Secondary Grammar School Research Articles

Teaching and Learning English at Grammar School Supported by Mobile Touch Technologies

Abstract The article deals with the implementation of iTunesU in English lessons at the secondary grammar school. The content is structured into three main parts. First, the theoretical background for the appropriate use of mobile devices is introduced reflecting the Comenius′ principles and Koole’s FRAME model. Second, a strategy for practising English pronunciation is described. Third, a set of three lessons enhanced, or not, by mobile touch technology was described and learners· feedback displayed. Finally, authors′ recommendations are provided.

The possible benefits of using comic books in foreign language education: A classroom study

Comic books are experiencing a steady rise in popularity. Not only are they being investigated as subjects of literary studies and other fields of research (e.g., McCloud, 1993; Wolk, 2007; Darius, 2012), they are also getting recognised as instructional resources to improve literacy skills and maintain motivation (O’English, Matthews, Lindsay, 2006). They also have several advantageous features that support foreign language learning. The present study aimed at investigating some of these (guessing meaning of new words; lowered anxiety; better recall) by the use of comic books in the classroom. Three groups of students were recruited (n=14; 14; 8) in a secondary grammar school, as part of the author’s 11-week-long formal English teaching practice.

The Library of Václav Černý

The article deals with the personal library of Václav Černý. Attention is first drawn to the portrait of Václav Černý as a reader, and the creation and augmentation of his collection (purchases, donations from friends and authors-colleagues, review copies). The paper presents Černý’s family background, studies at secondary grammar schools in Náchod and Dijon, his work abroad as well as at university, and his friendship with numerous colleagues-authors. The next part of the article outlines Černý’s personal library, the general characteristics of the collection, Černý’s methods of book acquisition, his work with books and evaluation of literature. The part of the library containing literature on existentialism is described in more detail. It deals with the predecessors of existentialism as well as Czech and foreign representatives of this philosophical movement. Not even libraries that Černý visited during his life are omitted.

The Tertiary education plans of disadvantaged secondary grammar school students in Hungary

My study focuses on tertiary education chances and opportunities of disadvantaged and multiply disadvantaged children and youngsters. The target group of the research consisted of disadvantaged full-time secondary grammar school students who aim to get out of their position and status with the help of further education. Via the interviews I tried to examine the difficult topic of further education from the perspective of the disadvantaged and the multiply disadvantaged students, also aspiring to reveal their notions and fears about the topic. The main goal of my research was to get an insight into the perspective and mentality of disadvantaged and multiply disadvantaged students.

The effects of chess education on mathematical problem solving performance

We investigate the connection between the "queen of sciences" (mathematics) and the "royal game" (chess) with respect to the development of mathematical problem solving ability in primary school education (classes 1-8, age 7-15) where facultative chess education is present. The records of the 2014 year's entrance exam in mathematics – obligatory for the enrollment to secondary grammar schools in Hungary – are compared for the whole national database and for the results of a group containing chess-player students. The problems in the tests are classified with respect to the competencies needed to solve them. For the evaluation of the results we used standard mathematical statistical methods.

Paedagogus Hungaricus Denomination of Teachers in Hungary and Eastern Europe in the XXth Century

The Hungarian word pedagogus means people who work as professional teachers in the educational system. Meanwhile the word paedagogus is a common European heritage, which is quite a unique lingual phenomenon. The paidagogos-paedagogus - across the Hellenistic culture, the Biblical use of the word, the language of the patristic age and the later theological and spiritual literature - becomes an abstraction without reference to the word of schools. The modern Indo-European languages consistently use other classical expressions (precepteur, professeur, maitre etc.), or some own original words (teacher, Lehrer etc.). Though the Hungarian language has its original word covering the idea of teacher (tanito); this word is getting to mean in the course of classification of professional education (by ages of pupils and types of schools) teacher, namely the one, who teaches in a secondary grammar school. Its original role has been taken over by the classical paedagogus (pedagogus), instead of other original Hungarian possibilities thanks to a political-historical coincidence. It is surprisingly not a direct classical heritage, but an expression used by the communist party of the new-born Soviet Union, and it was spread by the local communist parties during the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe after the World War II.

