scholarly journals They prepare you what to say, but do they teach you how to say it?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Dorota Lipinska
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
Type Of School ◽  
School Curricula

It cannot be denied that research on L2 pronunciation has developed greatly in the last decades, nevertheless the conclusions drawn from such studies are rarely applied in practice, especially in the school curricula. Studies carried out in Poland since early 2000s have proven that pronunciation teaching is still almost absent at schools (apart from the academic level) and that L2 learners are highly critical concerning both their own as well as their teachers’ pronunciation in EFL. Although it has been shown that correct pronunciation is crucial in L2 communication and that this element of L2 competence has been included in the oral part of the school-leaving (<em>Matura) </em>exam (CKE, 2013), the popular claim is that it is still difficult to find any elements of pronunciation training in textbooks designed for this kind of schools. The first aim of this paper is to compare the latest versions of compendia (<em>repetytoria </em>in Polish) usually applied in the last class of this type of school. The books are used to revise all the previously acquired knowledge about an L2 and are supposed to include theory and exercises in all skills and elements of a target language. And as learners graduating from upper-secondary school are about nineteen years old and, moreover, some of them may stop learning L2 intensively after graduation, it is the last chance to work seriously on English phonetics. The study results show that in most cases, although a separate pronunciation module is not included, word-lists in compendia are usually accompanied by audio tracks and, in some cases, even IPA is applied. Another aim of the study is to examine whether upper-secondary L2 teachers pay attention to their learners’ pronunciation and train it. An online questionnaire concerning pronunciation teaching practices was completed by 51 teachers from all over Poland and this did not bring optimistic results.

scholarly journals Girls suffer: the prevalence and predicting factors of emotional problems among adolescents during upper secondary school in Norway

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Arvid Haugan ◽  
Per Frostad ◽  
Per-Egil Mjaavatn
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Emotional Problems ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Upper Secondary

AbstractThis longitudinal, quantitative survey examined factors predicting 1077 Norwegian adolescents` emotional problems during Upper Secondary School (grades I–III, approximately 16–19 years old) considering the following research question: “To what extent do students in Upper Secondary School experience emotional problems, and how are these problems predicted by gender, academic/social self-concept, coping beliefs, appearance pressure and school stress?”. The mentioned variables were scrutinized through analysis of frequencies, zero order correlations and structural equation modeling. Results verified previous findings that there was an increase in emotional problems for adolescents, especially among girls. Furthermore, the study results indicate that coping beliefs is a crucial factor when it comes to the perception of pressure and stress, and the subsequent development of emotional health problems.

scholarly journals Genetic determinism in the Finnish upper secondary school biology textbooks

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Aivelo ◽  
Anna Uitto
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Genetic Determinism ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Genetics Education ◽  
Biology Textbooks ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Education Needs ◽  
Gene Models ◽  
School Curricula

Genetics is a fast-developing field and it has been argued that genetics education is lagging behind. Genetics education has, for example, been suspected of indoctrinating strong genetic determinism. As the updating of the national upper secondary school curricula is about to start, we decided to study how the current curriculum manifests in Finnish biology textbooks. We studied the main four textbooks for historical gene models and definitions of genes using content analysis. Hybrid models were pervasive in textbooks. The textbooks expressed sometimes even strong genetic determinism, which might be linked to the dominance of older historical models in the textbooks. We also found instances of determinism which we call ‘weak determinism’: genes were depicted as more important factor than environment in relation to the expressed properties. Subsequently, there were no modern gene models found. We suggest gene models should be presented explicitly to reduce misconceptions about genes. We argue that genetics education needs to take more into account than environmental effects and there needs to be more emphasis on the temporal and developmental aspect of genotype-phenotype link. Specifically in Finland this could be done by a more explicit formulation of the national curriculum.

scholarly journals Ilmastonmuutos lukion opetussuunnitelmissa ja maantieteen oppikirjoissa

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Sirpa Tani ◽  
Markus Hilander ◽  
Julia Leivo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Secondary School Curriculum ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Near Future ◽  
School Curricula

