Academic literature on the topic 'Swedish lessons'

This is a study that examines Swedish upper secondary school English teachers' attitudes toward notetaking and notetaking teaching during listening lessons to see how current English teachers implement notetaking teaching to help students store data while listening to information in English. The reason for the investigation is that teachers might assume that students already have the physical and cognitive abilities that are required to take notes and therefore just tell students to “take notes”. Since research shows that notetaking can be used in information-transmission situations to e.g., record and recall information but also to aid reflection, teaching in notetaking can help students better their results in school and it can be used in everyday life as well as in later careers. A questionnaire encountered data by five current teachers of English followed by semistructured interviews with four current teachers of English. The findings show that the majority of the participants have a positive attitude towards notetaking and notetaking teaching and believe it is important for students to take notes and know how to take notes during listening lessons. The result also shows that all the participating teachers teach students how to use different notetaking strategies like abbreviations, symbols, chants, and keywords and one teacher also teaches a notetaking method, Outline format, even though 60% only teaches notetaking sometimes. Additionally, teachers who read this essay can increase their awareness of notetaking and its benefits and reflect over how they can align their teaching with the subject syllabus for English by implementing notetaking teaching.

This study examines Swedish upper-secondary English teachers’ attitudes toward authentic materials in listening lessons in order to shed light on whether or not teachers implement authentic material in their listening lessons and if so, the reasons teachers give for including authentic material. The reason for conducting this research is that teachers might rely too extensively on simplified, graded and/or scripted purpose-written materials (i.e. textbooks) in their listening lessons. Since the listening material commonly found in purpose-written materials is different from the language in the “real world”, these materials might do a less than adequate job at preparing learners for conversations and interactions in the “real world” outside the language-learning classroom.Data were gathered through a researcher-developed questionnaire followed by interviews with two practicing teachers of English. The findings reveal that all of the participating teachers in this study (n=10) use authentic material in their listening lessons and that the primary reasons for including it are that teachers find authentic material more interesting and because teachers believe that authentic material can be better aligned with students’ interests, societal lives and future working lives. In addition, teachers reading this essay can increase their awareness of and reflect on why and how they themselves implement authentic materials in listening lessons, which in turn can assist teachers in aligning their teaching and their material choices with the subject syllabus for English better than they could without using authentic materials.

This report forms part of the research project “Sustainable Energy and Climate Strategies – development and potential”, which is financed by the Swedish Energy Agency’s Sustainable Municipality programme. In this research project, case studies of the processes to develop energy strategies in five municipalities were prepared. The five municipalities were participants in the Sustainable Municipality programme’s second phase, which began in 2008, and represent different types of municipality, in terms of geography and population. This report presents analysis of the five case studies, using a policy theoretical perspective to focus on issues including how problems and solutions are identified and formulated, which solutions are proposed, which actors are included or excluded from the process, and which local resources are used or not used in the process. The report reflects on the implications of increasing stakeholder cooperation in energy planning processes and using different types of organisational approaches during the development of energy and climate strategies. Each case study began with an inventory of publically-available documents shaping the context for energy and climate strategies in each municipality. These documents were compiled in time lines showing the documents or decisions influencing energy planning in each municipality. Subsequently, group interviews were held with participants in planning processes in each of the five municipalities. In addition, individual interviews took place with stakeholders who had been active in the processes. Interviews were recorded and then transcribed. The results from the document study and interviews were then compiled in a summary of each municipality’s energy planning process, forming the basis for the analysis in this report. The case studies highlight both similarities and differences with regard to the organisation of work to develop and introduce energy strategies. All municipalities established, at an early stage, internal organisations for the process and throughout the processes, the organisational form, participants and their role, and division of tasks and responsibilities were fairly clear. For example, all five municipalities made use of Steering Groups and Working Groups, although the extent of the roles which these groups played – and the background of their members - varied. Four municipalities had a Reference Group in which external stakeholders were represented. A number of other constellations, including thematic working groups, were present in some but not all municipalities. The municipalities also took different steps in their energy planning processes and identified different drivers stimulating their activities. Participants from one municipality considered the Sustainable Municipality programme as a pivotal moment in their strategic energy work, whereas others felt the programme did not significantly influence their approach or outputs. The report identifies a number of factors influencing the development and implementation of municipal energy strategies, as well as a strategy’s scope and content.<br>Hållbara Energi och klimatstrategier- lärdomar och potential

This thesis examines the state of reporting Lessons Learned in a Swedish company that operates globally and explores the areas of potential improvements through better classification and reporting of Lessons Learned from previous projects. Particularly, it explores which the most effective ways to capture and document Lessons Learned are as well as how a System that supports efficient storage, sharing and retrieval of Lessons Learned can be specified. The research is a case study in a Swedish company and is a mixed-model research as it uses both quantitative and qualitative data from primary sources. Indeed, the data collection was done via interviews, questionnaires, a focus group and the study of the company’s documents. The findings revealed some issues in the Lessons Learned methods used in the company, especially in documentation. Additionally, the need for a Lessons Learned System to manage the knowledge and experience from projects was also identified. The thesis concludes with explicit answers to the research questions and more specific with the suggestion of certain guidelines for the employees, a new template for reporting Lessons Learned and the specifications of a Lessons Learned System that can support efficient storage, sharing and retrieval of Lessons Learned.

