There are different ways of developing a second language. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate whether and possibly how music, focused on singing, can improve the development of Swedish as a second language. Through interviews with three vocal teachers, from three different schools in Sweden, and observations of one of the vocal teachers, information about how they work and think about the subject has been collected. The vocal teachers teach groups of second language learners by singing songs made especially for second language learning. The vocal teachers consider singing beneficial in the development of the pronunciation and improvement of the Prosody, which affects the students? capacity to sound like a native Swedish speaker.

There are different ways of developing a second language. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate whether and possibly how music, focused on singing, can improve the development of Swedish as a second language. Through interviews with three vocal teachers, from three different schools in Sweden, and observations of one of the vocal teachers, information about how they work and think about the subject has been collected. The vocal teachers teach groups of second language learners by singing songs made especially for second language learning. The vocal teachers consider singing beneficial in the development of the pronunciation and improvement of the Prosody, which affects the students? capacity to sound like a native Swedish speaker.

Generally Prosody is described as the rhythmic, dynamic and melodic features of language. Prosody is further often described as suprasegmental, since its properties go beyond vowels and consonants, which are segmental characteristics of language. A relationship between Prosody and music has been noticed and described for several decades. At present, there are several studies proving relationship between prosodic and musical abilities. The aim of the present study was to construct a test for prosodic non-linguistic perception and production regarding intonation and rhythm. The test was tried out on 16 children with typical language development aged 4;6-7;6 years. Before testing of ITAP each participant were asked about musical experience.

The aim of the study was to investigate the performance of postlingually deaf adults on parts of the swedish dysarthria test Dysartribedömningen, and to compare these results with a matched group consisting of normal hearing speakers without any known speech disorder. The group consisted of 17 participants ranging between 42-86 years of age. Participants were assessed focusing on articulation, Prosody, intelligibility and through a self-assessment of communicative participation. There was a statistically significant difference between groups on Prosody that manifested primarily as a slower speaking rate in the cochlear implant users. No significant differences between groups as to articulation, intelligibility or communicative participation could be found.

Prosody can be characterized as the rhythm and the melody of speech. Prosodic features convey emotions, thoughts and geographic origins of each individual. Spoken language without Prosody would be monotonous, without variations in loudness and rate. Children with cochlear implants perceive speech in a different way than children with normal hearing. Consequently the speech produced by a child with cochlear implants may sound different.The purpose of this study was to examine prosodic skills in Swedish children with cochlear implants and to compare them with the prosodic skills in Swedish children with normal hearing.

Prosody is the melody and rhythm of speech and language. Prosodic ability is of great importance for communication, and has been shown to be affected in adults with acquired brain injury. Studies have shown that Swedish children with specific language impairment have prosodic  difficulties to a greater extent than e.g. English speaking peers. It is thereby possible that prosodic ability is more vulnerable also in Swedish speaking adults with acquired brain injury.The aim of the present study was to assess prosodic ability in adults with acquired brain injury, and to evaluate the prosodic assessment procedure that was used.

Theory of mind involves the ability to take another person?s perspective in thought, emotions and intentions.  There is today a lack of instruments to assess children?s development of Theory of Mind (ToM) in Swedish. ToM is considered by many scientists to be the basis for development of pragmatic competence. The relationship between these two abilities is complex and not fully resolved. Both abilities are important components for the development of social skills.    The purpose of this study was to compare 4 and 5-year olds ToM-ability measured with a Swedish version of Wellman and Liu?s ToM-scale, Sally Anne and Social Emotional Test with estimated pragmatic competence measured with the Children?s Communication Checklist (CCC).

Writing has been the most important tool in knowledge organization KO. In our modern society we can use our speech as a technical tool to seek information. Can we apply speech as a tool to organize information? The aim of this masters thesis is to problemize speech aspects in the field of knowledge organization KO. The investigation has two main parts and I use a hermeneutic approach.

The aim of the study was to investigate how a significant other of threepersons with Parkinson?s disease experienced the communication in conversation. Astructured interview and analysis of a video recorded conversation was performed.The questions in the interview were aimed at mapping the significant others?experience of communicative problems, their frequency, degree and conversationstrategies used by a significant other in conversation. The result showed that thesignificant others? experienced problems in communication related to the disease inseveral different areas for two of three participants with Parkinson?s disease.

