Reconsideración del discurso interactivo en la clase de L2 o LE

El autor reivindica el papel didáctico del discurso en el aula. Desde su punto de vista, en los últimos años, se ha enfatizado en demasía la presentación de materiales didácticos «auténticos» en detrimento de considerar como «auténtico» el propio discurso producido en el aula. De hecho, el autor considera que, más allá de ser considerado como input comprensible, el discurso producido en el aula ha tenido una relevancia poco importante y, por eso, en el marco de la construcción de un discurso significativo en la relación profesor-alumno como base del progreso docente, el papel didáctico del discurso en el aula pasa a ocupar un lugar principal.     

The type,amount, frequency and timing of dietary supplement use by elite players in the First Spanish Basketball League

The aims of this study were to determine the type, frequency and amount of dietary supplement consumption among a group of professional basketball players. The type, amount and specific timing of supplement use were recorded by 55 professional basketball players from seven different teams of the First Spanish Basketball League. Most participants (58%) consumed dietary supplements. Multivitamins and vitamins were the most frequently used supplements among the athletes (50.9%), followed by sport drinks (21.8%), miscellaneous supplements (21.8%), amino acids (14.5%), proteins (12.7%) and carbohydrates (12.7%). The average daily dietary supplement was one capsule of multivitamins, one capsule of antioxidant vitamins, 0.2-1.0 g vitamin C, 10.3 g protein, 1.9 g amino acids, 16.2 g carbohydrates and 377 ml of a commercial sport drink. Although the proportion of participants who consumed dietary supplements before, during and immediately after exercise was 25.4%, 16.3% and 7.3% respectively, only a few consumed a potentially ergogenic supplement at these times. It would appear unlikely that the type or amount of dietary supplements consumed had a beneficial effect on the physical performance of these professional basketball players, with the possible exception of antioxidant vitamins and the commercial sport drinks.     

The catalan language in the educational system of Catalonia

Since the establishment of a democratic regime in Spain, not only does the Constitution recognize the multilingualism of the Spanish State but also, in certain autonomous regions, Catalan, Galician and Basque have been given joint official status with Castillian or Spanish. This article describes the introduction of Catalan into the education system of Catalonia. Previously the system had only taken Spanish into consideration, but the Statute of Autonomy of 1979 ensured the teaching of Catalan to all pupils, and Catalan is gradually becoming the medium of instruction. In a situation in which around half of the six million or so inhabitants of Catalonia have Catalan as their mother tongue which they use at home, and the other half — immigrants — are Castillian-speaking, the educational system lays down that all pupils should, at the end of compulsory schooling, be able to use both languages. It has thus faced complex problems which appear up to the present to have been satisfactorily resolved. The Catalan experience may therefore act as a reference point and a stimulus for other regions with minority languages.

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Zusammenfassung Seit der Einführung einer demokratischen Regierung in Spanien erkennt man in der Verfassung nicht nur die Mehrsprachigkeit des spanischen Staates an, sondern in gewissen autonomen Gebieten sind auch Katalanisch, Galizisch und Baskisch neben Kastilisch und Spanisch als offizielle Sprachen anerkannt worden. Der Artikel schildert die Einführung des Katalanischen in das katalanische Erziehungssystem. Bis vor kurzem erkannte das System nur spanisch an, aber das Autonomiestatut von 1979 garantierte den Unterricht in katalanisch für alle Schüler, und katalanisch wird allmählich die Unterrichtssprache. Da ungefähr die Hälfte der ca. sechs Millionen Einwohner zu Hause katalanisch spricht, und die andere Hälfte, größtenteils Immigranten, kastilisch, legt das Erziehungssystem fest, daß alle Schüler nach Beendigung des vorgeschriebenen Schulunterrichts beide Sprachen beherrschen sollten. Daraus resultierten enorme Probleme, die anscheinend inzwischen zufriedenstellend gelöst worden sind. Die katalanische Erfahrung könnte daher als Vorbild und Anregung für andere Regionen mit Minderheitssprachen dienen.