The deregulation of the financial markets that started over two decades ago in the developed countries has led to increased house prices and loan to value ratios. Home owners in western countries have over the last two decades steadily decreased their savings and at the same time increased the size of their mortgages and the amount of leverage used to purchase their homes. This development has increased the financial risk for homeowners which recently became clear in the United States when prices on homes started to fall rapidly in 2007. Due to this development Finansinspektionen in Sweden has enforced new regulation on mortgage lending making it more expensive for home owners to use high leverage ratios. Finansinspektionen is responsible for consumer protection in terms of financial products and the new regulation aims to protect mortgage borrowers. Finansinspektionen suggests that an insurance that protects the borrower from loss could be used as an alternative to the regulation restricting the amount of leverage. Finansinspektionen also mentions the Canadian mortgage market as an example where compulsory mortgage insurances are enforced today. In Canada the borrower must take out a mortgage insurance when the mortgage exceeds 80 percent of the house value. However, we find that the Canadian mortgage insurance system would not fulfil the aim of Finansinspektionen’s regulation. The Canadian mortgage insurances are constructed to protect the lender against default and there purpose was initially to increase lending. When examining the basic structure of mortgage and home value insurance products we find that such products and systems are complicated to construct to match the Finansinspektionen requirements and purpose due to issues such as moral hazard, adverse selection, price, willingness to pay and systemic risk.

Abstract: The forest industry plays a key role in global economic development and environmental conservation. The Swedish forest industry has a leading position in world forest clusters. The strategy of the Swedish forest industry is giving the environmental and the production objective the same high priority. On the other hand, China, as the second largest economy in the world, operates the forest sector in a different way. The aim of this paper is first to look at how sustainable the Swedish forest industry is and learn what aspects of it can be possibly applied by China, by making a limited comparison between these two countries. Literature review is the main method, combining with SWOT-analysis and comparative study. After analyzing the environmental economic and social aspects of sustainable development within the forestry sector in both countries, a brief summary is made using SWOT-analysis, which highlights strength, weakness, future potential and threat. The study and analysis shows that a delicate balance between the production and the environmental objective is kept in Sweden. Even though the forest industry is one of the most energy intensive industries, Sweden has accumulated some experience in streamlining production line and enhancing the resilience of forests aiming for climate change mitigation. As the biggest developing country in the world, China’s forestry has developed extensively. China shows limitation in extraction and handling with forest resources, but also potential in the forestry industry. Though limited, this comparison gives some clues on how and what policies and measures could be applied in China. China could draw some experiences from Sweden in forestry development, technology innovation and operation patterns.

