Long‐Term Effects of Gestures on Memory for Foreign Language Words Trained in the Classroom

Language and gesture are viewed as highly interdependent systems. Besides supporting communication, gestures also have an impact on memory for verbal information compared to pure verbal encoding in native but also in foreign language learning. This article presents a within‐subject longitudinal study lasting 14 months that tested the use of gestures in the classroom, with the experimenter presenting the items to be acquired. Participants learned 36 words distributed across two training conditions: In the audio‐visual condition subjects read, heard, and spoke the words; in the gestural condition subjects additionally accompanied the words with symbolic gestures. Memory performance was assessed through cued native‐to‐foreign translation tests at five time points. The results show that gestures significantly enhance vocabulary learning in quantity and over time. The findings are discussed in terms of Klimesch's connectivity model (CM) of information processing. Thereafter, a code, a word, is better integrated into long‐term memory if it is deep, that is, if it is comprised of many interconnected components.     

The Multicultural Babe y -Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca

Both the ethnic history of Transylvania and the history of higher education in the region are traced, particularly the history of Babe y -Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, which dates back to 1541. Today, this institution is a trilingual university offering lines of studies in Romanian, Hungarian, and German, as enshrined in the university charter of 8 July 2000. The trilingual instructional system, which is described in some detail, works well even if Romanians constitute the dominant ethno-linguistic group in Transylvania. The author proposes the model of Babe y Bolyai University as a very suitable way to accommodate ethno-linguistic diversity in a united Europe.     

Hierarchical Logistic Regression in Course Placement

Whether hierarchical logistic regression can reduce the sample size requirement for estimating optimal cutoff scores in a course placement service where predictive validity is measured by a threshold utility function is explored. Data from courses with varying class size were randomly partitioned into two halves per course. Non-hierarchical and hierarchical analyses were performed on each half. Compared to their nonhierarchical counterparts, hierarchically estimated cutoff scores from different halves were more stable and predicted course outcomes in the other half more accurately. These differences were most pronounced with small samples. Sample size requirements for developing cutoff scores for course placement can be substantially reduced if hierarchical logistic regression is used.     

Teaching at a Distance — Reflections on the relationship between discipline‐based and general teaching theories

German readers would immediately associate the term ‘discipline-based’ with Didaktik, which in the German-speaking world is an established branch of education science. The first section therefore deals with the development of Didaktik, understood as a theory of teaching and learning which seeks to investigate the relationships between discipline-based and general teaching theories. Didaktik was originally a strictly theory-oriented discipline in German-speaking countries, but changes in its terms of reference have led to an acceptance of the more pragmatically oriented curriculum theory of the English-speaking world. The term ‘discipline-based’ seems to indicate that here, too, education science has turned its back on positivistic, ‘purely scientific’ standards, so a knowledge of the German discussion of teaching-learning theory may be of interest.

The second section shows that in distance education, too, general teaching models need concretization in terms of discipline-based teaching theory, and that on the other hand, any discipline-based theory needs to have its foundations in general teaching theory, i.e. in pedagogic principles.

The third section therefore postulates the necessity of a theory of distance education which is based on practical experience.     

Incidental vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories: a comparison between read-aloud and free storytelling approaches

Shared-book reading is a well-established intervention to foster vocabulary development. Factors influencing its effectiveness are, however, less well studied, particularly with regard to story-delivery. We contrasted a read-aloud with a free storytelling approach and tested effects on vocabulary learning. In the first study, 83 preschoolers aged three to six were told six stories in a randomised, single-blind and counterbalanced design. Stories were either read aloud or told freely and included rare target-words. Measures of target-word acquisition, receptive vocabulary, phonological working memory and speech comprehension were administered. There was a small to moderate learning gain (d = .37), but no effect of story-delivery. In a second study, 24 of the youngest and 24 of the oldest participants were tested again, using the same procedure but with stories designed to be more intrinsically motivating and age-appropriate. Results indicated negligible vocabulary gains (d = .08) and no effect of story-delivery, except for small differences in child behaviour during storytelling.     

