Weakening of the cognition and height association from 1957 to 2018: findings from four British birth cohort studies

Background: On average taller individuals have been repeatedly found to have higher scores on cognitive assessments, yet it is unclear whether the magnitude of this association has systematically changed across time. Recent studies have found that this association can be explained by genetic factors, yet this does not preclude the influence of environmental or social factors that affect the genome. We tested whether the association between cognition and height has weakened across time. Methods: We used four British birth cohorts (born 1946c, 1958c, 1970c, and 2001) with comparable data available at 10/11 and 14/17 years (N = 41,418). Height was measured at each age, and cognition via verbal reasoning (10/11 years) and vocabulary/comprehension scales (14/16 years) and via mathematical tests at both ages. We constructed age-adjusted height and cognition measures and converted cognition measures to ridit scores to aid interpretation. We then used linear and quantile regression to investigate whether cross-sectional associations between cognition and height differed in each cohort, sequentially adjusting for sex, childhood socioeconomic position, and maternal and paternal height. Results: Taller participants had higher mean cognitive assessment scores in childhood and adolescence, yet the associations were weaker in later (1970c and 2001c) cohorts. After adjustment for sex the mean difference in height comparing the highest with lowest verbal cognition scores at 10/11 years was 0.57 SD (95% CI = 0.44, 0.7) in the 1946c, 0.59 SD (0.52, 0.65) in the 1958c, 0.47 SD (0.41, 0.53) in the 1970c, 0.30 SD (0.23, 0.37) in the 2001c. This pattern of change in association was observed across all specifications (ages 10/11 and 14/16 years, and for each cognition measure used), and was robust to adjustment for social class and parental height, and modelling of plausible missing-not-at-random scenarios. Quantile regression suggested that these average differences were driven by differences in the lower centiles of height. This pattern was most evident in older cohorts. For example, in 1958c, the difference in height was 0.73 SD (0.64, 0.82) at the 10th centile, yet 0.46 SD (0.34, 0.57) at the 90th centile. Conclusion: Associations between height and cognitive assessment scores in childhood-adolescence weakened by at least half from 1957 to 2018. These results support the notion that environmental and social change can markedly weaken associations between cognition and other traits.

The Effects of Different Caption Modes on Chinese English Learners' Content and Vocabulary Comprehension

This empirical study investigates the effects of different caption modes on the content and vocabulary comprehension by Chinese English learners with different levels of English proficiency. The results show that the full captioned group performed better on content comprehension than the keyword group, while no significant difference was found on vocabulary comprehension between the two captioned groups. For the beginning-level learners, the full captioned groups did better both in content and vocabulary comprehension than the keyword caption group; meanwhile, for the advanced learners, both full captions and keyword captions similarly facilitated content and vocabulary comprehension. Therefore, the present findings suggest that keyword captioning is insufficient for foreign language learners' content comprehension, yet might be appropriate for their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, choosing the content caption mode for teaching EFL depends on students' English proficiency and their learning purpose.

The Effects of Different Caption Modes on Chinese English Learners’ Content and Vocabulary Comprehension

This empirical study investigates the effects of different caption modes on the content and vocabulary comprehension by Chinese English learners with different levels of English proficiency. The results show that the full captioned group performed better on content comprehension than the keyword group, while no significant difference was found on vocabulary comprehension between the two captioned groups. For the beginning-level learners, the full captioned group did better both in content and vocabulary comprehension than the keyword captioned group; meanwhile, for the advanced learners, both full captions and keyword captions similarly facilitated content and vocabulary comprehension. Therefore, the present findings suggest that keyword captioning is insufficient for foreign language learners’ content comprehension, yet might be appropriate for their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, choosing the content caption mode for teaching EFL depends on students’ English proficiency and their learning purpose.

