Con esta tesis doctoral aproximamos la teoría de la inferencia gramatical y los estudios de adquisición del lenguaje, en pos de un objetivo final: ahondar en la comprensión del modo como los niños adquieren su primera lengua mediante la explotación de la teoría inferencial de gramáticas formales.Nuestras tres principales aportaciones son:1. Introducción de una nueva clase de lenguajes llamada Simple p-dimensional external contextual (SEC). A pesar de que las investigaciones en inferencia gramatical se han centrado en lenguajes regulares o independientes del contexto, en nuestra tesis proponemos centrar esos estudios en clases de lenguajes más relevantes desde un punto de vista lingüístico (familias de lenguajes que ocupan una posición ortogonal en la jerarquía de Chomsky y que son suavemente dependientes del contexto, por ejemplo, SEC).2. Presentación de un nuevo paradigma de aprendizaje basado en preguntas de corrección. Uno de los principales resultados positivos dentro de la teoría del aprendizaje formal es el hecho de que los autómatas finitos deterministas (DFA) se pueden aprender de manera eficiente utilizando preguntas de pertinencia y preguntas de equivalencia. Teniendo en cuenta que en el aprendizaje de primeras lenguas la corrección de errores puede jugar un papel relevante, en nuestra tesis doctoral hemos introducido un nuevo modelo de aprendizaje que reemplaza las preguntas de pertinencia por preguntas de corrección.3. Presentación de resultados basados en las dos previas aportaciones. En primer lugar, demostramos que los SEC se pueden aprender a partir de datos positivos. En segundo lugar, demostramos que los DFA se pueden aprender a partir de correcciones y que el número de preguntas se reduce considerablemente.Los resultados obtenidos con esta tesis doctoral suponen una aportación importante para los estudios en inferencia gramatical (hasta el momento las investigaciones en este ámbito se habían centrado principalmente en los aspectos matemáticos de los modelos). Además, estos resultados se podrían extender a diversos campos de aplicación que gozan de plena actualidad, tales como el aprendizaje automático, la robótica, el procesamiento del lenguaje natural y la bioinformática. / With this dissertation, we bring together the Theory of the Grammatical Inference and Studies of language acquisition, in pursuit of our final goal: to go deeper in the understanding of the process of language acquisition by using the theory of inference of formal grammars. Our main three contributions are:1. Introduction of a new class of languages called Simple p-dimensional external contextual (SEC). Despite the fact that the field of Grammatical Inference has focused its research on learning regular or context-free languages, we propose in our dissertation to focus these studies in classes of languages more relevant from a linguistic point of view (families of languages that occupy an orthogonal position in the Chomsky Hierarchy and are Mildly Context-Sensitive, for example SEC).2. Presentation of a new learning paradigm based on correction queries. One of the main results in the theory of formal learning is that deterministic finite automata (DFA) are efficiently learnable from membership query and equivalence query. Taken into account that in first language acquisition the correction of errors can play an important role, we have introduced in our dissertation a novel learning model by replacing membership queries with correction queries.3. Presentation of results based on the two previous contributions. First, we prove that SEC is learnable from only positive data. Second, we prove that it is possible to learn DFA from corrections and that the number of queries is reduced considerably.The results obtained with this dissertation suppose an important contribution to studies of Grammatical Inference (the current research in Grammatical Inference has focused mainly on the mathematical aspects of the models). Moreover, these results could be extended to studies related directly to machine translation, robotics, natural language processing, and bioinformatics.

