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Aims. The goal of the research is to open the differences between Swedish speaking and Finnish speaking kindergartengroups and their quality. The aim of the study is to find out whether there are differences in Swedish speaking and Finnish speaking kindergarten groups. Previous studies have shown that learning environments affect on the child's motivation, the way the child commits to the task and the child's performance. The quality of the classroom environment also affects on the child's well-being and development. Data and methods. A quantitative study consisted of Swedish speaking kindergarten groups (N=48) and Finnish speaking kindergarten groups (N=38). The survey consisted of respondents from Finland (N=86). The analysis was done with the SPSS-software and included examination of t-tests. The results were compared between language groups. The results and discussion. The learning environments were of better quality in Finnish speaking kindergartens. The arrangements of the environment had more quality in Finnish speaking kindergartens. The differences between Finnish speaking and Swedish speaking kindergartens were statistically significant (p<.03). Differences between Finnish speaking and Swedish speaking kindergartens were statistically significant (p<.00) in activity and transitions. Finnish speaking kindergartens also had better quality in classroom activities (p<.00). Finnish speaking kindergartens exceeded the Swedish speaking kindergartens in instructing the child's behavior (p<.00). The early childhood care takers ways to plan the work was also of better quality in Finnish speaking kindergartens as opposed to Swedish speaking kindergartens. The results were statistically significant (p<.04) The need of more research is obvious, because of the lack of studies about Swedish speaking early childhood education. The results also raised some ideas for further study, for example a study about the administrative differences between Finnish speaking and Swedish speaking early childhood education.

Tässä pro gradu -työssä tarkastellaan nuorisotyöttömyyttä koskevaa kirjoittelua kahdessa ruotsalaisessa sanomalehdessä vuoden 2011 alusta vuoden 2012 kesäkuuhun asti. Ruotsin talous on yksi Euroopan vahvimmista, mutta silti nuorisotyöttömyys on siellä erittäin vakava ongelma. Nuorisotyöttömyys on erittäin haitallista sekä yhteiskunnalle että yksilölle, ja aiheen vakavuus nousi usein keskustelussa esiin. Työn aineistona on 97 artikkelia kahdesta ruotsalaisesta sanomalehdestä, Dagens Nyheteristä sekä Svenska Dagbladetista puolentoista vuoden ajalta. Molemmilla sanomalehdillä on tärkeä asema ruotsalaisessa mediassa, ja nuorisotyöttömyydestä kirjoitettiin molemmissa lehdissä usein. Tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitä nuorisotyöttömyydestä kirjoitetaan, minkälaisia ratkaisukeinoja siihen esitetään ja miten eri poliittisten toimijoiden ratkaisut eroavat toisistaan. Sisällönanalyysia käyttämällä työssä oli tarkoitus selvittää, minkälaisia teemoja ruotsalaisessa keskustelussa nousee esiin nuorisotyöttömyydestä keskusteltaessa. Diskurssianalyysilla teksteistä etsittiin esiin nousevia diskursseja. Päätuloksina löytyi neljä diskurssia, jotka hallitsevat ruotsalaisesta keskustelua. Ruotsissa nuorisotyöttömyys nähdään yhteiskunnan epäonnistumisena, eikä yksilöä syytetä hänen työttömyydestään. Samalla yhteiskunnassa on erittäin vahva usko koulutuksen voimaan. Ratkaisukeinot vaihtelivat keinoiltaan suuresti. Nuorten alkupalkkoja vaadittiin alas ja valtiolta vaadittiin nopeita ja tehokkaita ratkaisuja nuorisotyöttömyyttä kohtaan. Ehdotetuista ratkaisukeinoista löytyi selvä poliittinen aspekti, sillä oikeiston ja vasemmiston keinot erosivat toisistaan selvästi. Lisäksi selvisi, että Ruotsissa korkea nuorisotyöttömyys on osaksi vain tilastoharhaa, koska mittaustavan takia myös osa opiskelijoista lasketaan työttömäksi. Nuorisotyöttömyys on vaarallista sekä yhteiskunnalle että yksilölle. Taloudellinen tilanne ja toimimattomat työmarkkinat vaikeuttavat nuorisotyöttömyyden vastaista taistelua koko Euroopassa.