Pembelajaran Kosakata Arab pada Siswa Madrasah Aliyah di Kabupaten Banyumas

In Indonesian Muslim society, mastery of Arabic is very important to improve the quality of Islamic education. Arabic can be an effective tool for studying Islamic literature which contains many educational values. In Arabic learning activities, there are two important elements to be learned: grammar and vocabulary. This study aims to analyze the various methods used by teachers and students in improving Arabic vocabulary comprehension for Madrasah Aliyah students in Banyumas Regency. The data was collected through documentation, observation and interviews with the teachers and students. Data analysis is done through description. The results showed that there are many ways of learning vocabulary (mufradat) such as; pointing the objects from to show the vocabulary (ibra>z), demonstrating (tamsil), role playing (lu'bah ad-daur), mentioning antonyms (zikr al-mutadat), mentioning synonyms (zikr al-mutaradifat), association/collection (tada'il al-ma'ani), mentioning the origin of the sentence (al-as{l) and its derivation (musytaqat), the teacher explains a vocabulary through something related words, repeating/multiplying the reading, looking for new vocabulary in the dictionary and translating activities. In learning Arabic, vocabulary comprehension or Mufradat still uses the conventional methods which causes the mastery of Arabic vocabulary (mufradat) less optimal.

Individual Differences in Phonetic Plasticity Across Native and Nonnative Contexts

Purpose Individuals vary in their ability to learn the sound categories of nonnative languages (nonnative phonetic learning) and to adapt to systematic differences, such as accent or talker differences, in the sounds of their native language (native phonetic learning). Difficulties with both native and nonnative learning are well attested in people with speech and language disorders relative to healthy controls, but substantial variability in these skills is also present in the typical population. This study examines whether this individual variability can be organized around a common ability that we label “phonetic plasticity.” Method A group of healthy young adult participants ( N = 80), who attested they had no history of speech, language, neurological, or hearing deficits, completed two tasks of nonnative phonetic category learning, two tasks of learning to cope with variation in their native language, and seven tasks of other cognitive functions, distributed across two sessions. Performance on these 11 tasks was compared, and exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the extent to which performance on each task was related to the others. Results Performance on both tasks of native learning and an explicit task of nonnative learning patterned together, suggesting that native and nonnative phonetic learning tasks rely on a shared underlying capacity, which is termed “phonetic plasticity.” Phonetic plasticity was also associated with vocabulary, comprehension of words in background noise, and, more weakly, working memory. Conclusions Nonnative sound learning and native language speech perception may rely on shared phonetic plasticity. The results suggest that good learners of native language phonetic variation are also good learners of nonnative phonetic contrasts. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16606778

Predictors of reading comprehension in deaf and hearing bilinguals

This study investigates reading comprehension in adult deaf and hearing readers. Using correlational analysis and stepwise regression, we assess the contribution of English language variables (e.g., vocabulary comprehension, reading volume, and phonological awareness), cognitive variables (e.g., working memory (WM), nonverbal intelligence, and executive function), and language experience (e.g., language acquisition and orthographic experience) in predicting reading comprehension in deaf and hearing adult bilinguals (native American Sign Language (ASL) signers, non-native ASL signers, and Chinese–English bilinguals (CEB)), and monolingual (ML) controls. For all four groups, vocabulary knowledge was a strong contributor to reading comprehension. Monolingual English speakers and non-native deaf signers also showed contributions from WM and spoken language phonological awareness. In contrast, CEB showed contributions of lexical strategies in English reading comprehension. These cross-group comparisons demonstrate how the inclusion of multiple participant groups helps us to further refine our understanding of how language and sensory experiences influence reading comprehension.

Neural Speech Encoding in Infancy Predicts Future Language and Communication Difficulties

Purpose This study aimed to construct an objective and cost-effective prognostic tool to forecast the future language and communication abilities of individual infants. Method Speech-evoked electroencephalography (EEG) data were collected from 118 infants during the first year of life during the exposure to speech stimuli that differed principally in fundamental frequency. Language and communication outcomes, namely four subtests of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI)–Chinese version, were collected between 3 and 16 months after initial EEG testing. In the two-way classification, children were classified into those with future MCDI scores below the 25th percentile for their age group and those above the same percentile, while the three-way classification classified them into < 25th, 25th–75th, and > 75th percentile groups. Machine learning (support vector machine classification) with cross validation was used for model construction. Statistical significance was assessed. Results Across the four MCDI measures of early gestures, later gestures, vocabulary comprehension, and vocabulary production, the areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of the predictive models were respectively .92 ± .031, .91 ± .028, .90 ± .035, and .89 ± .039 for the two-way classification, and .88 ± .041, .89 ± .033, .85 ± .047, and .85 ± .050 for the three-way classification ( p < .01 for all models). Conclusions Future language and communication variability can be predicted by an objective EEG method that indicates the function of the auditory neural pathway foundational to spoken language development, with precision sufficient for individual predictions. Longer-term research is needed to assess predictability of categorical diagnostic status. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15138546