A Study of Teachers’ Perceptions of Involvement in Decision Making within Secondary Schools in Cameroon

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which secondary grammar school principals share school leadership with teachers. Shared leadership was conceptualized as participatory decision making. Using a questionnaire developed from the related and conceptual literature, data were collected from 300 teachers and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 for windows. The results of the data analysis were reported using descriptive statistics, more specifically frequencies, percentages, and means. Overall, of the nineteen items designed to capture teachers’ perceptions of shared leadership in secondary grammar schools, only six (31.57%) of them had means equal to or above the cut-off point of 3.00. In other words, for the most part principals do not adequately share leadership with teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to guide policy and practice. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n2p165

Dr. Kuthy Béla entomológiai gyűjteménye II. Microlepidoptera (Lepidoptera)

Béla Kuthy (1873–1946) was a physician and excellent entomologist who lived in Kiskunhalas (Central Hungary) and studied the local fauna from 1920 to 1946. After his death the collection was housed in a secondary grammar school without special attention. Three years ago collection was moved to the entomological collection of the Rippl-Rónai Museum in Kaposvár. The author re-determined the micro-moth collection to publish the faunistical data. The list contains the locality data of 163 Microlepidoptera species from Hungary. The specimens were identified with examination of the genital features. Text in Hungarian with 8 figures.

Teacher’s Educational Support Services to Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Educational Classrooms; The Case of Selected Secondary Grammar Schools in the South West Region of Cameroon

Teacher’s Educational Support Services to Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Educational Classrooms; The Case of Selected Secondary Grammar Schools in the South West Region of Cameroon

Analysis of the Influence of Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics on the Effectiveness of Students in the Test of Selected Critical Thinking Skills at the Slovak University of Technology

In this contribution we analyse the existence of statistically relevant correlations between students´ fruitfulness in the test regarding selected cognitive abilities and independent variables as they follow: age, gender, form of study, place of residence and previous studies (secondary grammar schools offering general education vs. secondary vocational schools that offer precisely specified vocational education). We have stated that there was statistically significant difference in the overall test efficiency when taking into consideration the criterion – previous studies. Based on this fact we point out that theoretical education supports the ability to abstract rational structure out of the problem situation and so it becomes the fundamental condition for deployment of critical analysis, evaluation and argumentation.

Codes of Ethics and Their Place in Education

Abstract The paper deals with the place of codes of ethics within the system of ethical work. In schools in Olomouc district, we analyzed whether they use codes of ethics and how they deal with them. In this region, there are 153 schools and the sample consisted of 80 schools. The research problem was set whether the teaching profession needs its own code of ethics. The advantages of a mandatory code of ethics or a generated code as their own initiative are analyzed here. The research results indicate that the best way is to provide schools a sample code of ethics and let them adapt it to their specific conditions. The research has been mixed, it includes a quantitative research that describes phenomena using variables and qualitative research interpreting the respondents' views on the relation of ethics and professional conduct. The greatest lack a code of ethics was found in secondary vocational schools. Secondary grammar schools usually treated ethical codes. In most European countries, it represents one of the curriculum options in ethical education.

Testing the Lexical Competence of German in Slovak-German and German(Austrian)-Czech/Slovak Adolescent Bilinguals

Abstract The paper builds on our previous work in the field of bilingual education and/ or the process of natural bilingualisation of Slovak-German bilinguals in Slovak educational diasporas (educational islands) in Austria. Starting point of psycholinguistic testing based on classic American Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ( PPVT -III in its revised and German version) presented in this paper is the thesis of initial lagging behind of linguistic (lexical, grammatical) competence level of language L2 of bilingual children from preschool age in relation to various sociolinguistic variables, which, however, with age may, under certain favourable conditions nearly equal competence of monolinguals and in the area of reception of language even exceed it. For testing the reception levels of German mental lexicon we used two approximately equally large groups of respondents in a bilingual secondary grammar school in Bratislava and Vienna. The hypothesis of our research was that bilingual Austrian-Czech/Slovak bilinguals from Austria would achieve significantly better results than the Slovak-German bilinguals from Slovakia. The test results, however, surprisingly disproved our hypothesis and want to contribute to the debate on setting minimum standards of language competence of bilinguals as well as on optimisation of conditions of bilingual or monolingual education of not only Slovaks abroad.