Expectations of schools and teachers in the context of social and economic changes

The article starts with some basic considerations of crucial trends such as the expansion of new technologies and media, demographic changes, economic crises, changes in the relation between the sexes and the emergence of multicultural societies.The following two sections deal with the global dimensions in socio-economic change and the tension between universality and diversity in education. They also consider the relation between schools and their competitors in the area of nonformal education, such as youth movements, sports clubs, etc.Following this, some essential expectations in relation to the changing role of schools from governmental institutions to service agencies are analyzed; other aspects treated include the demands on participation at the grassroots level, knowledge transmission with regard to practical utilization, the growing interest in vocational education and the wide-spread divergencies in moral standards within societies.The conclusion to the article concentrates on the postulate that schools must define their existence and legitimacy by finding an equilibrium between adjustment (in terms of modernization) and conservation (in terms of maintaining continuity).

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Zusammenfassung Im ersten Teil des Artikels stellt der Verfasser grundlegende Betrachtungen an über wichtige Entwicklungsströmungen wie z.B. über die Ausweitung neuer Technologien und Medien, demographische Veränderungen, Wirtschaftskrisen, Wandlungen in den Beziehungen zwischen den Geschlechtern und die Entstehung multikultureller Gesellschaften.Die beiden nächsten Abschnitte handeln von den globalen Dimensionen des sozioökonomischen Wandels sowie von der Spannung zwischen der Universalisierung und der Diversifizierung des Erziehungswesens. Ferner werden die Beziehungen zwischen den Schulen und den mit ihnen konkurrierenden Einrichtungen im Bereich der nicht-formalen Erziehung wie z.B. Jugendbewegungen, Sportvereinen usw. erörtert.Darüber hinaus werden wesentliche Erwartungen analysiert in Hinblick auf die sich ändernde Rolle der Schulen von Regierungseinrichtungen zu Dienstleistungsagenturen. Die Forderung nach Beteiligung auf der Basisebene sowie die Vermittlung von praxis-orientierten Kenntnissen, das wachsende Interesse an beruflicher Bildung und die weitverbreiteten Divergenzen moralischer Richtlinien innerhalb verschiedener Gesellschaften, werden im Hauptteil des Aufsatzes besprochen.Der Artikel schließt mit dem Postulat, daß Schulen zu einer Definition ihrer Existenz und ihrer Legitimität gelangen müssen, indem sie das Gleichgewicht herstellen zwischen Anpassung (im Sinne von Modernisation) einerseits und Erhaltung (im Sinne von Kontinuität) andererseits.

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Résumé Cet article présente tout d'abord quelques considérations fondamentales sur les tendances cruciales telles l'expansion des nouvelles technologies et des media, l'évolution démographique, les crises économiques, les changements qui apparaissent dans les rapports entre les deux sexes, l'émergence de sociétés multiculturelles.Les deux parties qui suivent traitent les dimensions globales du changement socioéconomique et examinent les tensions entre l'universalité et la diversité de l'éducation. Elles examinent également la relation entre les écoles et leurs concurrents dans le domaine de l'éducation non-formelle, tels les mouvements de jeunes, les associations sportives, etc.Ensuite l'auteur analyse quelques-unes des exigences essentielles relatives au rôle variable des écoles comme institutions gouvernementales se mouvant en organismes de service; les autres aspects traités incluent les demandes de participation au niveau de la base, le transfert des connaissances en ce qui concerne l'utilisation pratique, l'intérêt sans cesse croissant pour l'enseignement professionnel et les normes de plus en plus divergentes concernant les valeurs morales au sein des sociétés.La conclusion de cet article met un accent sur le postulat selon lequel les écoles doivent définir leur existence et leur légitimité en trouvant un équilibre entre adaptation (en termes de modernisation) et conservation (en termes de maintien de la continuité).