The purpose was to investigate how conversationalinteraction is pragmatically affected in Huntington?s disease; whetherthis can be assessed by means of a questionnaire completed by a closepartner and how the close partners consider communicative ability haschanged since the onset of illness. Three dyads, consisting of a personwith Huntington?s disease and a conversational partner were involved.Conversations were analyzed with respect to the parameters in thequestionnaire and through Activity Based Communication Analysis.The results showed word finding difficulties, impaired turn taking,feedback and body language, repair, articulation and Prosody.Agreement between communication analysis and the close partnerreport varied between 54-65 %. The close partners consideredcommunicative initiative, articulation, turn taking and sentenceintonation as much changed.

The aim of this paper was to investigate how 40 typical speakerswith Finnish accent, aged 65-84 years, performed in speech assessmentthrough Dysartribedömningen, a Swedish dysarthria assessment instrument.Their results were compared with results of a matched Swedish nativespeaking reference group. Both groups were assessed in areas offunction/structure, Prosody/intelligibility and through a survey oncommunication. Results indicated that the performances of the Finnishparticipant group were estimated as more deviant than the Swedish,considering all areas. The Finnish participants were deviant in articulationand they had a significantly lower speech rate in reading. They also hadsignificantly lower scores in intelligibility compared to the reference group.The results of the survey of communication showed that the Finnishparticipants estimated their levels of activity and participation to besignificantly more limited compared to the reference group.

Speech disorders are common in children with 22q11-deletion syndrome, but there is limited knowledge about speech in adults with this syndrome. The aim of this study is to describe speech and voice in adultswith 22q11-deletion syndrome, and compare the results with a control group.Ten adults between 19-49 years participated in each group. The study wasbased on the Swedish dysarthria assessment, Dysartribedömningen. Thetested abilities were respiration, phonation, oral motor function, velopharyngeal function, articulation, Prosody and intelligibility. Communicative participation was examined as well.

The purpose was to investigate how conversationalinteraction is pragmatically affected in Huntington?s disease; whetherthis can be assessed by means of a questionnaire completed by a closepartner and how the close partners consider communicative ability haschanged since the onset of illness. Three dyads, consisting of a personwith Huntington?s disease and a conversational partner were involved.Conversations were analyzed with respect to the parameters in thequestionnaire and through Activity Based Communication Analysis.The results showed word finding difficulties, impaired turn taking,feedback and body language, repair, articulation and Prosody.Agreement between communication analysis and the close partnerreport varied between 54-65 %. The close partners consideredcommunicative initiative, articulation, turn taking and sentenceintonation as much changed.

Ätstörningar är komplexa sjukdomar som kräver att behandlarna sätter sig in i individerna och vårdar dem individuellt utifrån varje patients egna förutsättningar. Då ätstörningspatienter ofta kännetecknas av att vara ambivalenta till behandling, behövs en god relation mellan behandlare och patienter. Syftet med studien var att få en ökad förståelse för hur behandlare inom ätstörningsvården för barn och ungdomar bemöter och tolkar sina patienter. Fokus har hela tiden legat på behandlarens åsikt om behandling och hur behandlaren själv upplever att denne behandlar patienterna. En kvalitativ enkätstudie har använts för att samla in information och svaren har analyserats ur ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv.

One of the largest work areas for speech and language pathologists is intervention for children with speech and language disorders. The purpose of the present study was to describe and analyze the clinical management of language impairment in children by studying and comparing medical records and literature from the years 2000 and 2009. The present study is a sequel to two previously published papers by Christina Samuelsson (1997; 1999), in which medical records and literature from the 1920-, 60- and 70?s were studied and a paper by Helén Sämfors (2001), in which the years 1985 and 1995 were studied. The medical records used in the present study came from a medical ward for speech and language pathology at a university hospital in Sweden. The results showed that significantly more children were referred to the clinic for speech and language problems in 2009 than in 2000, and more children were treated for their impairments.