Are boys that bad? Gender gaps in measured skills, grades and aspirations in Czech elementary schools

This article examines gender gaps in academic performance (grades in mathematics and reading) between boys and girls of ninth-grade elementary schools in the Czech Republic. Our analysis is based on 2003 data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, encompassing the academic performance and family background of ninth-grade pupils. Similar to research on other countries, we find that girls strongly outperform boys in grades in Czech language, but that this gender gap is not explained by measured ability in reading nor on family background or student attributes. We also find gender bias in mathematics grades, after controlling for measured ability and other factors. Girls are also substantially more likely than boys to apply to secondary grammar schools, as well as aspire to a college education, even after controlling for measured ability. We put forward a number of theoretical perspectives that shed light on the possible causes of these empirical findings.

Teaching Programming in the Higher Education not for Engineering Students

The algorithmic thinking is important in all professions, not just in the engineering work. My experiences show that the creating of the algorithmic thinking by the girls in secondary grammar school and in the higher education needs more time and other teaching methods. The numbers of the girls in not-engineering program is higher than in the engineering programs. I evolved a different (game-based) method to teach programming and to help them to acquire the algorithmic thinking easier for my not-engineering students. I thought programming for Economic information technology students with two colleagues. My colleagues used the conventional teaching methods that they use with engineering students in teaching programming and I used my evolved way and we had the same time to teach the learning material. At the end of the semester I separated the paper results of students by different teaching methods and compared. My starting hypothesis was that the group that I used my evolved teaching methods would achieve better results in the papers. Significance level was 5% through the analysis. Significant divergence in knowledge of students who took part on my lectures and the students who followed the conventional way was found. The students could get a one mark better paper results when they followed my method to learn programming and pass the test in higher percent. We can say my evolved teaching method is productive, and the students get better result when writing papers. At the beginning of the second semester more than 70% of students chose my course to learn the next level of programming.

Gender-dependent language anxiety in Polish communication apprehensives

This paper analyzes the relationship between communication apprehension and language anxiety from the perspective of gender. As virtually no empirical studies have addressed the explicit influence of gender on language anxiety in communication apprehensives, this paper proposes that females are generally more sensitive to anxiety, as reflected in various spheres of communication. For this reason, language anxiety levels in communication apprehensive females should be higher, unlike those of communication apprehensive males. Comparisons between them were made using a student t test, two-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey test. The results revealed that Polish communication apprehensive secondary grammar school males and females do not differ in their levels of language anxiety, although nonapprehensive males experience significantly lower language anxiety than their female peers. It is argued that the finding can be attributed to developmental patterns, gender socialization processes, classroom practices, and the uniqueness of the FL learning process, which is a stereotypically female domain.

SVONAR: A New Quantitative Method for Studying Learner Satisfaction

We investigated students’ feelings and well-being during the lesson. We were working on a problem of how to adjust teaching in the secondary school and achieve that students will feel as good as possible and better follow the instruction. A hypothesis was set that, by measuring the desired length of lesson and factors which influence lesson length, we can measure and influence student satisfaction. Based on this hypothesis we investigated the factors which have influence on lesson length in a particular subject. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The subjects were students ofII. gimnazija(secondary grammar school). The responses were analysed to obtain correlations between the factors (average grade in a subject, boredness and likableness of the teacher, length and level of boreness of lesson content, fear of the teacher) and lesson length. Results suggest that, by modifying these factors we could change students’ opinions, that is, increase their willingness to attend classes. The set hypothesis was confirmed and it was shown that by using simple diagrammatic models built on the basis of linear regression we can identify and study the influence of these factors on lesson length.

