Swedish students' knowledge of both mathematics and reading comprehension has deteriorated in recent years. Scientists are discussing whether there is a connection between these areas and that the pupils deteriorating math skills may have something to do with their increasingly lower results in terms of reading comprehension. To investigate this possible connection, I conducted a survey among students in ninth grade and have come to the conclusion that the scientists are right: this connection absolutely exist. Students who received a high score on tasks designed to test students' mathematical problem-solving skills, also received high results on the reading comprehension test. And students who received a poor performance on the problem-solving tasks, were also low performers in the reading comprehension test.

This thesis investigates young people´s (16-21) preferences in reading through a survey including interviews and questionnaires. The groups attitudes towards reading and libraries, their reading and library habits, and to what extent eight libraries had bought the preferred literature were also examined. Some reports from the 80´s were used to find the changes. The result shows that youngsters read and visit libraries somewhat more frequently. Trivial literature is not as dominant, more teenage-books were read.

AbstractThis study is based on my work as a secondary school teacher of literature and the Swedish language and rooted in my interest in developing knowledge about the importance of teaching literature in order to both cultivate young people?s reading habits and their view of themselves as readers. The more concrete purpose of this study is to examine a reading project that focuses on theories of literary perception and teaching literature.I examine four pupils who, in 2003, participated in the reading project as readers and compare this description with their view of themselves as readers seven years later. I complete the study by examining how they discuss reading and the teaching of literature. The method is qualitative and the empirics include materiel collected in two different time periods: first in 2003, in a class I taught in a secondary school; and second in 2010, when I examined four of the former pupils who participated in the project from 2003.

The aim has been to investigate and describe how gender-neutral design, concerning typefaces and colours, can be created. Based on my results I?ve designed a cover for a recipe-book to make it appealing to both women and men. I have been doing my research based on questions such as; Does feminine and masculine design, concerning typefaces and colours exist? And if so what characterizes it? Does gender-neutral design, concerning typefaces and colours exist? And if so what characterizes it? Is it possible to design a cover for a recipe-book in a gender-neutral way, concerning typefaces and colours? The first part of my research consists of a literature study based on keywords such as gender, graphic design, gender theory, typeface, androgynous, visual communication, colour, shape, feminine, masculine, and book design.

This Master?s thesis is connected to an interdisciplinary field between humanities and health care; ?humanistic medicine? or ?humanistic nursing?. The object of the investigation is nursing students? experiences of reading fiction and autobiographies as course literature. In semi-structured interviews a group of students talk about their reading.

This thesis aims to study how teachers develop pupils' motivation to read. Using qualitative interviews, three Swedish middle school teachers describe their experiences regarding pupils' motivation to read. They comment on how they attempt to stimulate motivation and the conditions and circumstances they experience while carrying out their work. As a basis for the teacher interviews, their pupils completed a web based survey about how they value reading as an activity and how they see themselves as readers. An analysis of the interviews raises several issues for discussion: pupils have different needs, good readers are described through their abilities, not through their experiences or reading habits, and teachers feel they can be limited to implement the teaching they think is necessary to promote reading abilities.

To be able to read and write is necessary to manage well in life. It is important to get a good start in one´s reading and writing development. My purpose in this study was to find out how to teach children to read and write. Obtain knowledge about how to best help children during the early years of reading and writing development, and what is required to teach good reading and writing skills.I wanted to find out how the pedagogues work in the schools, and if they use ant special methods in their teaching. This is something that I, as a future pedagogue didn´t have much knowledge about, which is very important for my future pupils.My research method was qualitative where I interviewed three pedagogues who work whit teaching reading and writing in the early years.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reading methods that pedagogues, active in classes 1-3, use in the first stage of learning to read and how they consider their own choices of methods. In the theoretical background I sort out the basic differences between synthetic and analytic methods of acquiring the skills of reading. The analytic reading method means that the skills of reading starts with the complete text in order to later analyze the parts of the text. The synthetic method approach is based on a reading method where the parts are linked as a whole. The two methods are considered antipodes but can also be looked upon as complements in the current governing documents.

Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties and Their Language and Cognitive AbilitiesA Comparison with Children with a Cochlear ImplantAbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the cognitive abilities that are important for reading in children with reading disabilities, children with a cochlear implantation and typically developed children. 64 children aged 10-12 years participated in the study. To answer the question at issue we used the following tests: Block Design from WISC III, PPVT III, TOWRE, SL 40 and a few chosen tests out of the SIPS battery. On tests of the lexical access children with reading disabilities performed at the same level as hearing children, while the children with a cochlear implant performed significantly lower. Test of the phonological and complex working memory showed that children with reading disabilities performed significantly higher than children with a cochlear implant, but at the same time lower than typically developed children on the test of phonological working memory.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to investigate if the reading habits of teacher students are influenced by merit and descent. The empiric material consists of six questionnaires answered by students at the teacher training with Swedish at the upper secondary school as their first topic. The questionnaire comprised questions about reading habits in the childhood and today and information concerning merits and descent.Pierre Bourdieu?s sociological ideas about cultural capital transmitted from parent to child and the concept of habitus are used as a theoretical framework regarding descent.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to find out how a number ofhospital librarians look at child and youth patients' reading and itspossible role in a mental and physical healing process. We alsoinvestigate the knowledge, strategies and thoughts the librarianshave on bibliotherapy.Qualitative interviews have been used and seven librarians, at twodifferent hospital libraries with children's and youth activities, wereinterviewed during November and December 2011. The analysis isbased on one theory; we use Sten Furhammar?s model whichincludes four different categories of reading.We can see, according to the librarians? answers, that the mostcommon function of the patients? reading can be explained throughtwo of Furhammar?s categories. Our respondents believe that thepatients mostly read to relax from heavy thoughts and situationswhich can be connected to the category impersonal experiencereading.

The main objective of this research was to examine description of Islam in two different schoolbooks about religion. The rapport starts with an introduction of the subject and discusses the background of the topic. After the presentation, aims, and the questions I present my methods and material used in this research. Following the method and material is earlier research where I mention some of the previous rapports and results of researchers within the discourse. The theory used to investigate the text is postcolonial and the orientalism theory presented by Edward Said.The intention of the research was to answer if the books representation contributed to an oriental description of Islam and Muslims and to see how the text and pictures where used and structured.

This master's thesis deals with the interest in comics among students at the social science programme in an upper secondary school. The history of comics and the reading habits of comics have also been examined. For the completion of this study 54 students, 19 boys and 35 girls, took part in a questionnaire. The results of this statistical survey shows that the department of comics at Malmö city public library plays an insignificant role concerning the interest and reading of comics for the students. The main readings of comics for the students are in the daily paper, which resembles reading habits of adults.

This study is about fourteen-year-old boys, who are not interested in reading. It deals with what thoughts and feelings some boys have around books, reading and libraries. Further the study investigates the boys' leisure activities and their making of identities. The study is built on interviews among twelve boys in a secondary school. The result is compared to earlier reports and research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers choose to work with the teaching of reading and writing skills, how teachers justify their choice of teaching method and how the documentation of student development is being used. This paper also discusses the definition of reading and writing, phonological awareness and how different reading- and writing educational methods can be combined. The gathering of information has been done through a literature review in which I have looked at past research on reading and writing. I have also conducted qualitative interviews with teachers involved in literacy learning. The result of my research shows that it is not possible to determine which literacy learning methods that are most effective.