The present PhD thesis deals with nominal suffixal derivation in pre-classical French (about 1550-1610). Based both on traditional data collection and on available digital corpuses, especially Frantext, it first strives to define basic concepts such as language standard, problems of periodization, productivity, lexicalization, paradigmatization, panchronic validity of word-formation rules etc. On selected derivational patterns, it also tests the operationality of Optimality theory (OT) and other mechanisms (i.a. paradigmatization) in diachronic perspective. In several follow-up chapters, it then analyzes, from a diachronic point of view, a number of suffixes (-age, -aison, -ance, - ment, etc.).

It is a fact that modern science and technology from the west has reached Africa through European languages. Historically, these languages have also served as the vehicles of formal education in Africa to the exclusion of Swahili and other local languages. The deficiency of African languages such as Swahili in scientific and technical registers is both artificial and historically understandable. Secondly, it is easily remediable given that the basic core of the said vocabulary is shared and international in nature (Alexandrie, 1961 ). Therefore such a deficiency should present no barrier to Swahili serving as a medium of instruction in higher education. Whereas English, German and French can boast of self-sufficiency in literature in all fields of study, Swahili is a relatively much younger language of education and lacks literature even in the most basic aspects of the language itself. This situation often forces lecturers in the universities teaching Swahili to undertake `translation´ of concepts or even loan words in order to communicate with their students. Therefore, quite often, lecturing in the Swahili medium entails being able to translate from English into Swahili because most of the material to be taught is sourced from English original publications. As far as the use of Swahili in teaching natural sciences and other technical subjects at the tertiary level is concerned, Chimera (1998) suggests that this should be done gradually as the language grows and develops in its technical domains. If Swahili is to develop and modernise, it has to be more liberal in expanding its technical and scientific domains. The two registers should more or less be of comparable size as is the case with English (Chimera 1998: 37). However, the question that naturally arises here is, how is this ideal to be achieved? Perhaps, by deciding to teach linguistics and literature in Swahili, East African universities want to face the terminological challenge and solve the problems as they occurred. After decades of experimenting, the time has come for all stakeholders to come to terms with the problem.

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till mer kunskap om högläsningen i förskolan samt få en inblick om förskollärares uppfattningar om ämnet. En kvalitativ metod har använts för att samla in den information som behövts till denna undersökning. Denna studie tar stöd från förskollärares uppfattningar och åsikter. Den fenomenografiska metoden har använts för att analysera materialet. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna ansåg att högläsningen i förskolan främst bidrog till barnens språkutveckling. Förskollärarna och barnskötarna i studien beskrev att högläsningen var en rolig och lärorik aktivitet som planerades in i verksamheten dagligen. De beskriver vidare att barnlitteraturen var lättillgänglig för barnen. Skillnaden utifrån intervjuerna visade att en av förskollärarna inte hade någon uppföljning när de genomfört en högläsningsaktivitet, samt att 4 av 6 förskolepersonal menade att högläsningen ofta skedde på ett oplanerat sätt medan de resterande nämnde att högläsningen planerades dagligen i verksamheten. Slutsatsen visar att samtliga respondenter medvetet väljer högläsning i verksamheten som en daglig aktivitet för att dels främja språkutveckling hos barnen, dels som en trivsam stund tillsammans. Barnen ges möjlighet till att utveckla kunskaper och lärande enligt läroplanen för förskolan med högläsning som en del av det aktiva arbetet hos förskolepersonalen. Det framgår att merparten av de svarande högläser vid spontana stunder under dagen, medan resterande planerat in aktiviteten vid specifika tider under dagen. / The purpose of this study is to contribute to more knowledge about reading aloud in preschool and to get an insight into preschool teachers’ perceptions of the subject. A qualitative method has been used to gather the information needed for this survey. This study draws on the views and opinions of preschool teachers. The phenomenographic method has been used to analyse the material. The result shows that the preschool teachers considered that reading aloud in preschool mainly contributed to the children´s language development. The preschool teachers and the nannies in the study described that reading aloud was fun and educational activity that is planned in the activities on a daily basis. They further describe that the children´s literature was easily accessible to the children. The difference based on the interviews showed that one of the preschool teachers did not have any follow-up when they carried out a reading aloud acivity, and that 4 out of 6 preschool staff thought that the reading aloud often took place in an unplanned way, while the rest mentioned that the reading aloud was planned daily in the business. The conclusion shows that all respondents consciously choose reading aloud in the activity to promote language development in the children, as well as a pleasant time together. The children are given the opportunity to develop knowledge and learning according to the curriculum for the preschool with reading aloud as part of the active work of the preschool staff. It appears that the respondents read aloud at spontaneous moments during the day, while the rest planned the activity at specific times during the day.