An Analysis of Drug Abuse at a Selected Secondary School

The article considers an analysis of the abuse of addictive substances by students studying at the Secondary Vocational College and Grammar School in Staré Město. An interview with the school prevention methodologist was carried out during the performance of the research, and a questionnaire survey conducted among 206 students at the school. With a view to the drug issues that are currently targeted at the school according to the school prevention methodologist, the research questionnaire focused first and foremost on analysing the abuse of marijuana, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages by the students at the given school.

DIRICHLET’S PRINCIPLE AS AN ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICAL MODEL IN MATHEMATIC EDUCATION

One important part of nowadays research in theory of mathematics education is focused on searching for some interesting and non-traditional mathematical topics and themes. The topic named the “Dirichlet’s Principle” is aimed to promote and exercise mathematical competencies by using quite simple mathematical rules. The rules were discovered and described in the 19th century by Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805-1859). The article describes case studies as the results of qualitative research of mathematics’ lessons with the topic of Dirichlet’s principle at upper-secondary school and university. The elements of the history of mathematics concerning the topic and Dirichlet’s personality are also involved. Definitions, examples of exercises, tasks and problems are given in the article, too. Recommended methods of teaching with the focus on active methods, which support inquiry based learning, are described. Two case studies, one realized at secondary grammar school (17 year-old pupils) and one at university (student teachers) are described as examples of theoretical and methodological background implementation. The context of tasks and problems which are solved by using Dirichlet’s principle is set in real life situations. The topic content therefore helps to show the importance of mathematical knowledge for everyday life. Key words: case study, elementary mathematical model, Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, problem solving.

Perceived teacher support and language anxiety in Polish secondary school EFL learners

The teacher’s role is vital, both in respect to achieving academic goals, and with regard to the regulation of emotional and social processes. Positive perceptions of teacher support can endorse psychological wellness, and help maintain students’ academic interests, higher academic achievement and more positive peer relationships. The teacher who shows understanding, empathy and consistency in their behavior helps students start forming an identity, which will assist them in coping with stress and anxiety directly connected with the foreign language learning process (language anxiety). The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between teacher support and language anxiety levels. It is speculated that teacher support functions as a buffer from the effects of negative emotions, such as language anxiety experienced in the foreign language learning process. The participants of the study were 621 secondary grammar school students whose responses to a questionnaire were the main data source. The results of the study demonstrate that students with higher levels of teacher support experience lower language anxiety levels in comparison to their peers with lower levels of teacher support. Students who have a feeling that they can count on the instructor’s help, advice, assistance, or backing manage the learning process more successfully. They evaluate their language abilities highly and receive better final grades. Nevertheless, gender and residential location do not moderate teacher support and language anxiety due to the specificity of the sample consisting of novice secondary grammar school students.

Age At Menarche Of School Girls In Urban Benin City

Age at menarche is a well recognized risk factor for breast cancer. This study is to determine what the age at menarche is for girls in urban Benin City in this first decade of the new millennium. A structured questionnaire to obtain the date of birth, date of menarche, height in centimeters, weight in kilograms, level of education and occupation of both parents were self administered to respondents in a secondary grammar school in urban Benin City. Data were analyzed using standard deviation and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). There were a total of 422 respondents ofwhich 357 had attained menarche. Age range at menarche was 9 – 17 years with a mean of 13.16 ±STD 1.22 with a 95% Confidence interval of 13.03 – 13.28 years. Girls from upper social class attained menarche 12 months earlier than those of social class 5. The current age at menarche for the urban Benin City school girls is 13.16 years. With a confidence interval of 13.03 – 13.28 years, it can be regarded that those who saw their period for the first at ages 9, 10 and11 years have attained early menarche and thus have one risk factor for breast cancer.Key Words: Age, Menarche, Urban Benin City.