The global emission of greenhouse gases is perceived as one of the most prominent threats to the world today and a socio-technological transformation (STT) of the energy industry is considered essential for long term sustainability. Organisations’ decisions to participate in the diffusion of electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES-E) are deemed essential for achieving the transformation. Governments have therefore introduced support systems promoting RES-E, and since 2003 a radable green certificate (TGC) system has been used to support increased diffusion. However, there are a number of uncertainties regarding investments in onshore wind power which may, or may not demotivate investors to take further part in the diffusion of the technology. Understanding the magnitude and impact of uncertainties is of interest as they can act as barriers for achieving STT. This thesis contributes to the understanding of uncertainties in the Swedish-Norwegian TGC system by exploring two groups of uncertainties; technology uncertainty and volume uncertainty. Evaluation of the technology and volume uncertainty in the Swedish-Norwegian TGC system has been performed by statistically investigating the relationship between technological development of onshore wind power and the certificate price, as well as the accumulated surplus of certificates and the certificate price. The surplus of certificates accumulated on the Swedish-Norwegian TGC market has also been tracked to its source of origin. In addition, the financial results of previous onshore wind power investments have been estimated. The results have been validated by interviews with Swedish wind power investors. The results indicate that both the technology development of onshore wind power in Sweden and the accumulated surplus on the market have impacted the price of certificates, and thus also the profitability of investors in the system. The technology development of onshore wind power has been difficult to forecast, resulting in a considerable technology uncertainty perceived by investors. Regarding volume uncertainty, of the total accumulated surplus of certificates at the end of 2014, 70 % can be derived from forecast errors of quota obliged electricity production by the Swedish Energy Agency. In addition, there is a possible relationship between lower costs of onshore wind power and the accumulated surplus of certificates on the Swedish-Norwegian TGC market. The major implication of these uncertainties is that previous investors choose to delay or refrain from further onshore wind power investments. If actors choose not to participate in further diffusion of the technology, this could potentially harm the STT of the energy industry in Sweden. Introduction of long term contracts, more frequent quota adjustments and a record of RES-E investment decisions could potentially reduce the uncertainties perceived by investors.<br>De globala utsläppen av växthusgaser anses av många vara samtidens stora utmaning och en socioteknisk omställning av energisektorn framhålls som en nödvändighet för en hållbar framtidsutveckling. Elproducenters deltagande i utbyggnad och utveckling av förnyelsebar elproduktion förespråkas som en viktig del av denna omställning. I led med den politiska agendan har flertalet stödsystem utvecklats vars mål är att stödja utbyggnaden av förnyelsebar elproduktion. I Sverige introducerades 2003 ett stödsystem med gröna elcertifikat vars mål är att främja utbyggnaden av förnyelsebar elproduktion i landet. Stödsystemet till trots är investeringar i landbaserad vindkraft i Sverige fortfarande  associerat med stor osäkerhet i form av teknologins och marknadens framtida utveckling. Dessa osäkerheter kan hämma fortsatt utbredning av förnyelsebar elproduktion vilket kan leda till fördröjning eller stagnation av den nödvändiga omställningen mot en hållbar energisektor. Denna examensuppsats bidrar med kunskap kring de osäkerheter som råder inom det svensk-norska certifikatsystemet genom att undersöka två huvudsakliga osäkerheter; teknikutveckling samt överskott av certifikat på marknaden. Osäkerheten kring teknologins utveckling har undersökts genom att statistiskt utforska ett möjligt samband mellan teknologins kostnadsutveckling och marknadspriset av elcertifikat. Volymosäkerheten på marknaden har undersökts på ett liknande sätt där ett möjligt samband mellan överskottet av elcertifikat och marknadspriset av elcertifikat har utforskats statistiskt. Vilka faktorer som bidrar till överskottet av elcertifikat på markanden och från vilka källor dagens ackumulerade överskott härstammar har identifierats. Vidare har lönsamheten för tidigare investeringar i landbaserad vindkraft i Sverige uppskattats och analyserats. Resultaten antyder att såväl teknikutveckling som överskott av elcertifikat har haft en  etydande påverkan på marknadspriset av elcertifikat. Detta har i sin tur påverkat lönsamheten för investerare i systemet. Teknikutvecklingen har varit svår att förutse vilket resulterat i att investerare upplever stor osäkerhet kring framtida lönsamhet. Vidare visar resultaten att 70 % av det totala överskottet av elcertifikat på marknaden vid slutet av 2014 har sitt ursprung i Energimyndighetens felaktiga prognoser av kvotpliktig elanvändning. Det är även troligt att det finns ett samband mellan teknikutvecklingen och det överskott av elcertifikat på som genererats på marknaden. Innebörden av de två analyserade osäkerheterna är att investerare potentiellt fördröjer eller helt avstår från fortsatta  investeringar. Detta är problematiskt då det kan hämma utbredningen av förnyelsebar  lproduktion och verka som ett hinder för omställningen mot en mer hållbar energisektor i Sverige. Genom att introducera långtidskontrakt för handel med elcertifikat, mer frekventa kvotjusteringar samt etablera ett register över investeringsbeslut kan den osäkerhet som investerare i systemet upplever idag minskas.

On the 15th of March 2019, more than 1.6 million students have protested in 125 countries against the climate change effects, as part of the Fridays for Future movement. The manifestations represented the biggest day of global climate action ever taken, according to media outlets. At the core of this movement stands Greta Thunberg, a Swedish 16-year old climate activist and a Nobel Prize nominee, whose actions and speeches serve as inspiration for both students and adults.  With a focus on environmental communication and climate activism, this research aims to find how the teenager addressed climate change topics and how she succeeded in conveying her ideas to audiences. It discusses how the rhetoric was constructed within her speeches, and which of the argumentative elements gave Greta Thunberg the ability to convince the public. The study combines frame and rhetoric analysis with a focus on the text of the speeches that Greta Thunberg delivered in three major international events. The purpose is to observe and understand the nature of Greta Thunberg’s activism by analyzing how the high school student used the linguistic tools and tactics in her public speeches, and to explore a few theories within the text: the issue framing of the climate crisis; the argumentative and discursive techniques that helped her to gain media and public attention.  The thesis concludes that the evolution of Greta Thunberg’s climate activism, from ‘no attention’ to global reputation, is based on grassroots activism, particular personality features, and efficient use of rhetoric devices combined with moral purpose argumentation.<br><p><strong>Acknowledgements</strong></p><p>I take the opportunity to thank my Master thesis supervisor professor Paola Sartoretto, from Stockholm University, for the valuable professional support that she offered. Additionally, I thank professor Mia Verhoeff Friman from Jönköping University, for her useful remarks and input during this 2-year Master’s Program.</p><p>Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude for all the encouragement I received in my efforts to attend this program and to address special thanks to my mother Otilia for her continuous guidance and love, for always believing in me, and for being my role model as a mother, woman, teacher, and respected professional.</p>