English as a medium of instruction in teaching other languages: attitudes and practices

Internationalisation of HE and emergence of English as a global academic lingua franca used by people who share neither a common native tongue nor cultural and educational background have not only offered more opportunities but also raised challenges. According to recent European surveys, the percentage of pupils attaining the level of independent user in English varies from 14% to 82%, which evidences the potential and the complexity for English as a medium of instruction at tertiary level. This study aims to present the model of foreign language instruction at Vytautas Magnus University where one third of 30 languages are taught through English. It investigates the attitudes and practices of teachers in delivering their English-medium language courses by discussing the questions whether teaching other languages through English is psychologically, culturally and educationally preferable for teachers and students, whether it can limit the content taught and require a special methodology, how the teaching process changes with multiple languages used in the classroom and what level of English is necessary for teachers and students to ensure high quality of English-medium language teaching. The study is based on qualitative methodology with 12 language teachers participating as respondents. The results reveal areas in need of improvement.

Towards the Best A++ Rating Productivity of Research and Teaching in Finnish Universities

T��m��n tutkimusraportin suomenkielinen versio on osoitteessa: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-4509-2

The association of faculty's teaching philosophy and teaching behaviour, and critical thinking and self- direction in learning

The intent in this study was to investigate in what ways teachers�� beliefs about education and teaching are expressed in the specific teaching behaviours they employ, and whether teaching behaviours, as perceived by their students, are correlated with students�� critical thinking and self-directed learning. To this end the relationships studied were: among faCUlty members�� philosophy of teaching, locus of control orientation, psychological type, and observed teaching behaviour; and among students�� psychological type, perceptions of teaching behaviour, self-directed learning readiness, and critical thinking. The overall purpose of the study was to investigate whether the implicit goals of higher education, critical thinking and self-direction, were actually accounted for in the university classroom. The research was set within the context of path-goal theory, adapted from the leadership literature. Within this framework, Mezirow��s work on transformative learning, including the influences of Habermas�� writings, was integrated to develop a theoretical perspective upon which to base the research methodology. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were incorporated. Four faCUlty and a total of 142 students participated in the study. Philosophy of teaching was described through faCUlty interviews and completion of a repertory grid. Faculty completed a descriptive locus of control scale, and a psychological type test. Observations of their teaching behaviour were conducted. Students completed a Teaching Behaviour Assessment Scale, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, a psychological type test, and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. A small sample of students were interviewed. Follow-up discussions with faculty were used to validate the interview, observation, teaching behaviour, and repertory grid data. Results indicated that some discrepancies existed between faculty's espoused philosophy of teaching and their observed teaching behaviour. Instructors' teaching behaviour, however, was a function of their personal theory of practice. Relationships were found between perceived teaching behaviour and students�� self-directed learning and critical thinking, but these varied across situations, as would be predicted from path-goal theory. Psychological type of students and instructor also accounted for some of the variability in the relationships studied. Student psychological type could be shown as a partial predictor of self-directed learning readiness. The results were discussed in terms of theory development and implications for further research and practice.

Indices and Implications of Emotional Underarousal for Persons with a History of Head Trauma

We examined the role of altered emotional functioning across the spectrum of injury severity (mild head injury [MHI], moderate/severe traumatic brain injury [TBI]), its implications for social behaviours, and the effect of modifying arousal and its relation to cognitive performance. In the first study (N = 230), students with self-reported MHI endorsed engaging in socially unacceptable and erratic behaviours significantly more often than did those with no MHI. We did not find significant differences between the groups in the measure of emotional intelligence (EI); however, for students who reported a MHI, scores on the EI measure significantly predicted reports of socially unacceptable behaviours such that lower scores predicted poorer social functioning, accounting for approximately 20% of the variance. Also, the experience of postconcussive symptoms was found to be significantly greater for students with MHI relative to their peers. In the second study (N = 85), we further examined emotional underarousal in terms of physiological (i.e., electrodermal activation [EDA]) and self-reported responsivity to emotionally-evocative picture stimuli. Although the valence ratings of the stimuli did not differ between students with and without MHI as we had expected, we found evidence of reduced and/or indiscriminate emotional responding to the stimuli for those with MHI which mimics that observed in other studies for persons with moderate/severe TBI. We also found that emotional underarousal followed a gradient of injury severity despite reporting a pattern of experiencing more life stressors. In the third study (N = 81), we replicated our findings of emotional underarousal for those with head trauma and also uniquely explored neuroendocrine aspects (salivary cortisol; cortisol awakening response [CAR]) and autonomic indices (EDA) of emotional dysregulation in terms of stress responsivity across the spectrum of injury severity (MHI [n = 32], moderate/severe TBI [n = 9], and age and education matched controls [n = 40]). Although the manipulation was effective in modifying arousal state in terms of autonomic and self-reported indices, we did not support our hypothesis that increased arousal would be related to improved performance on cognitive measures for those with prior injury. To our knowledge, this is the only study to examine the CAR with this population. Repeated measure analysis revealed that, upon awakening, students with no reported head trauma illustrated the typical CAR increase 45 minutes after waking, whereas, students who had a history of either mild head trauma or moderate/severe TBI demonstrated a blunted CAR. Thus, across the three studies we have provided evidence of emotional underarousal, its potential implications for social interactions, and also have identified potentially useful indices of dysregulated stress responsivity regardless of injury severity.