Aphasia is a language disorder acquired after language learning, usually caused by a cerebrovascular accident or a stroke. The severity and type of aphasia symptoms vary individually. Naming difficulties are one of the most common and long-lasting symptoms of aphasia. Self-corrections of one's own speech are a significant part of successful interaction, and they indicate the ability to monitor speech. Aphasia symptoms may impair the ability to monitor. The aim of this master's thesis is to examine the self-repairs of participants with varying degrees of aphasia in naming tasks. The aim of the thesis is to examine the quantity, quality and success of self-corrections. The aim of the thesis is also to examine the not-corrected errors of research subjects in naming tasks. The thesis was carried out as a multi-case study. Four participants with different degrees of aphasic symptoms were selected from the existing material of the Opi Sanoja research project. The participants were selected based on their aphasia quotient determined by the WAB test. The material consisted of audio recordings of the performance of the participants in the Boston naming test, and the naming section of the research project's word learning assignment during two different research visits. Notations were formed from the data using ELAN software. The number of self-corrections and the self- correction elements used, as well as the uncorrected errors of the subjects were analysed and categorised. The data was analysed at individual level. The self-repair elements used, as well as the number of self-repair initiatives, varied between the study participants. The most commonly used self-correction element in the entire data was the interruption of the expression, most often followed by the repetition or rephrasing of a word or syllable. All subjects made successful self-corrections in the Boston naming test. Successful corrections were corrections that improved the phrase closer to the target word. In the naming section of the word learning task, two out of four participants made successful self-correction initiatives. In this study, the amounts of not-corrected errors of the participants were in the same order in both tasks. The participant with the most severe aphasia made the most not-corrected errors and the participant with the least severe aphasia made the least. Due to the small number of participants (N = 4), the generalizability of the results is weak. However, in this data, regardless of the severity of aphasia, the participants tended to correct their own expression at least when naming familiar objects, in which case the ability to monitor speech is at least partially preserved. The severity of aphasia also seems to be related to the preservation of speech monitoring ability when examining uncorrected errors.

Is there a Lockean separation of church and state in contemporary Russia? The answer to this question has, for a long time, been yes, at least on paper. However recent amendments to the Russian secular constitution now include a mention of Russia’s belief in God. This is not the only piece of legislation in Russia that has adopted religious rhetoric. In fact, after a few decades of a complicated relationship, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Russian state have increased their cooperation. Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have declared that Russian Orthodox values, are part of the newly promoted Russian identity. This acceptance of conservative Orthodox values as part of the Russian identity, has had its influence on Russian legislation and thus Russian society. Examples of this are restrictions on abortion, the ban on ‘homosexual propaganda’, the importance of the family and traditional gender role in society etc. This has an influence on the status of the Lockean separation of church and state in Russia. Lockean because this thesis utilizes John Locke’s theory of tolerance, slightly adapted to the modern context, to analyse the status of the separation of church and state in contemporary Russia. A secular state is defined here as a state with not just a separation of institutions, but also one with freedom of conscience based on the idea of tolerance. This policy of tolerance entails that a government 1) cannot deprive any citizen of their civil rights based on their values, 2) they cannot prosecute a citizen based on their values and 3) a government cannot impose a certain belief system on their citizens directly or indirectly. These three criteria form the theoretical framework of this thesis. The case materials of this thesis include the Bases of the Social Concept by the ROC to analyse what values they promote, speeches by Putin that outline foreign and domestic policy to show that the Russian government also promotes Orthodox values, and Russian federal legislation regarding family values to analyse the effect of the values of the ROC on Russian legislation. After studying federal legislation affected by the adoption of Orthodox values this thesis concludes that although criteria 1) and 3) are violated to some extent, there is not enough proof that criteria 2) is affected. Discourse in Russian legislation has gotten more religious, but in practice this religious influence has not led to Russian citizens being prosecuted for things like getting an abortion or falling in love with someone of the same sex. However, an increased cooperation between church and state has led to the dilution of the separation between the religious and the secular, and the Russian government has started using the conservative values of the church as a political tool to suppress those who think differently or are critical of the government.

This paper discusses how narratives of Russian nationalism intersect with great power identity in modern Russia in the hopes of illustrating how these concepts are instrumentalized in politics. Russian national identity is a particularly fertile ground for this kind of research due to Russia's complex relationship with its imperial and Soviet pasts as well as its fall from a position as one of the world’s two superpowers. Thoughtful analysis of Russia’s national identity in modern times as well as its ambitions to pursue great power status are critical for understanding certain political trends and perspectives, especially in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. To answer questions about how the ideas of great power identity and nationalism relate, this paper employs a theoretical framework based on social constructionism, which allows for the analysis of nationalism and national identity through a narrative lens. This analysis primarily draws on the work of Benedict Anderson, but it also utilizes the works of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s as well as Michael Billig. This method of analysis shows how great power identity is used by Russian politicians, especially Vladimir Putin, to both reinforce their own status and promote a narrative of Russian supremacy. By examining how this narrative operates at both a conceptual and practical level, this paper finds that a desire to restore great power status in modern Russia can serve as both a useful tool for political actors and a constraint on their actions. Both the legacy of the Great Patriotic War and present narratives surrounding Ukraine effectively exemplify this argument. This paper’s analysis helps to explain how narratives of great power status both incentivize and justify Russian aggression towards Ukraine, which helps to deepen the understanding of the conflict and its links to Russian national identity, though the concrete predictions of the future remain beyond reach. Any path toward the reestablishment or perpetuation of great power status is sure to be a thorny one, which Russia is a prime example of. This paper endeavors to explain how Russia continues to walk that path and why such an ambition remains appealing and useful despite its terrible cost.

