No description available.

<p>Godkänt datum 2021-06-06</p>

This study set out to investigate how male and female vocabulary skills differ in terms of frequency level and CEFR level. It was hypothesised that the female students would outperform the males both in terms of how wide and advanced their vocabulary is. In order to investigate this, fifty essays were analysed using a method inspired by that of Walker and Allan (2018), and Holmerg Sjöling (2019). In the analysis, three programs were used in order to find the frequency levels and CEFR levels of the vocabulary in the student essays: VocabProfiler VP Compleat, Tex Lex Compare, and English Profile. The results and subsequent discussion revealed that there were no significant differences between the male and female students in relation to frequency level and CEFR level. However, it was found that the males appear to have command over a more varied vocabulary, which does not conform with the stated expectations. In all, it was concluded that the initial hypothesis was not supported. Moreover, it was argued that the results presented may be related to the unique, neutral position that the English language has among men and women, and how this affects students’ motivation. Additionally, it was speculated that the schools of the participants have been successful in sustaining their male students’ motivation to learn the English language. Finally, there are interesting aspects that are not fully explored in the present study that could constitute the basis for further research. Firstly, while vocabulary size is not the only metric considered in grading, it would be interesting to analyse how it relates to the students’ final grades and, indeed, to other aspects of language proficiency, such as reading skills. Secondly, it would have been interesting to have more data on the participating students’ views on the English language and their motivation to learn it – both in relation to gender and their individual vocabulary skills. / <p>Godkänt datum 2021-10-15</p>

To conclude, this essay set out to investigate how British newspapers of different political affiliations used discourse and the language when reporting on ISIS returnees to promote their views, biases, and perspectives. In order to fulfil the aim, critical discourse analysis was chosen as a means to conduct the analysis. Inspired by the process of doing CDA proposed by Huckin, two aspects of the articles were analysed: the framing of the headlines and the lead paragraphs, and the agent-patient relations assigned to ISIS referents. The analysis of the headlines and lead paragraphs showed that the Labour publications used different strategies to frame the story in ways that downplayed ISIS – the Daily Mirror reduced the threat posed by the suspect and the Guardian backgrounded the supposed connection between ISIS and the suspect. Conversely, the Conservative papers framed their articles in ways that displayed ISIS and the returnees as major threats – the Sun created a damning view of the suspect, while the Telegraph promoted a view in which a large influx of ISIS returnees will cause problems for the UK. Furthermore, the second part of the analysis, in which the agency of suspected and confirmed ISIS members, and the types of referents used were analysed, found no decisive evidence on how the political affiliation of a publication correlated with how they assign agency – although there was a small tendency for Conservative papers to give less agency to ISIS referents, which could indicate that it is a deliberate strategy. Additionally, the analysis of the types of referents revealed two tendencies: the Labour affiliated newspapers used a higher share of groups when referring to ISIS, while the Conservative ones had a higher frequency of referents appearing as named individuals. It was reasoned that a higher share of group referents may be a way of maintaining a general perspective and to show restraint. However, an alternative interpretation was that it could also be used to establish a diffusion of responsibility, or to stay distanced from the actual story. Moreover, it was argued that the higher degree of named individuals shown in the Conservative publications may be a way of grounding the story in reality and making it more tangible, but it can also be interpreted as a desire to shame and display the suspects to the public. Another theory was that the names were used to highlight that the majority of the named ISIS referents had non-European names. Finally, it was found that, on the whole, the four articles’ use of framing and their choices of referents seemed to correspond to their favoured party’s policies on extremism and terrorism – Labour and its affiliated publications promoted restraint and consideration, while the Sun and the Telegraph used strategies that would justify the more confrontational approach advocated by the Conservative Party. At the outset of this project, I expected the Labour affiliated papers to employ a fairly restrained and careful approach, and the Conservative ones to adopt an outspoken and somewhat more provocative tone. In addition, my expectation was that there would be clear differences between the reporting of the quality papers and that of the tabloids. For instance, a first expectation was that the Guardian and the Telegraph both would use a sparser language than the tabloids, and that they would use less divisive rhetoric. Conversely, a second expectation was that the tabloids would, in their own ways, take more categorical stances; I expected that the Daily Mirror would opt for a reluctant (or even relativistic) approach, and the Sun to use aggressive (or even demagogic) language. I would say that, to some degree, these expectations were met – and for the Guardian, fully so. However, the insinuatory tone of the Telegraph article was somewhat surprising. Furthermore, while the Sun did use a number of strategies to emphasise the threat of the suspect, the language proved to be less inflammatory than initially expected. Finally, the Daily Mirror met the expectation that it would use a restrained language, and, even though it does not register in text, one could argue that the relatively short article is an indication of reluctance. With this last point in mind, one must recognise that there are a number of limitations to this study. Firstly, it has a small samples size – both in terms of stories, articles, and newspapers. In order to draw general conclusions on any differences between left and right-wing reporting on ISIS, one would have to analyse more material on the organisation. Secondly, as mentioned in section 2.1, CDA is a very wide approach that is hard to define, which means that it allows for a great variety in how one approaches a text. For instance, this essay analyses only two aspects of CDA. Even so, these two aspects can be studied in more detail – the approach to analysing headlines and lead paragraphs used in this project could be applied to entire texts. Similarly, future analyses of agent-patient relations would benefit from studying the links between referents, their agency, and the types of activities they are shown to perform in closer detail. / <p>Godkänt datum 2020-06-07</p>