Oppikirjan merkitys suomalaisessa koulussa on perinteisesti ollut – ja yhä edelleen usein on – suuri: se, millaisia sisältöjä ja millaisia painotuksia oppikirjoissa esitetään, vaikuttaa vahvasti opetuksen etenemiseen. Tästä huolimatta oppikirjojen asiasisältöjä on tutkittu verrattain vähän. Ilmastonmuutoksen vakavuus on tunnustettu viime vuosina kansainvälisesti, ja tämä huoli on välittynyt myös koulutuksen ja kasvatuksen kentälle. On pohdittu sitä, mitä ilmastonmuutoksesta tulisi tietää, ja kenen vastuulla ilmastonmuutokseen liittyvien aiheiden opettaminen on. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme, miten ilmastonmuutosta käsitellään kahdessa suomalaisessa lukion pakollisen maantieteen kurssin oppikirjassa (GEOS ja Manner). Tulosten mukaan oppikirjat eroavat selvästi siinä, millaista tietoa ilmastonmuutoksesta ne sisältävät, millaisia havainnollistamisen keinoja niissä käytetään ja millaisen painoarvon ne antavat yksilölle ja yhteiskunnalle ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnässä ja sopeutumisessa. Oppikirjojen yksi suurimmista puutteista on se, että ne eivät esittele riittävästi helposti toteutettavia ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemisen keinoja. Tulevissa lukion opetussuunnitelman perusteissa (2019) ilmastonmuutos mainitaan lähes kuusinkertaisesti aiempaan opetussuunnitelmaan (2015) verrattuna. Tämä voi vaikuttaa lukion maantieteen pakollisen kurssin oppikirjojen sisältöihin lähitulevaisuudessa.   Climate change in upper secondary school curricula and geography textbooks Abstract The role of textbooks has traditionally been – and still very often is – very important in the Finnish education system: the content of textbooks and the emphasis put on them strongly influence the progress of teaching. Nonetheless, relatively little research has been conducted about the content of Finnish textbooks and especially about how climate change is presented in textbooks. In recent years, the seriousness of climate change has been recognized internationally and this concern has also been transmitted to the field of education. Questions such as what is needed to know about climate change and who is responsible for teaching the topics of climate change have already been asked. In this article, we therefore examine how climate change is presented in two Finnish upper secondary school geography textbooks (GEOS and Manner). According to the results, the textbooks clearly differ in the types of information they contain on climate change, the ways that are used to illustrate climate change, and the importance they place on individuals and society in mitigating and adapting to climate change. One of the major shortcomings of the textbooks is that they do not provide enough easy-to-implement ways of mitigating climate change. On the other hand, climate change is mentioned six times more in the forthcoming upper secondary school curriculum (2019) compared to the previous curriculum (2015). This may affect the content of textbooks for the mandatory upper secondary school geography in the near future. Keywords: climate change, upper secondary school geography, curriculum, textbook  

scholarly journals Kenntnis und Gebrauch von Sprichwörtern bei zwei Gruppen österreichischer Jugendlicher

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alja Lipavic-Oštir ◽  
Simona Štavbar
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Comprehensive School ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Rural Environment ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Determining Factor ◽  
Type Of School

The paper presents the results and findings of the study on the levels of knowledge and use of proverbs among students from two secondary education institutions in Austria (a comprehensive school in a small town in Styria and a general upper secondary school in Vienna) based on a relevant survey. The students taking part in the study very surveyed on their knowledge of various proverbs (the proverb database in the questionnaire included 76 entries) and on the meaning of the respective proverbs. Furthermore, the students were encouraged to estimate the frequency of their use of proverbs in speaking and writing. The results show that the "rural environment" factor is not statistically significant with reference to proverb preservation (both as part of the passive as well as the active vocabulary). The male and female students enrolled in the comprehensive school from a small town in Styria know less proverbs compared to their peers, enrolled in the general upper secondary school in Vienna included in the study. What is more, the students enrolled in the comprehensive school from a small town in Styria also know the meaning and use proverbs in speaking and/or writing less frequently than their peers from the general upper secondary school in Vienna included in the study. Rather than the aspect of "rural environment", the results hint at the aspect of "type of school" to be the determining factor (comprehensive school vs. general upper secondary school). Further analyses, including additional test subjects, would provide more insight on whether the relations between proverbs and the linguistic as well as intellectual education are prominent to such an extent that a distinct degree of reception and production of proverbs could be linked to a particular type of school. The study also features an analysis of the difference between the students with reference to gender (male vs. female), with the results showing a relatively consistent distribution.

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