During the process of integration into Finnish classrooms, immigrant children and adolescents receive extra support with the official languages of the country, in order to have equal opportunities with their peers whose native language is Finnish or Swedish. Concerning other school subjects, they attend the same number of hours as their Finnish peers for the same purpose of obtaining equal opportunities. Due to historical and cultural reasons Russian-speaking adolescent immigrants, who represent a significant part of people with foreign backgrounds relocating to Finland, have a lower mastery of English than their Finnish peers. For the latter English is not only a school subject but also a highly appreciated means of informal communication. This study aims to collect the opinions of Russian-speaking adolescent new immigrants about their attitudes towards English both as a school subject and as a means of peer communication, to determine the connection between the participants’ level of English and their immediate environment, and to find dependence between their self-perception as English speakers and their general feeling of inclusion into peer groups. The study was based on the questionnaire responses of 24 Russian-speaking adolescents aged 12-17 who immigrated to Finland between 2017-2021. The data were quantitative and were collected via polar, multiple-choice, and Likert scale questions. The results of the study showed that over a third of the participants estimated their English skills as insufficient or non-existing. A strong connection was found between the participants’ evaluation of their English skills, their parents’ English skills, and with availability of books in English or movies without dubbing at home. None of the participants reported receiving supplementary English lessons at school on a permanent basis, and only few of them were given extra help from time to time. The participants’ academic achievements coincided with their degree of ability to communicate in English with their peers in informal situations. All the participants with an unsatisfactory level of English reported sensing discomfort when their peers used English, with almost one-third feeling excluded from communication, with 80% of the participants with unsatisfying English skills assuming they would have more Finnish-speaking friends had they spoken English fluently.

In February 2022, Russia started the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Russian media claim that “denazification” of Ukraine is one of the invasion’s main goals. Russia seems to have a strategy of justifying the invasion of Ukraine by using denazification propaganda against Ukraine and the West and labelling other nations that do not support their invasion as Nazis or Nazi sympathizers. The goal of the research is to examine, how Russia’s state-owned media uses propaganda about Nazism to justify the invasion of Ukraine to foreign audiences. Research’s theoretical framework draws from propaganda studies and post-foundational discourse theory. This research’s data consists of 141 news articles publish by Russia Today and Sputniks News between February 24th and August 31st, 2022. Both media outlets are owned by the state of Russia and are known as distributors of pro-Russia propaganda. Research’s method on analysis is post-foundational discourse analysis, that draws from Ernesto Laclau’s and partially Chantal Mouffe’s post-foundational discourse theory. The results show that Russia’s state-owned media uses propaganda about Nazism to justify the invasion of Ukraine to foreign audiences by contesting the meanings of Western understanding of Nazism. Russia’s state-owned media attempts to dominate the Western discoursive field by claiming that Ukraine has a long history of Nazism, and it is still run by them, the West is morally degraded like how the Nazis were, Ukraine and Western nations are manipulating history, and that Ukraine and the West support violence and discrimination against minorities in a way Nazis did. By trying to dominate the discoursive field, Russian media attempts to fix meanings to Nazism that are not equivalential with the common Western understanding of Nazism and engages in hegemonic struggle with the Western established meanings. The results indicate that contesting the foundations of Western understanding of Nazism operates as a powerful propaganda tool for Russia in its attempts to change the public opinion in its favour. The research concludes that ungrounding foundations of different concepts and ideologies can be used as a propaganda tactic to further influence the opinions of targeted audiences by challenging the hegemonic meanings of a given concept. In addition, it is suggested that by strengthening the foundations of concepts or ideologies that are, or can be, under attack by different propagandists might be an efficient way to increase resilience against such propaganda.