The work presented in this thesis discusses various formal language formalisms that extend classical formalisms like regular expressions and context-free grammars with additional abilities, most relating to order. This is done while focusing on the impact these extensions have on the efficiency of parsing the languages generated. That is, rather than taking a step up on the Chomsky hierarchy to the context-sensitive languages, which makes parsing very difficult, a smaller step is taken, adding some mechanisms which permit interesting spatial (in)dependencies to be modeled. The most immediate example is shuffle formalisms, where existing language formalisms are extended by introducing operators which generate arbitrary interleavings of argument languages. For example, introducing a shuffle operator to the regular expressions does not make it possible to recognize context-free languages like anbn, but it does capture some non-context-free languages like the language of all strings containing the same number of as, bs and cs. The impact these additions have on parsing has many facets. Other than shuffle operators we also consider formalisms enforcing repeating substrings, formalisms moving substrings around, and formalisms that restrict which substrings may be concatenated. The formalisms studied here all have a number of properties in common. They are closely related to existing regular and context-free formalisms. They operate in a step-wise fashion, deriving strings by sequences of rule applications of individually limited power. Each step generates a constant number of symbols and does not modify parts that have already been generated. That is, strings are built in an additive fashion that does not explode in size (in contrast to e.g. Lindenmayer systems). All languages here will have a semi-linear Parikh image. They feature some interesting characteristic involving order or other spatial constraints. In the example of the shuffle multiple derivations are in a sense interspersed in a way that each is unaware of. All of the formalisms are intended to be limited enough to make an efficient parsing algorithm at least for some cases a reasonable goal. This thesis will give intuitive explanations of a number of formalisms fulfilling these requirements, and will sketch some results relating to the parsing problem for them. This should all be viewed as preparation for the more complete results and explanations featured in the papers given in the appendices. / Denna avhandling diskuterar utökningar av klassiska formalismer inom formella språk, till exempel reguljära uttryck och kontextfria grammatiker. Utökningarna handlar på ett eller annat sätt omordning, och ett särskilt fokus ligger på att göra utökningarna på ett sätt som dels har intressanta spatiala/ordningsrelaterade effekter och som dels bevarar den effektiva parsningen som är möjlig för de ursprungliga klassiska formalismerna. Detta står i kontrast till att ta det större steget upp i Chomsky-hierarkin till de kontextkänsliga språken, vilket medför ett svårt parsningsproblem. Ett omedelbart exempel på en sådan utökning är s.k. shuffle-formalismer. Dessa utökar existerande formalismer genom att introducera operatorer som godtyckligt sammanflätar strängar från argumentspråk. Om shuffle-operator introduceras till de reguljära uttrycken ger det inte förmågan att känna igen t.ex. det kontextfria språket anbn, men det fångar istället vissa språk som inte är kontextfria, till exempel språket som består av alla strängar som innehåller lika många a:n, b:n och c:n. Sättet på vilket dessa utökningar påverkar parsningsproblemet är mångfacetterat. Utöver dessa shuffle-operatorer tas också formalismer där delsträngar kan upprepas, formalismer där delsträngar flyttas runt, och formalismer som begränsar hur delsträngar får konkateneras upp. Formalismerna som tas upp här har dock vissa egenskaper gemensamma. De är nära besläktade med de klassiska reguljära och kontextfria formalismerna. De arbetar stegvis, och konstruerar strängar genom successiva applikationer av individuellt enkla regler. Varje steg genererar ett konstant antal symboler och modifierar inte det som redan genererats. Det vill säga, strängar byggs additivt och längden på dem kan inte explodera (i kontrast till t.ex. Lindenmayer-system). Alla språk som tas upp kommer att ha en semi-linjär Parikh-avbildning. De har någon instressant spatial/ordningsrelaterad egenskap. Exempelvis sättet på vilket shuffle-operatorer sammanflätar annars oberoende deriveringar. Alla formalismerna är tänkta att vara begränsade nog att det är resonabelt att ha effektiv parsning som mål. Denna avhandling kommer att ge intuitiva förklaring av ett antal formalismer som uppfyller ovanstående krav, och kommer att skissa en blandning av resultat relaterade till parsningsproblemet för dem. Detta bör ses som förberedande inför läsning av de mer djupgående och komplexa resultaten och förklaringarna i de artiklar som finns inkluderade som appendix.