Understanding the past to imagine the future : the history of industrial design practice in Alberta

La pratique du design industriel dans la province canadienne de l���Alberta est en pleine croissance. Ses activit��s sont principalement concentr��es �� Edmonton et �� Calgary, qui sont les plus grandes villes de la province. On y trouve des studios de design de renom, des communaut��s de design complexes et des programmes universitaires de design bien ��tablis. Cependant, la pratique du design industriel albertaine est sous-d��velopp��e en comparaison avec celle du reste du Canada et il y a peu de recherches et de documentation sur le design industriel en Alberta. Dans ce projet de m��moire, la pratique du design industriel en Alberta a ��t�� explor��e depuis une approche historique. Pour pallier le manque de documentation, la collecte de donn��es a ��t�� faite par une recherche qualitative, des entretiens narratifs et une recherche quantitative statistique. Une base d���information historique sur le design industriel albertain a ��t�� ��tablie puis situ��e par rapport au d��veloppement de la pratique du design industriel ailleurs au Canada. Les facteurs, ��v��nements et tendances dans l���histoire de la pratique du design industriel en Alberta ont ��t�� identifi��s. De plus, le d��veloppement de la pratique du design industriel de l���Alberta a ��t�� compar�� �� celui du Qu��bec et de l���Ontario. Les retomb��es de cette ��tude indiquent que la pratique du design industriel en Alberta pr��sente quatre domaines de sp��cialisations distincts se d��veloppant depuis les ann��es 1980. La pratique du design industriel en Alberta est sous-d��velopp��e en comparaison �� celui du Qu��bec et de l���Ontario, mais elle peut devenir plus comp��titive, au niveau canadien, avec plus de soutien gouvernemental, de meilleures relations avec l���industrie manufacturi��re et les institutions acad��miques, une communaut�� de design plus unifi��e et en portant une plus grande attention aux domaines les plus prometteurs de l���industrie. Ces informations supportent une meilleure compr��hension de la pratique du design industriel en Alberta et pourront informer les praticiens, enseignants et administrateurs du domaine du design industriel dans la province. Finalement, le m��moire servira de base �� d���autres projets de recherche sur les changements potentiels dans la pratique du design industriel en Alberta et l�����tude du design canadien et des industries de design r��gionales.

History of music.

Breve rese��a de la historia de la m��sica en Occidente desde la Edad Medial hasta el Siglo XX. Hace especial ��nfasis en el reconocimiento de estilos y ��pocas para ayudar a los estudiantes del General Certificate Secondary Education (GCSE) a identificar el per��odo y el compositor de obras musicales desconocidas.

The Pedagogical Congresses of Portuguese Secondary Teaching : the participation of female teachers (1927-1928)

This paper was written within the context of the research project ���The development of teacher��� associative organizations and unionism (1889-1990)��� funded by the Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e Tecnologia (Foundation for Science and Technology). Five important congresses about secondary education were organized in Portugal between 1927 and 1931. These congresses served to claim the rights of teachers and the consolidation of the class, as well as to promote the discussion of scientific and pedagogical problems. In these congresses, the presence of female teachers was residual. However, the few teachers who participated had a significant contribution to the definition of secondary education during the following decades. Among other issues, it contributed to the discussion of female education and to analyze the importance of Biology and Physical Education in high schools. This paper presents the analysis of the minutes of the 1927s and 1928s Congresses. This analysis allowed the assessment of the important role played by a group of teachers to define, at the end of the first third of the 20th century, the future guidelines of Portuguese secondary education. It also reported that these teachers were pioneers who opened the way for the increasing number of teachers in secondary education during the 20th century.

