Processes of feelings in a society with a violent past : A qualitative study of the communication for Societal healing in the Truth Commissions in East Timor, Sri Lanka and Ghana between 2002-2011

The research investigates in what extent and how communication for meeting feelings is provided in Truth Commission work. It examines if and in what way feelings are addressed in the communication officially published by the Truth Commissions in East Timor, Ghana and Sri Lanka, occurring between 2002-2011. The research is also looking at the healing processes in a time perspective to find out if there is a communication for Societal healing to be continued in a longer term. My conclusion is that two cases of three in my research, the TRCs in Ghana and East Timor, have communication clearly directed to meet feelings caused by the war. One of the three cases (East Timor) has a communication with a clear ambition to heal over a longer period, to continue after the existence of the Truth Commission. The research suggests that communication with a clear ambition to reach out widely in the society, a communication directed to meet and process feelings over a longer period, can make Societal healing more effective. It also concludes that, in the future, Societal healing, as a field in conflict resolution, will be more based on representational media than today, provided through web communication.

La confrontation de la laideur avec la beauté dans lesromans Mercure et Attentat. Une étude sur lareprésentation de la dualité thématique laideur-beautéchez Amélie Nothomb. : "Where there is Quasimodo, there is also Esmeralda." The confrontationbetween ugliness and beauty in the novels Mercure and Attentat. Astudy on the representation of the duality beauty-ugliness in the worksof Amélie Nothomb.

This paper studies one of the recurrent topics of writing found in Amélie Nothomb’snovels: beauty and ugliness. The novels Mercure and Attentat are analyzed in detail,with respect to figures of speech used to describe the extreme physical appearance ofthe protagonists and the role of the duality beauty-ugliness in the advancement of theplot.

Multimodal Literacy as a form of Communication : What is the state of the students at Dalarna University multimodal literacy?

Literacy is an invaluable asset to have, and has allowed for communication, documentation and the spreading of ideas since the beginning of the written language. With technological advancements, and new possibilities to communicate, it is important to question the degree to which people’s abilities to utilise these new methods have developed in relation to these emerging technologies. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to analyse the state of students’ at Dalarna University mulitimodal literacy, as well as their experience of multimodality in their education. This has led to the two main research questions: What is the state of the students at Dalarna University multimodal literacy? And: How have the students at Dalarna University experienced multimodality in education? The paper is based on a mixed-method study that incorporates both a quantitative and qualitative aspect to it. The main thrust of the research paper is, however, based on a quantitative study that was conducted online and emailed to students via their program coordinators. The scope of the research is in audio-visual modes, i.e. audio, video and images, while textual literacy is presumed and serves as an inspiration to the study. The purpose of the study is to analyse the state of the students’ multimodal literacy and their experience of multimodality in education. The study revealed that the students at Dalarna University have most skill in image editing, while not being very literate in audio or video editing. The students seem to have had mediocre experience creating meaning through multimodality both in private use and in their respective educational institutions. The study also reveals that students prefer learning by means of video (rather than text or audio), yet are not able to create meaning (communicate) through it.

Role of Culture in the Acquisition of CSL – From the Perspective of Intercultural Communication Competence

In the past few decades, the demands for coping with the rapid development of information communication technology, internationalization and globalization worldwide have shifted the focus of Chinese as a second language (CSL) towards intercultural communication competence in which the role of culture in the acquisition of CSL and in the pragmatic use of the language is emphasized and promoted. However, most of the present research in this academic area still remains only on a theoretical level.   In order to explore the possibilities and limitations of integrating Chinese culture and implementing intercultural communication theory into CSL education, an action research has been conducted since the beginning of 2013 to review an actual course for beginners. This paper will present the findings of the research: 1) By applying the theoretical framework of intercultural communicative competence, the findings indicated that the existing CSL course provided limited information explaining the cultural elements that are reflected in the Chinese language. 2) The findings also suggested that the cultural skills acquired in the students’ first language do influence their acquisition of CSL. This is demonstrated in the students’ written tasks such as introducing themselves and presenting other people, etc. The findings can be examples and resources for further research in this academic field.