The work presented in this thesis discusses various formalisms for representing the addition of order-controlling and order-relaxing mechanisms to existing formal language models. An immediate example is shuffle expressions, which can represent not only all regular languages (a regular expression is a shuffle expression), but also features additional operations that generate arbitrary interleavings of its argument strings. This defines a language class which, on the one hand, does not contain all context-free languages, but, on the other hand contains an infinite number of languages that are not context-free. Shuffle expressions are, however, not themselves the main interest of this thesis. Instead we consider several formalisms that share many of their properties, where some are direct generalisations of shuffle expressions, while others feature very different methods of controlling order. Notably all formalisms that are studied here have a semi-linear Parikh image, are structured so that each derivation step generates at most a constant number of symbols (as opposed to the parallel derivations in for example Lindenmayer systems), feature interesting ordering characteristics, created either by derivation steps that may generate symbols in multiple places at once, or by multiple generating processes that produce output independently in an interleaved fashion, and are all limited enough to make the question of efficient parsing an interesting and reasonable goal. This vague description already hints towards the formalisms considered; the different classes of mildly context-sensitive devices and concurrent finite-state automata. This thesis will first explain and discuss these formalisms, and will then primarily focus on the associated membership problem (or parsing problem). Several parsing results are discussed here, and the papers in the appendix give a more complete picture of these problems and some related ones.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether a self-evaluation procedure paired with a token economy would be effective in reducing the off-task and talk-out behavior of behaviorally disordered and learning disabled high school students in a resource classroom. The study also examined the effects of the seIf-evaluation procedures when monitored by regular education peers on target students' behavior in their regular education English class. In addition to improving classroom behavior, another purpose of the study was to examine the effective ness of the self-evaluation procedures when paired with an academic goal-setting component on academic variables in both the resource and regular education classrooms. The results revealed that student behavior generally improved after self-evaluation procedures were taught in the resource room and that improved behavior generalized to the regular class once peers implemented the matching component of the self-management procedures. As a group, students' average rate of off-task behavior decreased 17% in the resource room and 35% in the regular class. Averages rates of talk-outs for the group were reduced by 6% in the resource room and 24% in the regular class. Gains in academic performance were observed in both the special and regular classrooms. An increase in the number of assignments completed was observed following the implementation of the self-management procedures across all subjects in the special education class, as was an increase in the overall percentage of those assignments that were correct. Similarly, the percent complete on assignments in the regular class increased on the average 20% while the percent correct increased 24% following the implementation of the matching procedures.

Darbo tikslas: nustatyti, kokį poveikį daro taikomosios fizinės veiklos programa, nežymiai protiškai atsilikusių mokinių laikysenai. Tyrimo objektas ir metodai. Tyrime dalyvavo 45 Telšių ir Kauno miesto mokyklų 8 – 10 metų nežymiai protiškai atsilikę mokiniai, iš jų: 21 mergaitė ir 24 berniukai. Tyrime laikysena vertinta pagal W.W.K. Hoeger vizualinio laikysenos vertinimo sagitalioje ir frontalioje plokštumose metodiką. Pagal šią metodiką laikysena vertinama balais. Atskirų kūno dalių padėtys apžiūrimos frontalioje ir sagitalioje plokštumose. Atskiros kūno dalys vertinamos balais nuo 1 – 5 ir rezultatai sumuojami bei įvertinami pagal minėtą metodiką. Rezultatai. Nagrinėjant atliktų tyrimų duomenis nustatyta, kad net 61.9% tiriamųjų turėjo laikysenos sutrikimų. Kūno laikysenos sutrikimai dažnesni berniukams. Daugiausia laikysenos sutrikimų nustatyta vertinant pečių, stuburo, kaklo ir viršutinės stuburo dalies padėtis. Mažiausiai sutrikimų nustatyta vertinant kelių ir čiurnų, galvos padėtis. Berniukams mažiausiai nustatyta kelių ir čiurnų padėties sutrikimų (20.8%), mergaitėms liemens padėties sutrikimų (9.5%). Daugiausia sutrikimų nustatyta įvertinus pečių padėtį. Mergaitėms pečių padėties sutrikimų buvo 80.9%, o berniukams – 70.8%. Po taikomosios fizinės veiklos programos, nustatyta teigiami laikysenos pokyčiai: prieš taikomosios fizinės veiklos programą, laikysenos sutrikimų turėjo 33.3% berniukų ir 28.6% mergaičių, po taikomosios fizinės veiklos programos laikysenos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Objective. To identify determine the impact of physical activity tests on the posture of pupils with mild mental retardation. Methods. 