Aangepaste weergawe van die Language Development Survey is aan veertig middel-klas ouers in die Emalahleni area voorgelê. Daar is vasgestel watter woordeskat oor die algemeen deur die kleuters gebruik word, en ‘n vergelyking tussen die ouers se terugvoer in die huidige en die oorspronklike Amerikaanse studie is getref. Soos verwag, het die resultate gewys dat selfstandige naamwoorde die mees algemeen deur kleuters gebruik word, wat ooreenstem met navorsing in verband met die aanleer van woordeskat. Vergelykings tussen ouer terugvoer van die twee studies het hoogs ooreenstemmende resultate gelewer. Uit ouer terugvoer kon dit ook afgelei word dat selfstandige naamwoorde, werkwoorde, byvoeglike naamwoorde en ander woordtipes ooreenstemmend deur kleuters gebruik word, afgesien van verskille in linguistiese blootstelling. Hierdie bevindinge bevestig die Language Development Survey as ‘n waardevolle kliniese hulpbron vir spraak- taalterapeute wat in die Suid- Afrikaanse konteks met kleuters werk. Voorstelle vir moontlike toekomstige navorsing word in die studie verskaf. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication / unrestricted

The aim of this study is to examine how a group of bilingual 9th grade students perceive their language development and their linguistic identity through Swedish as a second language. This study focuses on an interview with students in the 9th grade. The content of the interview is analyzed by two theoretical perspectives, Säljö perspective of socio-cultural learning and Lorentz & Bergstedt perspective of intercultural learning. The results from the study show that the students who participated in the interview experience that their language development is influenced by their surroundings, it has also led to the students having multiple linguistic identities.

Att flytta till ett nytt land och anpassa sig till ett nytt språk, en annan kultur och nya normer och värderingar innebär en stor livsförändring. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa hur förskollärare arbetar med integration av nyanlända i förskolan med fokus på kultur och språk. Vidare, att undersöka vilka förutsättningar förskollärare anser är nödvändiga för en fungerande integration i förskolan. Kvalitativa intervjuer med fem verksamma förskollärare genomfördes vilket analyserades utifrån ett interkulturellt-och monokulturellt perspektiv. Resultaten visar att ett interkulturellt förhållningssätt i arbetet med en mångkulturell barngrupp, där barns olikheter ska synliggöras underlättar integrationen. Egenskaper som är viktiga är lyhördhet, flexibilitet, ödmjukhet och att vara en trygg vuxen. Förskollärarna i studien anser även att bakgrundsinformation om barnet och en god familjesamverkan är en viktig förutsättning. Fortsättningsvis visar resultatet att förskollärarna i studien arbetar med ord-kort, rim och ramsor och böcker för att utveckla språkutvecklingen hos nyanlända barn, både sitt modersmål och det svenska språket. När det handlar om synliggörande av andra kulturer visar resultatet på olikheter i arbetssättet hos förskollärarna. Några arbetar aktivt med att synliggöra andra kulturer i förskolans miljö och i firandet av traditioner, medan andra anser att detta är ett stort utvecklingsområde. / Moving to a new country and adjusting to a new language, a different culture and new norms and values is a big change in life. The aim of this study is to illuminate how pre-school teachers work with integration of newly arrived children in preschool with a focus on culture and language. Further, to investigate important pre-conditions for a good integration in pre-school. Qualitative interviews were conducted with five active pre-school teachers. The interviews were analyzed from a intercultural and monocultural perspective. The results show that an intercultural approach in the work of a multicultural child group, where children’s differences should be visible. Important characteristics of a preschool teacher is responsiveness, flexibility, humility ad being a confident adult. The preschool teachers in the study also considered background information about the child and a good family relationship as important pre-conditions. Further, the result shows that the preschool teachers in the study work with word card, rhyme and jingle and books to develop newly arrived children’s language development, both their native language and the Swedish language. When it comes to visualization of other cultures the result are inconclusive. Some of the preschool teachers worked actively with introducing other cultures in the preschool environment and in celebration of traditions, while others consider it as a major development area.