Vuodesta 2016 lähtien monissa länsimaissa on käyty vilkasta yhteiskunnallista keskustelua Venäjän valtion vaalivaikuttamisesta. Venäjän valtioon kytkeytyviä tahojen on usein nähty pyrkineen vaikuttamaan vaalien lopputuloksiin. Yksi Venäjän vaikuttamispyrkimysten pääkohteista on vaikuttanut olevan Yhdysvaltain presidentinvaalit. Venäjä onkin asettautunut vahvaan vastakkainasetteluun Yhdysvaltojen kanssa ulkopoliittisissa asiakirjoissaan ja retoriikassaan jo noin 16 vuoden ajan. Näitä taustoja vasten tämän maisterintutkielman tavoitteena on osallistua tutkimuksen keinoin keskusteluun vaalivaikuttamisesta Yhdysvaltain vuoden 2020 presidentinvaaleissa. Julkisuusdiplomatia ja ulkomaille suuntautuva propaganda ovat usean tutkimuksen mukaan Venäjän ulkopolitiikan työkaluja, joilla Venäjä pyrkii vaikuttamaan toisiin valtioihin varsinkin niiden kansalaisten kautta. Tutkielman aineiston lähde Russia Today (RT) on yksi merkittävin Venäjän valtioon kytkeytyvä ja ulkomaisille yleisöille suunnattu media. Tutkielman aineisto koostuu RT:n englanninkielisillä verkkosivuilla Yhdysvaltain presidentinvaalien demokraattien esivaalien aikaan 1.2.–4.3.2020 julkaistuista 139 tekstistä. Aineiston analyysiin käytettiin kehysanalyysiä, jota sovellettiin presidentinvaaliehdokkaiden mukaan teemoiteltuun aineistoon. Kehysanalyysissä pyrittiin tiivistämään eri presidentinvaaliehdokkaisiin liittyviä yleisimpiä kuvaus- ja tulkintatapoja eli kehyksiä. Tutkielman tutkimuskysymyksiä on kaksi: 1) miten RT kehystää Yhdysvaltain presidentinvaalien ehdokkaat ja 2) miten RT:n kehystys asettuu suhteessa julkisuusdiplomatiaan ja propagandaan. Kehysanalyysin tuloksissa erottuu selkeimmin demokraattiehdokas Bernie Sandersin suuri esiintyvyys aineistossa sekä Sandersin ja muista demokraattiehdokkaista ja heidän tukijoistaan koostuvan joukon välille rakennettu jyrkkä vastakkainasettelu. Sanders on aineiston eniten kehystetty ehdokas. Sanders kehystetään vastapuoleksi demokraattijoukolle, jonka RT kuvaa ”demokraattieliittinä”. Niin kutsuttu demokraattieliitti yhdistetään RT:n kehystyksissä järjestelmällisesti vaalivilppiin, likaiseen poliittiseen peliin ja lukuisiin muihin negatiivisiin määreisiin. Tutkielman keskeisin johtopäätös on, että RT pyrki edistämään Bernie Sandersin valintaa demokraattien presidentinvaaliehdokkaaksi aineistoon sisältyvissä mediateksteissä. Sanders-kehys poikkesi vahvasti sisällöltään muiden demokraattiehdokkaiden kehyksistä. Sanders kuvattiin demokraattieliitin kohtuuttomien hyökkäysten uhrina ja kansasta välittävänä ehdokkaana. Muiden demokraattiehdokkaiden kuvaus sen sijaan säännönmukaisesti jopa pilkallista ja mustamaalaavaa. Donald Trump toimi RT:n rakentamissa kehyksissä lähinnä ”demokraattieliitin” kritisoinnin, pilkan ja mustamaalauksen eräänlaisena vahvistajana ja oikeuttajana. Aineistoni perusteella propagandan käsite soveltuu julkisuusdiplomatiaa paremmin RT:n teoretisoimiseen, vaikkakin propagandan käsitteeseen ja määrittelyyn sisältyy tutkimusmielessä haasteita. Julkisuusdiplomatia ei näytä erityisen soveltuvalta RT:n toiminnan määrittelyyn ainakaan aineistoni osalta, sillä se mielletään useimmiten sen harjoittajavaltion pyrkimykseksi brändätä oma maakuvansa myönteisemmäksi ja siihen lasketaan kirjallisuudessa harvemmin toisen valtion negatiiviseen valoon saattamista.