In-service and pre-service teachers' opinion on the use of models in teaching chemistry

The presented study examined the opinion of in-service and prospective chemistry teachers about the importance of usage of molecular and crystal models in secondary-level school practice, and investigated some of the reasons for their (non-) usage. The majority of participants stated that the use of models plays an important role in chemistry education and that they would use them more often if the circumstances were more favourable. Many teachers claimed that three-dimensional (3d) models are still not available in sufficient number at their schools; they also pointed to the lack of available computer facilities during chemistry lessons. The research revealed that, besides the inadequate material circumstances, less than one third of participants are able to use simple (freeware) computer programs for drawing molecular structures and their presentation in virtual space; however both groups of teachers expressed the willingness to improve their knowledge in the subject area. The investigation points to several actions which could be undertaken to improve the current situation.

Explaining history to children: Otto and Marie Neurath���s work on the ���Visual history of mankind���

This essay traces the development of Otto Neurath���s ideas that led to the publication of one of the first series of children���s books produced by the Isotype Institute in the late 1940s, the Visual History of Mankind. Described in its publicity material as ���new in content��� and ���new in method���, it embodied much of Otto Neurath���s thinking about visual education, and also coincided with other educational ideas in the UK in the 1930s and 1940s. It exemplified the Isotype Institute���s approach: teamwork, thinking about the needs of younger readers, clear explanation, and accessible content. Further, drawing on correspondence, notes and drawings from the Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection at the University of Reading, the essay presents insights to the making of the books and the people involved, the costs of production and the influence of this on design decisions, and how the books were received by teachers and children.

The status of literature: English teaching and the condition of literature teaching in schools

Although the curriculum subject of English is continually reviewed and revised in all English speaking countries, the status of literature is rarely questioned i.e. that it is of high cultural value and all students should be taught about it. The concerns of any review, in any country, are typically about what counts as literature, especially in terms of national heritage and then how much of the curriculum should it occupy. This article reports on three inter-related pieces of research that examine the views of in-service, and pre-service, English teachers about their experiences of teaching literature and their perceptions of its ���status��� and significance at official level and in the actual classroom; it draws attention to how England compares to some other English speaking countries and draws attention to the need to learn from the negative outcomes of political policy in England. The findings suggest that the nature of engagement with literature for teachers and their students has been distorted by official rhetorics and assessment regimes and that English teachers are deeply concerned to reverse this pattern.

The Strider Years: An Extension of the History of Colby College

Beloved Colby historian Ernest Cummings Marriner '13 documents Robert E. Lee Strider's nineteen years as president of Colby College. Marriner is also the author of the definitive History of Colby, which covers the period up to the Strider presidency.

Absence motivated by illness: A non-concurrent prospective study of physical education teachers in the municipal education system of the city of Campinas, S��o Paulo, Brazil

The object of this investigation was to identify and analize aspects of the health status related to absenteism in physical education teachers in the municipal education system of the city of Campinas, Brazil, as related to the medical leave program. The non-concurrent prospective study was accomplished by means of a comparison with teachers who work only in the classroom, refering to a three year period. In the variables of greatest interest, the Pearson non-parametric chi-square (X2) statistical test was adopted. Calculations of relative risk and level of confidence were made using the Epi-info computer program. Significant differences were observed in the following diagnostic groups favoring the not exposed group: i) Supplementary Classification of factors that exercise influence over the health status and access to health services and ii) Digestive system illness; while the physical education teachers showed a significant difference in: i) diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue system and ii) Injuries and poisoing. Possible explications for some of the adverse effects as well as the protective ones that were observed include physical activity as a way of life along with being a physical education teacher and on the other side, peculiar behavior of epidemiological descriptive characteristics, like sex and age, within the socio-economic context of the country. �� Copyright Moreira Jr. Editora.