45 pupils between the ages of 8 - 10 (21 girls and 24 boys) from Telšiai and Kaunas secondary schools have been examined using W.W.K. Hoeger visual posture evaluation model in a frontal and sagittal plane. Testing was assessed according to a measuring scale from 1 to 5. Results. It was determined that even 61.9 % of participants had disorders in body posture and its segments: shoulder, spinal cord, neck and upper spinal cord positions. The disorders of posture were more frequent among boys. Least problematic body parts were knees, ankles and head. Among boys the best body segments proved to be knees and ankles, whilst among girls the investigators indicated the position of waist. Shoulder problems were more common in girls’ group (80.9%), in boys’ group these disorders were less significant (70.8%). The applied methods of adapted physical activity had a positive impact on the students’ posture. The study showed good results in students’ posture. Before adapted physical activity program posture impairment was determined to 33.3% of boys and 28.6% of girls. After the program the improvement was determined 20.8% and 19.1% accordingly. The maximum effect of adapted physical activity on the posture was noted after the evaluation of shoulder, lower part of spinal cord and abdomen in boys’ group, as well as neck and upper spinal cord positions in... [to full text]

Magistro darbe analizuojamas vaikų, turinčių specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių, lyčių vaidmenų šeimoje suvokimas. Suformuluota hipotezė, jog šeimos perteikia savo vaikams stereotipinius požiūrius į lyčių vaidmenis šeimoje. Tyrime dalyvavo riboto ir nežymiai sutrikusio intelekto mokiniai, kurių amžius 12 – 17 metų. Iš viso apklausti 194 moksleiviai (89 mergaitės, 105 – berniukai). Anketinės apklausos metodu tirta, kaip mokiniai suvokia lyčių vaidmenis šeimoje. Analizuojant tyrimo duomenis, buvo lyginami mergaičių ir berniukų atsakymai. Atlikta statistinė (deskriptyvinė statistika – procentinių dažnių, alfa faktorinė) duomenų analizė. Empirinėje dalyje nagrinėjama mokinių nuomonė apie vyrų ir moterų vaidmenis šeimoje, bruožus, svarbius moteriai, vyrui; vaikų pareigos šeimoje, berniukų ir mergaičių auklėjimo ypatumai (skirtumus, panašumus). Svarbiausios empirinio tyrimo išvados: 1. Nustatyta, kad tyrime dalyvavę mokiniai auga šeimose, kurioms būdingas stereotipinis požiūris į lyčių vaidmenis šeimoje: tiek tėvų, tiek vaikų pareigos diferencijuojamos pagal lytį; merginos orientuojamos į šeimą, vaikų auginimą ir namų ruošą, vaikinai – į fizinį darbą. 2. Tėvai skatina elgesį, atitinkantį vaiko lytį: merginas skatina ir giria už elgesį, savybes, darbus, kurie tradiciškai priskiriami moterims, vaikinus – už savybes ir poelgius, kurie priskiriami vyrams. 3. Tiek merginos, tiek vaikinai tipiškai moteriškoms savybėms priskiria jausmingumą, švelnumą, drovumą, kuklumą, grožį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The perception of gender roles in the family of children with special needs is analyzed in the Master thesis. The hypothesis that families pass their stereotype attitudes towards the gender roles in the family is formed. Pupils with limited or mildly mental disabilities participated in the research the age of which is 12-17 years. In total 194 pupils were surveyed (89 girls and 105 boys). The questionnaire survey method analyzed how pupils perceive the gender roles in the family. While analyzing the data of the research the answers of boys and girls were compared. The statistical (descriptive statistics - percentage, t-Test, alpha factor) data analysis was performed. The empirical part deals with the students’ opinion on the roles of women and men in the family, features important for the woman and man; children’s duties in the family, peculiarities of girls and boys’ nurture (similarities and differences). The most important conclusions of the empirical research: 1. It was determined that the students who participated in the research are brought in the families which have a characteristic stereotype attitude towards the gender roles in the family: both the duties of parents and children are differentiated according to their gender; the girls are oriented towards the family, children upbringing and household and the boys are oriented to the physical work. 2. Parents encourage the behavior relevant to the gender of the child: they encourage and compliment girls for... [to full text]

A healthy and positive relationship between educators and learners is an important aspect in the establishment and sustainability of a nurturing and enabling school environment. However, research pertaining to South African schools shows that schools currently face many challenges that threaten relationships in schools and adversely affect the general well-being of the individuals concerned. The situation is problematic in every school context, but even more so in schools where risk factors are present in a concentrated form, as is the case in schools of skills. The researcher has been involved as a school counsellor at various schools of skills in the Western Cape for the past three years and has noticed that schools of skills are often exposed to various risk factors that influence the daily interaction between educators and learners and also impede the fostering of a healthy relationship between educators and