An Examination of the Use of a Vocabulary Instruction Strategy (Content Acquisition Podcast) on the Vocabulary Comprehension of Students, Through the Use of Action Research Methods

Academic vocabulary is a strong indicator of a student’s ability to learn subject content. Subject mastery is a strong predictor of academic achievement. Academic vocabulary comprehension is a critical component of academic success that is required for making meaning of new information, and demonstrating mastery of academic concepts through the construction of meaningful, articulate assessment responses. Repeated exposures to academic vocabulary and multiple opportunities to practice using academic vocabulary are likely integral to the ability to use academic texts in a meaningful way (Townsend, Filipinni, Collins, & Biancarosa, 2012). This paper reports of an examination of the effect of the use of CAPs (Content Acquisition Podcasts) on vocabulary acquisition among two groups of students, both inclusive, both including ELL students, by two student researchers.

STORYTELLING USING RECONSTRUCTED INDONESIAN FOLKTALES IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION TO IMPROVE THE READING SKILL OF PRIMARY 2 STUDENTS IN SCHOOL X

<p>Folktales are stories originating in people’s culture, typically passed on by word of mouth before writing systems were developed. It has been known that children stories are never simple stories. The stories generally contain edifying elements and moral lesson to educate children and shape their characters. These elements are even stronger in folktales as they are potential medium to carry moral education from generation to generation. Unfortunately, not all of them contain teachings that are relevant to today’s values and even contain teachings that have unconstructive values. This study used reconstructed folktalesNilam Kandungas the purposes of this study were: (1) to describe the use and implementation of storytelling using Indonesian folktales in order to improve English reading skill towards English comprehension text, vocabulary and fluency of primary 2 students, (2) to analyze primary 2 students’ reading comprehension, vocabulary and fluency as they engaged in reading the Indonesian folktales through storytelling method, (3) to identify problems and obstacles that happened during the implementation process. The subjects of this study are Primary 2 students consist of 26 students. The research used classroom action research design and the instruments are tests.The results showed that (1) students’ vocabulary, comprehension and fluency as parts in reading skills are enhanced, (2) students’ sense of moral education is enhanced (3) storytelling using Indonesian folktales is attractive to students in reading English texts.</p><p><strong>BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT:</strong> Cerita rakyat adalah cerita asli dalam kebudayaan, biasanya diteruskan dari mulut ke mulut sebelum sistem menulis dikembangkan. Sudah sejak dahulu diketahui bahwa cerita anak-anak tidaklah pernah cerita yang sederhana. Cerita-cerita tersebut pada umumnya mengandung unsur-unsur yang dapat mempengaruhi pikiran dan pelajaran moral untuk mendidik dan membentuk karakter. Unsur-unsur ini bahkan lebih kuat di dalam cerita rakyat karena cerita rakyat adalah perantara yang berpotensi untuk membawa pendidikan moral dari generasi ke generasi. Sayangnya, tidak semuanya mengandung pengajaran yang masih relevan dengan nilai-nilai kini dan bahkan mengandung pengajaran yang memiliki nilai-nilai yang bersifat tidak membangun.Studi ini menggunakan cerita rakyat terkonstruksi ulang <em>Nilam Kandung</em>karena tujuan dari studi ini adalah: (1) mendeskripsikan penggunaan dan penerapan bercerita menggunakan cerita rakyat Indonesia untuk meningkatkan kemampuan membaca Bahasa Inggris dalam memahami bacaan, perbendaharaan kata dan kelancaran membaca dalam Bahasa Inggris siswa kelas 2, (2) menganalisa kemampuan membaca bahasa Inggris siswa kelas 2 ketika mereka sedang terlibat dalam membaca cerita rakyat Indonesia melalui metode bercerita, (3) mengidentifikasikan masalah dan rintangan-rintangan yang terjadi selama proses pelaksanaan.Subjek dari studi ini adalah siswa kelas 2 yang terdiri dari 26 siswa. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan penelitian tindakan kelas. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) keterampilan membaca siswa perbendaharaan kata, memahami bacaan dan kelancaran membaca meningkat, (2) pendidikan moral siswa meningkat(3) bercerita dengan menggunakan cerita rakyat Indonesia lebih menarik bagi siswa dalam membaca teks Bahasa Inggris.</p>