AbstractThe purpose of the present study is to find out how three high school teachers with different subject skills use interaction and interplay in their teaching. The main part of the study is based on observations of six different class sessions in history, religion, Swedish as a second language and regular Swedish. The study also includes interviews with the sessions’ corresponding teachers. The final analysis focuses on the forms of teaching, where the focus is on interaction and interplay, as well as multimodality in teaching contexts. The result is compared to the Läslyftet modules that relate to interaction and interplay, and also multimodality for the purpose of language development. The results show which interactive and multimodal strategies are used when interacting with students. Furthermore, the results show interest and commitment, as well as learning potential, potential support by applying explanations, clarifications, discussions, conversations, the Think-Pair-Share model part and the Initiate-Response-Feedback pattern (IRF) to enable students to reformulate to written language style and recontextualize their responses. In this way, knowledge and language development have been made visible in ongoing teaching.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier le développement du système lexico-sémantique chez les enfants monolingues et bilingues. La question posée est la suivante : quand et comment les significations des mots commencent à être reliées entre elles et à s'intégrer dans un système sémantique interconnecté. Dans un premier temps, trois études ont été menées chez des enfants monolingues français. L'Etude 1, a pour but d'observer si les mots sont organisés selon des liens taxonomiques (e.g., cochon - cheval). L'Etude 2 explore si l'effet d'amorçage sémantique est sous-tendu par des mécanismes cognitifs, comme les processus d'activation automatique et contrôlé. Puis enfin, l'Etude 3 observe si les mots sont organisés en fonction de leur distance de similarité sémantique (e.g., vache - mouton versus vache - cerf). Dans un deuxième temps, deux études ont été conduites chez des enfants apprenant deux langues simultanément. L'Etude 4 vise à déterminer si les mots sont taxonomiquement liés dans chacune des langues. L'Etude 5 explore si les mots présentés dans une langue activent leurs représentations sémantiques dans l'autre langue et vice versa. Dans le but de répondre à ces questions, le traitement lexico-sémantique a été étudié en utilisant deux techniques : l'eye-tracking et les potentiels évoqués (PEs). Ces deux techniques enregistrent lors de la présentation des mots des réponses comportementales (Etude 3) et neuronales (Etude 1, 2, 4 et 5) de haute résolution temporelle. Les Etudes 1 et 2 montrent que chez les monolingues les mots sont liés taxonomiquement à l'âge de 18 et 24 mois. Durant le développement du langage, les deux processus d'activation automatique et contrôlé sont impliqués dans le traitement des mots (Etude 2). L'Etude 3 montre qu'à 24 mois, les mots sont organisés dans le système lexico-sémantique en développement selon la distance des similarités sémantiques. L'Etude 4 montre que chez les enfants bilingues, le traitement sémantique ne diffère pas selon les deux langues, mais la topographie des PEs varie selon la langue traitée. L'Etude 5 montre que les mots présentés dans une langue activent leurs représentations sémantiques dans la deuxième langue et vice versa. Toutefois, la topographie des PEs est modulée selon la direction de traduction. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'acquisition de deux langues, bien qu'elle soit très précoce, requière deux ressources neuronales bien distinctes, sous-tendant ainsi le traitement lexico-sémantique des langues dominante et non-dominante. / The present doctoral research explored the developing lexical-semantic system in monolingual and bilingual toddlers. The question of how and when word meanings are first related to each other and become integrated into an interconnected semantic system was investigated. Three studies were conducted with monolingual French learning children which aimed at exploring how words are organized, that is, according to taxonomic relationships (e.g., pig - horse) and to semantic similarity distances between words (e.g., cow - sheep versus cow - deer), and whether cognitive mechanisms, such as automatic activation and controlled processes, underlie priming effects. An additional two studies conducted with children learning two languages simultaneously, aimed at determining, first, whether taxonomically related word meanings, in each of the two languages, are processed in a similar manner. The second goal was to explore whether words presented in one language activate words in another language, and vice versa. In an attempt to answer these questions, lexical-semantic processing was explored by two techniques: eye-tracking and event-related potentials (ERPs) techniques. Both techniques provide high temporal resolution measures of word processing but differ in terms of responses. Eye-movement measurements (Study III) reflect looking preferences in response to spoken words and their time-course, whereas ERPs reflect implicit brain responses and their activity patterns (Study I, II, IV, and V). Study I and II revealed that words are taxonomically organized at 18 and 24-month-olds. Both automatic and controlled processes were shown to be involved in word processing during language development (Study II). Study III revealed that at 24-month-olds, categorical and feature overlap between items underpin the developing lexical-semantic system. That is, lexical-items in each semantic category are organized according to graded similarity distances. Productive vocabulary skills influenced word recognition and were related to underlying cognitive mechanisms. Study IV revealed no differences in terms of semantic processing in the bilinguals¿ two languages, but the ERP distribution across the scalp varied according to the language being processed. Study V showed that words presented in one language activate their semantic representations in the second language and the other way around. The distribution of the ERPs depended, however, on the direction of translation. The results suggest that even early dual language experience yields distinct neural resources underlying lexical-semantic processing in the dominant and non-dominant languages during language acquisition.