learners. It is therefore logical that the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills is influenced by the particular circumstances and that the relevant risk factors could be contributing to the current situation in schools of skills. Limited research about the relationship between educators and learners in the context of schools of skills impedes the situation even more. This research study aims to make a contribution to the solution of the identified problem by investigating ways in which the relationships between educators and learners can be improved within the context of schools of skills in the Western Cape. A literature study and empirical investigation were undertaken to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills and the way the respective parties experience it (the relationship). Therefore, the nature of the structure of this research study is qualitative phenomenological because it incorporates an investigation into the social relationships that connect educators and learners. The research study was done in four schools of skills in the Western Cape that is representative of the different settlement contexts in South Africa, namely urban, semi-urban and rural. The participants in the four various schools include educators (n=42) and learners (n=122). The collection of data took place in four phases and the following qualitative data collection methods were used: qualitative open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews for educators as well as collages and semi-structured focus group interviews for learners. Thematic analysis of the respective data sets showed that the relationships between educators and learners can be improved by considering the contextual challenges both educators and learners are confronted with. Besides considering the contextual challenges it is also important to create spaces where relationships can be improved and learners can feel safe. This seems to be mainly the responsibility of the educators and can be done by setting clear boundaries and upholding healthy discipline. It was further demonstrated that the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills can be improved by acting towards each other in such a way that mutual respect, mutual trust, the provision of care and support and open communication can be established as relationship-improving interaction patterns. In the light of the study’s findings, specific guidelines are provided to the educator at the school of skills and clear recommendations are made to the Department of Education with the aim of improving classroom relationships in schools of skills. In conclusion, recommendations are also made about further research to improve relationships between educators and learners in schools of skills. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

A healthy and positive relationship between educators and learners is an important aspect in the establishment and sustainability of a nurturing and enabling school environment. However, research pertaining to South African schools shows that schools currently face many challenges that threaten relationships in schools and adversely affect the general well-being of the individuals concerned. The situation is problematic in every school context, but even more so in schools where risk factors are present in a concentrated form, as is the case in schools of skills. The researcher has been involved as a school counsellor at various schools of skills in the Western Cape for the past three years and has noticed that schools of skills are often exposed to various risk factors that influence the daily interaction between educators and learners and also impede the fostering of a healthy relationship between educators and learners. It is therefore logical that the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills is influenced by the particular circumstances and that the relevant risk factors could be contributing to the current situation in schools of skills. Limited research about the relationship between educators and learners in the context of schools of skills impedes the situation even more. This research study aims to make a contribution to the solution of the identified problem by investigating ways in which the relationships between educators and learners can be improved within the context of schools of skills in the Western Cape. A literature study and empirical investigation were undertaken to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills and the way the respective parties experience it (the relationship). Therefore, the nature of the structure of this research study is qualitative phenomenological because it incorporates an investigation into the social relationships that connect educators and learners. The research study was done in four schools of skills in the Western Cape that is representative of the different settlement contexts in South Africa, namely urban, semi-urban and rural. The participants in the four various schools include educators (n=42) and learners (n=122). The collection of data took place in four phases and the following qualitative data collection methods were used: qualitative open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews for educators as well as collages and semi-structured focus group interviews for learners. Thematic analysis of the respective