No abstract

No abstract

It is common practice in vocal training to make use of vocal exercise techniques that involve partial occlusion of the vocal tract. Various techniques are used; some of them form an occlusion within the front part of the oral cavity or at the lips. Another vocal exercise technique involves lengthening the vocal tract; for example, the method of phonation into small tubes. This essay presents some studies made on the effects of various vocal training methods that involve an artificially lengthened and constricted vocal tract. The influence of sufficient acoustic impedance on vocal fold vibration and economical voice production is presented.

This article is based on data from two national research projects in Norway dealing with upper secondary educational reforms that began in 1994. Together, the research projects represent a longitudinal study of prospective life course data from 1995 to 2003, covering approximately 500 students from the time they were receiving special education in upper secondary school to the age of 22. The analysis is based on theories of social networks, frame factors, risk and resilience, and life course transitions. It uses a typology of social marginalization based on the dimensions of network density and network size to capture the differences in framing opportunities and restrictions on the students' social network relationships in the spare time arena. The study addresses how such relationships in early adult life are affected by earlier school experiences, such as whether they attended special or mainstream classes, compared with personal factors and their family situation at the start of upper secondary school.Keywords: social networks and capital, special and regular classes, special needs students, transitions to adult life, factors of risk and resilienceEach year, about 10% (or 6,000) of pupils entering upper secondary school in Norway are students with special educational needs (SEN). The majority of these students are in vocational classes. About two-thirds are boys. In our material the nearly 50% of the pupils identified as having SEN were off time, chose to quit or dropped out after two years of schooling. A basic objective for the relationship between school and community in Norway is to have an inclusive school in an inclusive community based on the principles of equality and equity for all pupils. Upper secondary education has two main aims: to provide academic or vocational qualifications and to encourage social learning and self-understanding. The research theme of the present study is the life course transition from upper secondary school to early adult life for young adults earlier identified by experts as SEN pupils. We describe the spare time networks of the young adults after their transition from upper secondary school to early adult life and try to understand and explain the variations in those networks. The main purpose of the study is to compare the effects of earlier school experiences (e.g. the organization of special education and the differentiation of teaching in upper secondary school indicated through the class type) with the effects of personal factors and processes in the family situation at the start of upper secondary education.

No abstract