Since the brain is an important prerequisite for human language there is a great interest to gain more knowledge about healthy brain activity during language mediated communication. This study examines variations in high level language ability relating to demographic factors like gender and age and relates language ability to neural activity.Eighteen individuals in ages between 22 and 64 were included and divided into groups in relation to gender and age. The material used to assess language ability was derived from Testbatteri för Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar (Laakso, Brunnegård, Hartelius & Ahlsén, 2000), Swedish Lexical Decision Test (Almkvist, Adveen, Henning & Tallberg, 2007) and a reading test (Högskoleprovet). The results were correlated with measured brain activity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and language paradigms. ANOVA was applied to discover possible demographic variances in language ability as well as in brain activity.The results showed no significant differences in language ability.

The purpose of this degree thesis is to investigate what the English teachers in an upper sec-ondary school, think about teaching students in ability grouped classrooms. The questions that I have set out to investigate include what the teachers think about ability grouping in English, the school?s current organisation of ability groups, the pros and cons of ability grouping in English, differentiation in teaching and if students get more individualized teaching with abil-ity groups, how the teachers cooperate and what would be the optimal teaching situation in an English learning classroom.I did a lot of theoretical research on the subject and studied old essays on similar subjects. I also did some classroom observations to use as background information for my interviews. I interviewed five teachers of different sex, age, and teaching experience.

The aim of this essay is to examine if the attitudes and the experiences of Ability Grouping are the same on different levels of the school organisation.I have chosen to answer the following two questions:· Have the teachers, the students and the headmaster the same idea concerning the educational model at the school, that is, the pros and cons of Ability Grouping?· Does the intentions of the curriculum agree with this educational model?I knew what I thought about the educational model at the school that is the object of this essay, after spending ten weeks at it as a trainee, but I felt that I would be interesting to know what the people who are part of that system everyday think about it.In order to be able to answer my questions, I used both the qualitative and the quantitative method. I interviewed the headmaster and five teachers to find out what they thought about Ability Grouping. I also distributed inquiries to 70 students from 6th to 9th grade to get their point of view. In the theoretical discussion I explain the meaning of different conceptions that I use throughout this essay.

The Swedish armed forces has for many years educated squad leaders by letting them start their training two and a half months before the soldiers start their training. 2007, this system was used for the last time. I went trough this system myself in 2005 and had a positive experience and when I did my internship I experienced a slight difference in the attitude of the squad leader. I talked with my colleges at the company and they had felt the same. This essay will try to analyse if the squad leaders has lost any of there ability and if so, what could be the cause? To analyze the ability of the squad leader in this essay it will first analyze their ability through the Direct leadership theory, which is the theory that is presently used in the Swedish armed forces.

Title: Spykist ? of course, what then? - A study of the future plans of young music students in a Swedish high school. This study is dedicated to examine in what direction music students on a Swedish high school are planning to continue their education. The students, mainly 18-19 years old, are in different ways influenced in their specialised music studies by the arts program offered by their school. Will they aim for future higher musical studies or are they satisfied to have music only as a leisure pursuit? This study is based on a survey which included 99 students from grades 2 and 3 in a high school in the south of Sweden, called "Spyken".

This essay presents an example of the musical life of a female composer active in Sweden during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through a case study on composer Sara Wennerberg-Reuter (1875-1959), the essay contributes information to her biography, which had been lacking specific details.Wennerberg-Reuter's biography has been discussed regarding traditional roles of women in music, her relationship to her own artistry and other active women composers, and finally the contemporary reception of Wennerberg-Reuter as a legitimate composer. Aesthetical theories prevalent during Wennerberg-Reuter?s life has been applied in these discussions, such as those presented by Citron, Öhrström and Hanson, combined with Citron's additional theories considering masculine/feminine elements in the musical approach.The main conclusions reached regarding the specific conditions enabling a professional status as a composer and woman in Sweden during the given time are;a) the liberal permission by the family to pursue higher education in composing, since this was in opposition to the traditions of the time.b) the access to a network of musically active women, from which a sense of being part of a female community can be created.c) the acceptance from musical institutions such as higher educations, composer's societies and media critics..

