Iveta Kovalčíková

The role of simultaneous and successive processing in EFL reading.

This study examines the relationship between simultaneous and successive processing (the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive processing [PASS] theory processes) and reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL). A group of 81 children were administered two batteries of tests. One was used to measure EFL reading skills, while the other one assessed simultaneous and successive processing. We hypothesised (a) cognitive processes to predict reading ability, as well as (b) the presence of a significant relationship between (c) simultaneous processing and reading comprehension and (d) successive processing and letter and word decoding. The findings confirmed that the anticipated relationships between these domains exist and are of moderate effect size. The research has helped to contribute to the understanding of how simultaneous and successive processing can affect EFL reading skills both on the level of basic word and letter decoding and reading comprehension.

“ Das bin ich ...”: Corporeality and early German language education in (Slovak) kindergarten

This paper, based on ethnographically obtained data, discusses German language acquisition at an early age: the discovery of the interconnection between language and corporeality is the key component of the analysis based on videostudies. The body—conceived as an intermediary and content element of education, becomes an essential base for foreign language acquisition. This will be documented by tangible data and subsequent theoretical analysis with respect to relevant terminology of cultural anthropology (Körper and Leib). The principle of corporeality is further used as a means of perceiving German language education in the sense of the so called language propaedeutic concept and as a means of the legitimisation of particular qualification and the role of foreign language teachers in preschool institutions.

Specifics of introducing a code of ethics into the academic environment

Abstract The implementation of tools and techniques of the management of ethics in the academic environment has its own peculiarities arising from the nature of the expert, scientific, pedagogical, but also administrative work of university staff, requiring a considerable degree of autonomy and freedom. The aim of this case study is to present the views of university teachers and PhD students from a selected faculty of a public university in Slovakia on the implementation of tools and techniques for the management of ethics and to identify specific risks associated with the nature of the code of ethics and its introduction into practice. Qualitative research was conducted using focus groups during the implementation of the code of ethics, while quantitative research was subsequently conducted by an anonymous electronic questionnaire shortly after the introduction of the code into practice.

The utility of set-loss error scores in the general population.

Although the measurement of cognitive performance usually relies on achievement sum scores, a growing body of research suggests that the analysis of errors made may have a predictive validity beyond that provided by the number of items correct. This study examined the validity related to one such kind of error scores--the set-loss errors--in the general population of 8- to 11-year-old children. Set-loss errors (also called rule violations) can be conceptualized as a breakdown in the adherence to task-specific rules, and in clinical populations, the propensity to make these errors has shown some specificity for identifying disorders connected with frontal lobes dysfunction. The results, however, indicate that set-loss errors derived from distinct tests could not be effectively explained by a single latent dimension; hence, they do not tap a single construct that could be called set loss or the ability to maintain set. At the same time, there were only few weak associations between various kinds of error scores as well as between the set-loss error scores and relevant constructs such as the ability to learn, attentional control, working memory, fluid and crystallized intelligence, and executive functions-related real-world behaviors, indicating an overrepresentation of construct-irrelevant variance in these kinds of scores. These indications were further accentuated by the analysis of sensitivity and specificity where any elevated number of set-loss error scores was unable to classify individuals on theoretically relevant constructs beyond chance levels. The evidence thus speaks against the use of set-loss error scores in the general population of 8- to 11-year-old children.

FROM DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES TO EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE EDUCATION

Being a pedagogue with over twenty years’ experience in training teachers, I have lately been attracted by ideas bridging the growing gap between neurological and psychological research findings and their practical application in schools. For instance, Tokuhama-Espinosa (2010) points out that current findings in brain research have limited connection with actual educational practice. The outcomes of research on learning processes are insufficiently projected in teacher training programmes. Curriculum documents and teaching materials copy the discourse specific to educational policy in the country of origin and development. The consequence of the insufficient links between basic and applied research in the field is a growing gap between those who generate research outcomes and those who are supposed to integrate the outcomes in applied education and subsequently bring them to life in educational practice. The reason for this gap is straightforward: it is immensely important, though extremely demanding, to “translate” the outcomes of complex neurological and psychological research so that they are applicable in real classroom settings. Researchers’ attitudes are frequently that their work ends once the research findings have been presented. Here, the question arises as to who should rise to the challenge of becoming the mediator or transmitter in the process of incorporating research findings in pedagogical practice. At present, the response to this situation is manifested in the pursuit of interdisciplinary links between psychological and pedagogical (in fact, psychodidactic) discourse. For instance, a group of experts in the

The relationship between fluid intelligence and learning potential: Is there an interaction with attentional control?

Abstract The main aim of the study was to explore the relationship between fluid intelligence (gf), attentional control (AC), and learning potential (LP), and to investigate the interaction effect between gf and AC on LP. The sample comprised 210 children attending the fourth grade of a standard elementary school. It was hypothesized that the extent of the association between gf and LP depends on the level of attentional control, so that a low level of AC would weaken or possibly break that link, while a high level of AC would facilitate the employment of fluid general ability in learning situations. The results show that there was a moderate relationship between the measures of gf and LP, while gf was not found to be related to AC. Regarding the hypothesized interaction effect, the data suggested that the relationship between learning potential and fluid intelligence is invariant regarding the level of attentional control in the sample. Possible reasons for the lack of a moderation effect are discussed.