data sets showed that the relationships between educators and learners can be improved by considering the contextual challenges both educators and learners are confronted with. Besides considering the contextual challenges it is also important to create spaces where relationships can be improved and learners can feel safe. This seems to be mainly the responsibility of the educators and can be done by setting clear boundaries and upholding healthy discipline. It was further demonstrated that the relationship between educators and learners in schools of skills can be improved by acting towards each other in such a way that mutual respect, mutual trust, the provision of care and support and open communication can be established as relationship-improving interaction patterns. In the light of the study’s findings, specific guidelines are provided to the educator at the school of skills and clear recommendations are made to the Department of Education with the aim of improving classroom relationships in schools of skills. In conclusion, recommendations are also made about further research to improve relationships between educators and learners in schools of skills. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

Text in Afrikaans / Ten einde 'n kurrikulum relevant en doeltreffend te kan hou, is di t noodsaaklik om die kurrikulum gereeld te evalueer en dienooreenkomstig die bevindinge aan te pas, indien nodig. Spesiale skole in Suid-Afrika beskik oor 'n eiesoortige kernkurrikulum wat hoofsaaklik ontwikkel is vir leerders wat primer verstandelik matig gestrem is. Om verskeie redes, waarvan die belangrikste is, dat die meerderheid leerders wat hulle tans in spesiale skole bevind nie verstandelik matig gestremd is nie, word die werklike doeltreffendheid en relevansie van hierdie kurrikulum bevraagteken. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was derhalwe om die doeltreffendheid en relevansie van die kernkurrikulum wat vir die meerderheid spesiale skole in Suid-Afrika van toepassing is, te bepaal. 'n Sekondere doel van die ondersoek was om 'n kurrikulumevalueringsmodel te ontwikkel aan die hand waarvan kurrikulumevalueerders 'n kurrikulum vanuit 'n literatuurperspektief sou kon evalueer. Ten einde die ondersoek teoreties te fundeer, is 'n li teratuurondersoek onderneem na die grondslae en komponente van 'n kurrikulum. Op grond van die navorsingsresultate is die kurrikulumevalueringsmodel ontwikkel. Twee van die kurrikulumgrondslae wat by wyse van die navorsing blootgele is, is die leerder en die gemeenskap. By wyse van 'n li teratuur- en dokumentasie-ondersoek is bepaal wat die eise is wat spesialeskoolleerders en die gemeenskap aan die kernkurrikulum vir spesiale skole stel. Aan die hand van hierdie bevindinge is kurrikulumevalueringskriteria ontwikkel waarmee die kernkurrikulum vir spesiale skole toe geevalueer is. By die toepassing van hierdie kriteria is gevind dat die kernkurrikulum vir spesiale skole in vele opsigte nie behoorlik aan die eise van die leerders en die gemeenskap voldoen nie. Die gevolgtrekking kon derhalwe gemaak word dat die kernkurrikulum vir spesiale skole oor die algemeen nie doel treffend en relevant genoeg is nie. Aanbevelings is gemaak oor hoe die kernkurrikulum moontlik meer doeltreffend en relevant gemaak kan word. / Sustaining curriculum relevance and effectiveness, necessitates regular curriculum evaluation and adjustment in concurrence with the evaluation results. Special schools in South Africa have at their disposal their own · peculiar curriculum which was developed mainly for learners who are primarily mildly mentally disabled. For various reasons, the most important of which is that the majority of learners currently in special schools are not mildly mentally disadvantaged, the relevancy and effectiveness of this curriculum are questioned. The primary aim of this research was therefore to determine if the core curriculum for special education, which is applicable to the majority of special schools in South Africa, is relevant and effective. A secondary aim of this investigation was to develop a model for curriculum evaluation by means of which curriculum evaluators would be able to evaluate a curriculum from a literature perspective. With a view to founding this research theoretically, literature research was conducted into the foundations and components of the curriculum. On the basis of the research findings, the model for curriculum evaluation was developed. Two of the curriculum foundations that were disclosed by means of the research, were the learner and the community. By means of an investigation of literature and other relevant documentation, the demands made on the curriculum by the learner and the community, were determined. On the basis of these findings, criteria were developed by means of which the core curriculum for special schools was then assessed. When the above criteria were applied, it was found that in many respects the core curriculum for special schools did not completely comply with the demands of the learners and the community. The conclusion could therefore be drawn that the core curriculum for special schools are in general not effective and relevant enough. Proposals were made on how the core curriculum could possibly be made more effective and relevant. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didaktiek)