Early childhood development programs enhance children's development of knowledge, skills, and processes. Despite efforts to improve early childhood education in the United States, poor student performance in early literacy and kindergarten achievement is still occurring, and questions remain unanswered about the utility of early childhood education programs. Drawing from the theory of constructivism, the purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, retrospective study was to determine the effectiveness of early childhood programs on the literacy achievement of kindergarten children. The research question addressed the differences in literacy achievement of kindergarten children based on the early childhood programs they attended. Using repeated measures analysis of variance tests for 501 student test scores, no significant interaction effects existed between program participation and gains across time for prewriting (F [2, 998] = 0.87, p = .42), cognitive (F [2, 998] = 0.84, p = .43), or language (F [2, 998] = 1.26, p = .28). However, using the Pearson correlation coefficient, younger participants had significantly more gain from pretest to posttest for prewriting (r [499] = .14, p = .002) and cognitive (r [499] = .21, p = .001) but less gain for language (r [499] = .10, p = .03). Knowing that literacy achievement can be improved in an early childhood setting contributes to the knowledge base on the effects of early learning. Educators could benefit from these findings when implementing early childhood policies and adopting effective practices to help develop successful readers in kindergarten and beyond.

Prior research studies point to a correlational relationship between music instruction and academic achievement studies, but varying results and confounding factors prevent causality. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to test Vygotsky's sociocultural cognitive theory that playing a musical instrument is significantly associated with academic achievement in reading for 1st graders who attend 1 of 2 schools in Alaska. Using Analysis of Covariance, this study investigates the relationship between instrumental music and academic achievement on measures of academic progress (MAP) reading scores of 1st graders (n = 76) who received at least 90 minutes per week of string instruction for 2 consecutive years at a Title I school in comparison with those who attended another Title I school without the string program. Although the results of this study did not show a relationship between instrumental music and academic achievement on MAP reading scores of 1st graders, this study has implications for positive social change. This study contributes to this new field of music for social change and underscores the need from public school administrators and music educators for more research at the local and national level on the benefits of music education as a contributor to academic achievement and student success.