The purpose of this study has been to examine how Afro-Cuban musical traditions and concepts are integrated in compositions for solo guitar by the Cuban guitarist and composer Ñico Rojas and how this can be expressed in the performance of his music by a classical guitarist. For this purpose a guide to Rojas music, which is included in this report, was written based on literature about Afro-Cuban music. Then a classical guitarist learned to play a piece by Rojas with help from the written guide. The result was examined using recordings of the guitarist's interpretations and an interview with him. The conclusion is that different aspects of the Afro Cuban musical tradition are present in Rojas? music, but that the concept of the clave was the most useful aspect for the classical guitarist that interpreted the music of Ñico Rojas in this study..

Our study aimed at gaining insight of co-workers experiences of different factors that affects the verbal communication and leads to dialogue and misunderstanding between co-workers and their managers. The empirical material was gained from semi-structured interviews with co-workers at various departments within the same organization. We used a hermeneutic interpretive approach and our data was analyzed concerning different factors affecting communication. The result has been interpreted using the theories of deliberative conversations and dialogue competence. We have also used Illeris theory of learning.

In which ways have composing processes in music appeared over the past 300 years? How may composing processes work today? What does new technology do to this processes?The key purpose of this study is to investigate various composing processes. A further purpose is also to gain an awareness of how we use modern technology by computers and their notation programmes.The research design of this thesis includes a display of literature related to composing processes. along with an analysis of the writer?s own experiences in the area.

Title: The impact of environment on music students' commitment to music - a study of attitudes among music students and their parents. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the importance of environmental influence on childrens' musical interests and factors inspiring children to play instruments and sing. The parents' opinions, regarding the extent of the effect of the environment on the musical interest of their child, are compared in the text, with the childrens' own opinions in this matter. I conducted the survey in two music classes in Malmö. I used a questionnaire, where all students participated and I also conducted qualitative interviews with four students and their parents.

This Master Thesis is a product development project that has been carried out in cooperation withLappset Sweden AB.The purpose has been to develop a group of products suited for parks andtraditional playground locations. The specific target area has been courtyards of newly builtresidential areas. (These pieces of open land resemble glades that can be found in the forest,which in Swedish is called ?gläntan? and has given name to the product family). Therefore thedesign should match contemporary architecture.

My interest in examining what happens when you as a teenager are exposed to five or six times the amount of time as ordinary classes to music education derrives from my own experience as a music teacher at a school which has those kind of special music classes. During my career as a music teacher in grades 4 ? 9 in Swedish compulsory school I have taught music classes as well as ordinary classes for 18 years. During this time I have often wondered what this exposure means in retrospect. Is it the conquering and mastering of music skills that students remember when they?ve grown up to young adults, or is it something else?The aim of this study is to find out what it means for teenagers to have music as a school subject every day of their years in Swedish high school.

Our study aimed at gaining insight of co-workers experiences of different factors that affects the verbal communication and leads to dialogue and misunderstanding between co-workers and their managers. The empirical material was gained from semi-structured interviews with co-workers at various departments within the same organization. We used a hermeneutic interpretive approach and our data was analyzed concerning different factors affecting communication. The result has been interpreted using the theories of deliberative conversations and dialogue competence. We have also used Illeris theory of learning. The result shows a number of factors that affects communication between co-workers and managers.

The capacity to process and to remember information is a basic condition for language ability and for coming reading ability. Reading ability is strongly connected to phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary knowledge and working memory capacity. In what way hearing impairment in children affects development of cognitive skills and later on reading ability is an area that has attracted minor attention for research.The aim with this study was to investigate changes in cognitive skills and reading ability in children with mild or moderate hearing impairment after one year of progress and furthermore if any connections between any increases of the abilities were to be found. Comparisons were made with results from age adequate normal hearing children. Moreover prosodic ability on word-level was tested this year.

In which ways have composing processes in music appeared over the past 300 years? How may composing processes work today? What does new technology do to this processes?The key purpose of this study is to investigate various composing processes. A further purpose is also to gain an awareness of how we use modern technology by computers and their notation programmes.The research design of this thesis includes a display of literature related to composing processes. along with an analysis of the writer?s own experiences in the area.