AbstractThe purpose of this paper was to examine preschool teacher?s thoughts about using Manual Signs as Alternative and Augmentative Communication as an aid for children in/with communication disabilities. The method I?ve used in the survey is qualitative interview.The three interviewed preschool teachers use Manual Signs foremost for those children who have a poorly developed spoken language. Manual Signs are used as a complement to the spoken language and the preschool teachers use it to increase the children?s power of concentration.

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to examine if manual signs used as support to spoken and written language can be a god mnemonic for learning of word-pictures. I performed my study as an experiment in which I made a Memory game with word-pictures. I played the game with the children twice. The first time, we played without manual signs and the second time I used sign as a support. I observed the children and noted the words they learned to read with and without the support of manual signs.

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to examine if manual signs used as support to spoken and written language can be a god mnemonic for learning of word-pictures. I performed my study as an experiment in which I made a Memory game with word-pictures. I played the game with the children twice. The first time, we played without manual signs and the second time I used sign as a support. I observed the children and noted the words they learned to read with and without the support of manual signs.

This thesis explores how verbal and nonverbal signs communicate attitudes and the rhetorical functions of such attitudinal signs. Attitudes are regarded as rationalized evaluations of attitudinal objects, and through their manifestation in signs an attitudinal gestalt is communicated. This gestalt is regarded as the audiences perception of the rhetors attitude. It is shown that the attitudinal signs function as ethical, logical and pathetic proofs and that they can create identification between the audience and the rhetor. The signs can have effects on the audiences perception of the attitudinal objects, their perception of the rhetor and influence the social dynamic of the discourse.

Floor signs in stores have become a more common phenomenon during past years. The problem is that the knowledge about these signs is limited and the actual effects are unknown. This lack of knowledge can have a negative impact on store performance and marketing efforts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of floor signs on consumer attitude and behaviour. The study was conducted in two grocery stores, where the movement pattern of 39 501 customers was recorded over a four week period.

The purpose of this study is to see how preschool teachers are working with supportive signs and if it is a working tool for children's language development. Is the supportive signing just for kids with special need for support or can it be good for all children?I've done the study by interviewing preschool teachers that is working with supportive signs in preschool. I also had a questionnaire for parents that yielded less fruitful results. I have chosen to use children's language and constructivist and socio-cultural theories.What I came up with is that the supportive signs are very helpful in preschools, but it requires a lot from the one doing it.

The aim of this study is to examine how zodiac signs are depicted through social interactions from an identity perspective and if zodiac signs can be seen as a form of divination. Our method was based on the answers of seven informants (six interviews in total), all of whom were interested in astrology with two of the informants having the title of astrologer by profession. After the implementation of Erving Goffman?s dramaturgical theory regarding identity and Jesper Fr?kj?r S?rensen?s divinatory perspective, we found evidence in the orrelation between zodiac signs and identity, along with astrology having little to no correlation with divination. The results show that although the majority of the informants were hesitant to the assertion that astrology can provide divinatory evidence, many of them still consumed and followed astrological advice based on prognosis.

Manual signs are an augmentative and alternative communication mode which enables and facilitates communication for persons with impairments in speech, language and hearing. There are different ways of teaching signs to persons with intellectual disabilities. One of them is milieu teaching, which is a method where the teaching takes place in natural settings. This method has proven to give good results in generalization and maintenance. Teaching signs to staff in groups has been shown to be effective.

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine and understand how teachers see and handle the signs of child poverty within a classroom context. The paper is based on an interview study involving 8 teachers in 2 Swedish schools for children between the ages of 6 to 12 years old. Poverty is a complex word and there are many definitions of it. What do teachers interpret as signs of child poverty in the school context? How do they act when they think it?s necessary to protect a child from being affected by it, and how can we understand their choice of action with the help of action theory? We discovered that the teachers notice different things as signs of child poverty, and they all react in both different and similar ways.

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine and understand how teachers see and handle the signs of child poverty within a classroom context. The paper is based on an interview study involving 8 teachers in 2 Swedish schools for children between the ages of 6 to 12 years old. Poverty is a complex word and there are many definitions of it. What do teachers interpret as signs of child poverty in the school context? How do they act when they think it?s necessary to protect a child from being affected by it, and how can we understand their choice of action with the help of action theory? We discovered that the teachers notice different things as signs of child poverty, and they all react in both different and similar ways.

In printed text, sound is a somewhat forgotten aspect. The recitation of text is vital in areas like poetry and oratory, but still has no distinct technique of being communicated. Emphasis of a word might be expressed through italics, but no canonic character set or system for vocal delivery of texts exists. With this essay we are creating a foundation for a development of such a character set or system. By studying existing visualisations of sound and comparing these with semiotic and perception-based theories we obtain useful insights for a prospective system for visualisations of vocal sounds.We conclude that the aspects of sound one wants to visualise must be carefully defined since the viewer cannot process infinite amounts of information.

This essay sets out to compare political participation in two e-petition systems: The Malmö initiative in Malmö, Sweden, and Better Reykjavik in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main question of the essay concerns the aggregative and deliberative qualities of the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik, as well as the relationship between aggregation and deliberation. This main question is divided into four subqueries that lead the empirical analysis. These are: (1) Which similarities and differences in terms of design are there between the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik? (2) To what extent have these systems mobilized an aggregative political participation? (3) What similarities and differences are there concerning aspects of deliberation? and (4) What is the correlation between aggregation and deliberation like in the two e-petition systems?The method in use is a comparative cross-sectional study with a 'most similar research design'.

This Master Thesis has its basis in a political decision made by Centerpartiet. The primary goal of the decision was to construct a new government agency, with the power to decide over all areas concerning social insurance. To be able to do this safely, by a merge of two different agencies, the thesis looks at different earlier merges for signs. First of all two agencies, Swedish Tax-agency and Swedish Prison and Probation Service, are studied because they are considered succeful in their earlier merges. Two main signs are that it took a long while and that the organisations worked with similar things before the merge.

One of the aims of this report has been to make an inventory of the building trade market to see which document handling systems that are available. The secondary aim was to document the users´ demands on the systems and other demands such as quality assurance. After this, the document handling systems Byggnet and Lotus Notes, which are rather complex systems, have been analysed. Finally a recommendation has been made. In the inventory of the marketthe internet has been used because it is there the latest information can be found.

In Peru guinea pigs are raised for meat production and salmonellosis is considered as a major problem. Studies have detected salmonella in animals with enteritis and pneumonia. Salmonellosis exists both in an acute and a chronic form. In the rural areas the diagnosis is made according to clinical signs and macro pathological findings at autopsy. The major systems applied for the guinea pig production are often classified as family, family-commercial and commercial. These systems differ in number of animals and how industrialised they are.