The hypothesis was tested that meditation using an audible word-sound would be superior to silent repetition of the same word in producing decrements in autonomic arousal and improvements in anxiety, mood, and the ability to cope with stress. The influence of hypnotic susceptibility upon improvement was also evaluated. Thirty subjects, assigned to one of three groups: audible meditation, silent meditation, and relaxation control, met one hour weekly for six weeks to practice their respective technique and discuss their progress. All subjects were evaluated using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, a medical symptom checklist, the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale, a self-rating of state anxiety, and factors C and Q4 of the 16PF. Finger temperature was taken as a measure of physiological arousal. Confidence ratings of the respective strategies were taken pre- and post-treatment.

This study explores the under-researched subject of “industrial films” through the analysis of how Ford Motor Company made use of motion pictures to reinforce its political and economic interests during the 1910s and 1920s. In 1914, the automobile company constituted a motion picture department, establishing itself as the largest film producer and distributor in the world in the subsequent years. Just as the famous Model T, Ford films were mass-produced and widely circulated; they praised the ideas of “Americanization” and “Americanism” as a strategy to shape Ford workers, intervene in public opinion against labour unions, and as a method of publicizing the company’s cooperation with the United States government during World War I. Despite the relevance of Ford’s unconventional cinema, distributed for free and exhibited in schools, universities, factories, and movie theaters, it still hasn’t received sufficient attention from scholars, illustrating the necessity of a holistic notion of film history, able to extrapolate the canons of fiction film and theatrical exhibition.

“A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl 3:7b) Preaching and keeping silent in times of the COVID19-pandemic

Reading among young people is decreasing, which is worrying, considering that good reading skills are crucial for personal development as well as for understanding the modern society. The objective of the present study has been to explore the practice of using textless books to favour reading, since research shows that there are some advantages in doing so. To that purpose, seven interviews were conducted with librarians, educators and a creativity coach who all had previous experience with working with textless books, i.e., books where the readers use their own imagination to navigate through the narrative with the aid of the pictures in the book, often in a social context. The study is based on qualitative research, where interview transcriptions were used for identifying themes, further analysed using a model for reading motivation by the researcher Linda Gambrell. The results show that there are some advantages with working with textless books, not least the many ways to use them. The study’s informants support previous research that have shown that textless books favour reading development and increases vocabulary. Some of the specific advantages according to the informants are that such books can evoke imagination, that the readers are in some sense ‘equal’, since the demands on them are low, there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to read the books, and everybody succeeds in reading, and that the books seem to encourage further reading. The conclusions of the study are that textless books can motivate further reading and thu

In the year of 2015, 35.000 refugee children arrived to Sweden. In Sweden education is a matter of right, every child has the right to attend school no matter if s/he is a citizen or a refugee. According to the Swedish Curriculum for Compulsory school, all teaching should be adapted to the individual student’s circumstances and needs. The aim of this degree project is to investigate how wordless picturebooks (Silent Books) could be used as a language learning tool in order to promote language acquisition among newly arrived children in Sweden. Firstly, this paper provides an overview of background knowledge, theories and concepts about wordless picturebooks and second language learning. The literature review indicates that the content of the books and the social context is important while learning a language. It also shows that picturebooks can be used in order to grow a cultural understanding among young learners with different cultural backgrounds. In the empirical study we employed semi-structured interviews with people from Sweden, Italy and England. We also carried out field research on Lampedusa, Italy, which included observations and interviews. The major conclusions of this study are that Silent Books is one tool of many, which could be used while learning a language. Silent Books is particular good since it lets the student base her/his language learning in one’s earlier knowledge and experiences as well as language level. The pictures are the starting point, and the learning process starts with what you see in the picture.

No description available.

This study evaluated how measures of oral reading fluency (ORF) and silent reading fluency (SRF) compare as predictors of reading comprehension and how these predictors vary as a function of proficiency level for fourth- and fifth-grade students. Additionally, the study sought to examine the relationship between measures of oral reading fluency, silent reading fluency, reading comprehension, and the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) with these students. Participants were 175 fourth- and fifth-grade students from two randomly selected schools in Colorado. A correlational predictive design was used. Results indicated that measures of ORF and SRF were predictors of reading comprehension and that the relationship of measures of ORF and SRF with comprehension changes over time. Regression analysis results indicated that 45.0% of the variance in reading comprehension was accounted for by the ORF measure for the sample population, as compared to 53.0% of the variance accounted for by SRF measures. Thus, measures of SRF might be a better predictor for maturing readers to determine reading proficiency, monitor student progress, and guide instructional practices. A structural equation model (SEM) analyzed the relationship of the measure of SRF with reading comprehension as moderated by proficiency level. Analysis for the SRF measure by reading proficiency was conducted at the whole group level. The model accounted for 59.0% of the moderation. Results indicated that reading proficiency level and the SRF measure were both associated with reading comprehension. Reading proficiency level is a significant moderator of the relationship between measures of reading comprehension and SRF. A SEM mediation model was used to analyze the relationship of measures of ORF, SRF, reading comprehension, and TCAP. The direct effects of the ORF and SRF measures on TCAP were both predictive with 66.0% of the variance accounted for with SRF measure and 66.5% of the variance accounted for with ORF measure. Results indicated that as grade level increases, the relationship between measures of ORF, SRF, and reading comprehension changes. Additionally, SRF measures can be a viable alternative to ORF measures for upper elementary students as a predictor of reading comprehension and on the TCAP high-stake assessment.

No description available.

This thesis examines how visual music in Swedish silent film served as an allusion to sound, either as a cinematic effect or as an intertwined part of the film narrative. Drawing on the concepts of synaesthesia and visual music, a discussion on how both concepts relate to each other serves as the key method for analyzing a selection of films. By defining synaesthesia in relation to concepts such as Gesamtkunstwerk and photogénie, the analysis examines different synaesthetic expressions through visual music in Swedish silent film. This thesis argues that Swedish film was influenced through several forms of art and ideas from different cinematic cultures. By comparing synaesthetic expressions through visual music in Swedish silent film and other cinematic cultures, this thesis suggest that the concepts were used in different ways to define cinema as a unique form of art.

I detta examensarbete undersöktes syftet hur pedagoger i förskolan förhåller sig till ordlösa bilderböcker. Metoden som användes var kvantitativ metod med digitala enkäter som skickades ut via grupper på Facebook. Pedagogerna valdes ut med ett konsekutivt urval och enkäten inbringade totalt 59 svar. Resultatet av enkäten analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med fokus i den sociokulturella teorin. Resultatet från enkätstudien visade att pedagoger hade en positiv inställning till ordlösa bilderböcker samt att de flesta pedagogerna använde eller hade använt sig av böckerna inom verksamheten. Den främsta anledningen till användningen var för att stimulera barnens språkutveckling. För att göra barnen delaktiga i berättande framgick det av resultatet att de skapade berättelserna tillsammans och att pedagogerna efterfrågade deras tankar. Detta möjliggjorde att den ordlösa bilderboken kunde vara medierande för barns språkutveckling i samspel med andra.