Background: Foodservices have a significant role in the Finnish food culture. For many Finnish people the food produced by the mass catering industry is the only hot meal for the day. Foodservices are present throughout the life from kindergarten children to the elderly people at nursing homes. But working career is the longest singular time period in life in which foodservices are present. Every day over one third of Finnish employees choose to have their lunch at a staff canteen. The role of worksite eating in sustaining public health is important. The food served at staff canteens should be healthy, diverse and nutritionally well composed. Nutrition quality is a term that describes how well the nutrition guidelines are met in the meals served by foodservices. Aim: The aim of the research was to assess the nutrition quality of the meals served by staff canteens and eaten by the employees. Data and methods: The data of the research consisted of menus for two weeks by a foodservice company`s three restaurants, photos of employees’ meals (n=350) and questionnaires, observations at the staff canteens and the self-evaluations made by the restaurant managers. The evaluation of nutritional quality of the served meals was based on two nutrition quality criteria: Heart Symbol and Arkilounaskriteerit. Arkilounaskriteerit is a questionnaire filled by the restaurant manager. Arkilounaskriteerit is a tool that answers the question whether or not the diner has a chance to eat according to national food recommendations at the staff canteen. The criteria of the Heart Symbol are more specific than Arkilounaskriteerit with regards to the nutrition quality of the meal. The Heart Symbol criteria includes the nutrient level of the meal, it has criteria for the amounts of fat and saturated fat but also for the amounts of salt and nutrition fiber. On the basis of the photos of the employees’ meals and questionnaires I assessed how the Heart Symbol criteria were met and to what extent it was composed by a plate model. Using the plate model I assessed from the meals the proportions of vegetables, sources of protein and carbohydrates, and also what kind of a drink and how many glasses they had, did they have salad dressing, bread, bread spread or a dessert. Both Arkilounaskriteerit and Heart Symbol criteria include a statement that they must inform customers about the healthier food choices. This information criteria were assessed at the staff canteens. Results: The four fields of Arkilounaskriteerit were fulfilled “well” or “moderately”. The menus had a combined number of 224 food items (155 sources of proteins, 46 sources of carbohydrates and 26 other side dishes), of which 45 items (20 %) were marked with a Heart Symbol. After analysing the food items it was discovered that the criteria of the Heart Symbol were fulfilled by 74 food items (33 %). The Heart Symbol criteria were met by 31 % of the sources of protein, 37 % of the sources of carbohydrate and by 9 % of other side dishes. In those cases where the Heart Symbol criteria were not met the reason was most commonly in the amount of salt (over 40 % had salt above the criteria limit). In 10 % of the employees’ meals there were vegetables, sources of protein and carbohydrates according to the plate model. The meals were composed almost by the plate model. On average plates had 30 % source of protein, 20 % source of carbohydrate and 50 % vegetables. Typically the meal also contained salad dressing, one glass of water but no bread or dessert. Conclusions: Given the criteria of the Heart Symbol and the drive of the company, the nutrition quality of the served food items was low in most cases. Two thirds of the food items did not meet the criteria of the Heart Symbol, even though the company informs that they have nutrition guidelines in use. To enhance the nutritional quality of the meals the diners should make only minor changes in the proportions of sources of protein and carbohydrate. According to the criteria used in this research the staff canteens should have a plate model on display (criteria of informing the client). Regardless of the criteria this was not the case. The nutrition quality of food at staff canteens should be researched on a wider spectrum to have a deeper understanding of the subject. Research should be done all over Finland in several different foodservice companies - in this way it would be possible through staff canteens to tackle the greatest challenges of the Finns’ nutrition: too much salt and too little vegetables in their diets.

Aims The aims of this thesis were to examine the audience feedback given during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics regarding ice hockey commentator Kaj Kunnas. Yle received an unprecedented amount of feedback about Kunnas via e-mail. Sports commentators have a significant role in sports broadcasting considering the viewing experience of spectators. The aim of this study was to form a view of the issues about Kunnas that existed in the audience feedback. Methods The thesis was conducted as a qualitative study. The original data was collected from the entire mass of audience feedback regarding all sports commentators in the Yle TV broadcasts during the Sochi Winter Olympics. The final research data that was used in the thesis consisted of 213 critical and reasoned, individual feedback that focused on the sports commentating of Kaj Kunnas. The 213 individual feedbacks were analyzed with an inductive content analysis method, using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. Results and conclusions The results consisted of five subjects that described the themes within the critical audience feedback regarding Kaj Kunnas. The subjects are: 1. Speech and voice control, 2. Spoken language, 3. Knowledge about ice hockey, 4. Concentration, 5. Individual personality. These topics reflect the expectations of the public considering ice hockey broadcasts. They also reflect how the commentator should take account of the public viewpoint. The results of this study can be applied to the field of education, as well as a basis for further studies.