About 15% of the Swedish high school students have been born abroad. Yet, we know very little about how the age at migration is related to foreign language learning in high school. Using data on all students that graduated between 1998 and 2012 at a Swedish high school, this study shows that a higher age at migration has a negative effect on the probability of having studied German as well as German, Spanish or French at the high school level. However, for students that studied a foreign language at the high school level, a higher age at migration leads to improves the performances in this subject in relation to the performance in other subjects. These findings indicate that current Swedish regulations, where lower secondary level students need to choose between foreign languages and additional education in Swedish and English, leads to long-lasting disadvantages of migrant students.

The history of grammar dates back to ancient Greece, as the language as well as other parts of the perceptible world became subject to scientific study. Analogue to the rebirth of other parts of ancient knowledge during the renaissance, grammar also re-appeared in the German and Swedish language areas. This master's thesis attempts to describe how the respective grammars progressed from the 17th century until present time, through an examination of representative written work from both language areas and historical periods. The results show both similarities, but also diversity. Predominant for the early part of the examination include language patriotism, the idea of language as existing independent from mankind and a normative tendency in the grammars. The German grammars of the 17th and 18th centuries also pursue national unity by the means of fixed language principles to a greater extent than in the more solid contemporary Swedish national state. A language-philosophical distinction appears in the 19th century, when German scholars argue that language defines the thought, where as the Swedish standpoint was the opposite. This divide remains in present-day grammars, which in this thesis are represented by the German Duden 4 – Grammatik and the Svenska Akademiens grammatik. Both modern grammars share an outspoken descriptive approach, but traces of a common, rule-based language to reduce regional and social differences are still present in the German grammar. The grammars put different weight on the various parts of the subject. The Duden includes phonology and assigns twice as much space for words than for syntax. The Swedish delimits itself to words and syntax, where the latter – including one entire volume on phrases, that the Duden completely omits – dominates the four books.

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This essay examines the many methods involved in adapting a literary text into an opera libretto and specifically how Angela Carter's novel The Passion of New Eve was made into the opera Tristessa. This study demonstrates the several processes involved in writing a libretto. This specific kind of literary work includes finding a useful source text, deciding what part of the story that needs to be in the libretto and what can be excluded, and transforming the narration into a text suitable for singing. The lack of adaptation theory for opera has steered me toward theories developed for film adaptations and scholarly texts that are concerned with how adaptation into opera functions. However, this essay's main interest is how well the two (male) librettists succeeded in keeping the novel's clear feminist and queer themes when transferring the text into the libretto. Therefore, not only adaptation theory is used in this essay. Feminist theory and queer theory have given several insights into both the novel and the opera Interviews conducted with the librettists allow for an understanding of their reasoning and working process. Using feminist and queer theories as conterpoints to the reading of the libretto of Tristessa and comparing it to the novel The Passion of New Eve this essay has found that the novel is well suited for adaptation, that queer elements are a natural part of the art of opera, and that the opera Tristessa is indeed both feminist and queer. One could expect a shift in the narration from the novel's story because of the title being Tristessa. That is not so but the cuts and additions that have been made enhance the story of Tristessa as well as the story of Evelyn's transgression into Eve.

This essay examines and compares how the Swedish national curriculum and the Finnish curriculum for Åland’s Lyceum present English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and the democratic mission of the school. This investigation is performed through a qualitative textual study with qualitative content analysis and by including influential aspects as political history, language planning, the perception of the concept of democracy, the perception of the concept of the fundamental values and tasks of the school, and the alignment with the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The hypothesis is that even though both curricula share the goal of preparing students for civic participation in a democratic society and ELF, their strategies differ.

<p>Betygsdatum 2019-02-27</p>