Reading success has been linked to high school completion, future job success, and future generations of children who can read. Unfortunately, children who are unable to read on grade level by the end of first grade are at a great disadvantage and unlikely to catch up later. Without the ability to read and comprehend text, all aspects of schooling become progressively more difficult and the challenge of poor reading ability can be so difficult to overcome that many poor readers will not complete high school. For these reasons, it is important to identify early experiences in a child's family environment that predict the early skills that are necessary for later reading and reading comprehension. The child's family environment includes the quality of both the general home setting and specific kinds of parent-child interactions. The skills necessary for reading success include vocabulary, phonological skills, and other early literacy skills, but broader cognitive and regulatory skills may also be necessary. Because children from low-income families are at higher risk for reading problems, this study examines extant data on early environments, early development, and second-grade reading from a sample of 117 children from low-income families who participated in a longitudinal study from the child's infancy to second grade. Early family environments and children's early cognitive and other skills that are measured at 36 months and just prior to kindergarten entry at 54 months, were analyzed in relation to their second-grade vocabulary, reading ability, and reading comprehension. The results of this analysis of extant longitudinal data help identify early predictors of reading success for children at risk for reading problems.

Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur pedagoger arbetar med anpassningar som gynnar barn med språkstörning i förskola och skola. Vi ville även göra en jämförande undersökning och se hur anpassningarna skiljer sig åt mellan de båda verksamheterna. I läroplanerna för både förskola och skola tydliggörs att pedagoger ska anpassa och arbeta för att främja en god språkutveckling hos barnen. För att få svar på vårt syfte har vi preciserat det i fem frågeställningar och använt oss av en etnografisk metod. Vi har genomfört praktiknära observationer med uppföljande samtal i fem olika kommuner, vid sammanlagt 18 tillfällen. Resultatet visar att pedagoger i förskolan och skolan använder många olika exempel på anpassningar som stödstrukturer, alternativ kommunikation, samtal runt ord och begrepp, samt bildstöd i sin undervisning. I studien ges många exempel på hur pedagoger arbetar för att främja lärandet. Det skiljer en del mellan förskola och skola, dels på grund av naturliga orsaker som att barnen är i olika åldrar, dels på grund av pedagogens utbildning eller ekonomiska förutsättningar i verksamheten, men också beroende på vilket perspektiv pedagogen intar. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien på att pedagoger arbetar medvetet med språkstimulerande anpassningar, främst med utgångspunkt i ett sociokulturellt perspektiv.

L’aboutissement de ce travail est de démontrer la capacité scientifique de la langue malgache pouvant servir dans les disciplines non linguistiques comme langue d’enseignement. Ainsi, pour pouvoir assumer le rôle d’outil d’enseignement, les méthodes de néologisme adéquates à la culture malgache avaient été entreprises dans les travaux terminologiques. Le corpus de base de la recherche se situe dans le domaine de la géographie en tant que carrefour de savoirs et base de socialisation de tout individu, selon les spécialistes.Par ailleurs, la malgachisation de l’enseignement n’est possible sans l’instauration du malgache officiel enrichi de ses variantes dialectales qui serait, à son tour, le fruit des recherches terminologiques dans tous les domaines de l’enseignement.Par conséquent, cette thèse avance une piste d’urgence pour un aménagement linguistique serein dans l’enseignement. Un partenariat rigoureux et efficace entre un organe chargé de banque de données terminologiques et les décideurs politiques serait d’une nécessité en vue d’asseoir la langue malgache au sein d’une politique linguistique viable dans l’enseignement, pour un développement durable de Madagascar face aux nouveautés technologiques et scientifiques. / The culmination of this work is to show the scientific capacity of the Malagasy language, which can be used as a teaching medium in non-language subjects. Thus, the use of neologism methods as a teaching tool that is appropriate to the Malagasy culture has been undertaken in the terminology work. The basic corpus of research lies in the area of geography as a crossroads of knowledge and basic socialization to any individual, according to experts.Moreover, adapting the Malagasy education to the Malagasy context, “Malagasization” would not be possible without the establishment of the official Malagasy language enriched with its dialect variations that, in turn, would be the result of terminological research in all areas of education.Therefore, this thesis is advancing an emergency avenue towards a serene language development in education. Hence, a strong and effective partnership between a body in charge of a terminology database and policy makers would be a mandatory requirement in order to establish the Malagasy language within a viable language policy in education, with a view to a sustainable development of Madagascar faced with technological and scientific innovations.