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Résumé Depuis l'établissement d'un régime démocratique en Espagne, non seulement la Constitution reconnaît-elle le plurilinguisme de l'état espagnol, mais aussi, dans certaines régions autonomes, un statut officiel conjoint avec l'espagnol ou le castillan a été accordé au catalan, au galicien et au basque. Le présent article décrit le processus de l'introduction du catalan dans le système scolaire de la Catalogne. Traditionellement ce système avait ignoré le catalan, mais le Statut d'autonomie de 1979 assura l'enseignement du catalan à tous les élèves, et le catalan devient progressivement le moyen d'instruction. Dans une situation où à peu près la moitié des quelques six millions d'habitants de la Catalogne a le catalan comme langue maternelle et familiale tandis que l'autre moitié, dans la plus grande partie des immigrés, est de langue castillane, le système scolaire propose explicitement qu'à la fin de la scolarité obligatoire tous les élèves soient capables d'utiliser les deux langues. Le système se trouve donc confronté à des problèmes complexes qui paraissent jusqu' à présent avoir été résolus d'une manière satisfaisante. L'expérience catalane peut donc servir de point de référence et de stimulant pour d'autres régions ayant des langues minoritaires.

     

Adaptation of a computer programming course to the ESHE requirements: evaluation five years later

In the academic year 2010–2011, Spain finished the process of introducing the regulatory changes derived from the Bologna Declaration and the new European Space for Higher Education (ESHE). These changes have implied the updating of university degrees’ structure as well as the inclusion of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This paper describes the process of adaptation of two basic first-semester core subjects of computer engineering to one of the basic aspects of the ESHE, the adoption of the ECTS. The process described in the paper was developed in the framework of the pilot plan undertaken by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona between 2005 and 2010. The proposed course design implies a better coordination and integration of the contents of two different subjects that students follow simultaneously, and it is based on the combination of project-based learning and cooperative learning. After the experience finished, an extended quantitative and qualitative analysis of the academic results over the five-year period has shown an improvement in the students’ learning outcomes.     

THE CONFLICTING REQUIREMENTS OF TEACHING,RESEARCH, AND MANAGEMENT IN UNIVERSITIES

The activities of teaching staff members in universities have changed considerably over the last few years. The interests of the latter in some of these activities have also changed. This article analyzes the difficulties facing university teachers in their efforts to meet the demands made on them in modern universities. The proportional increase in resources means that teachers tend to devote them‐selves to activities that are more productive from a professional or a personal point of view while neglecting others. Universities should make changes in their organization and everyday functioning which would permit a more rational division of the necessary tasks. In addition, university administrations should increase the resources available to their universities in order to bring about such changes.     

Youth Education Attainment and Participation in Europe: the role of contextual factors and the scope of education policy

This article examines how certain contextual factors explain levels of education attainment and participation amongst youths in 30 European countries, whilst also exploring the scope for action of education policy when dealing with these issues. Through simple OLS regressions, we first evaluate the impact of a group of contextual indicators on the percentage of the population aged 20 to 24 having completed at least upper secondary education (education attainment) and the number of students aged 18 as a percentage of the corresponding age population (education participation). Secondly, through multivariate OLS analysis, we identify the net impact of some of these factors on the levels of education participation of 18-year-olds. The results show the significance of three factors: low-skilled occupation, the structure of public spending on education, and the importance of vocational education programmes in secondary education.     

Educación en valores y educación moral: un ámbito de diseño y construcción curricular para el profesorado

En este artículo se presenta la Educación en valores y la Educación Moral como un ámbito óptimo para la práctica del profesorado en la construcción de actividades de caracter transversal. Se analizan algunos de los problemas y cuestiones a tener en cuenta ante toda innovación pedagógica y se sugieren pautas para abordar la propuesta que se formula de forma eficaz. Se trata, una vez más, de relacionar teoría y práctica de forma que sea posible incrementar la eficacia de la acción pedagógica y a la vez el rigor y la sistematicidad teórica.     

Goal-directed self-talk used to self-regulate in male basketball competitions

This study examined how goal-directed self-talk may help basketball players to self-regulate in stereotypical competitive situations: seconds before a challenging game, while clearly winning or clearly losing, and at the close of a tight game. Participants were recruited in groups of three to four, until preliminary inspection of the data indicated that data saturation was reached. In the end, 34 basketball players voluntarily took part in individual interviews, writing up to three self-instructions they had used in each of the four competitive situations to self-regulate. Content analyses revealed that self-talk in competitive basketball situations serves cognitive functions (e.g., regulating cognition and behaviour), motivational functions (e.g., promoting mastery goals) and emotion and activation-regulating functions (e.g., creating activated states). More specifically, the results also indicated that athletes’ self-talk may serve functions specific to the psychological demands experienced in each situation. It is argued that knowing how athletes counsel themselves, could prove important for applied sport psychologists to design psychological skill training.     

Private Issues in Public Spaces: Regimes of Engagement at a Citizen Conference

Minerva - The ‘participatory turn’ in science and technology governance has resulted in the growth of initiatives designed to engage lay people in consultation and decision-making on...