Language dominance in bilingual speakers of Italian and Croatian language

Zbog visoke varijabilnosti unutar dvojezične populacije, poznavanje jezične dominantnosti ključno je i u istraživanjima i za prikladnu jezičnu procjenu. U istraživanjima je takvo poznavanje ključno radi usporedbe ispitanika koji formiraju ujednačenu skupinu, ili radi njihova promatranja s obzirom na jezičnu dominantnost. Za valjanu jezičnu procjenu važno je moći ispitati jezične vještine dvojezične djece te odrediti dominantni jezik. Djeca koja su od najranije dobi izložena dvama jezicima, mogu pokazivati kašnjenja u jezicima koje paralelno usvajaju. Neka djeca ne pokazuju gotovo nikakve razlike u razinama jezičnog znanja, a neka pokazuju značajnije teškoće. Bez spoznaje o jezičnim znanjima u drugom jeziku nemoguće je odrediti jesu li ti rezultati posljedica lošijeg znanja jednog jezika ili općenitih teškoća u jezičnom razvoju. To dovodi do teškoća i u dvojezičnim područjima u Hrvatskoj, kao što su dvojezična područja u Rijeci i Istri, gdje se govore hrvatski i talijanski jezik. Brojni su načini na koje se pokušavalo odrediti jezičnu dominantnost dvojezičnih govornika, ali ne i jedinstvena općeprihvaćena procedura. U ovom istraživanju temeljni kriterij je razlika u standardnim rezultatima hrvatske i talijanske inačice testa TROG. Ispitano je 56 sudionika koji pohađaju vrtićke skupine s programom na talijanskom jeziku, a prepoznati su kao kandidati za ujednačenu dvojezičnost (procjena odgojitelja). Primjenom odabranog kriterija, oko 70 % djece svrstano je u skupinu ujednačenih dvojezičnih govornika, a nisu se pokazale razlike između sudionika iz Rijeke i Poreča i okolice.Because of the high variability in any bilingual population, it is of a great importance to control for language dominance in both research and language assessment. This control is crucial in research in order to form unified groups of participants according to language dominance. In the language assessment of bilingual children, determining language dominance should be a priority. Children exposed to two languages from an early age may acquire them at a slower rate when compared to their monolingual piers. While this lag is hardly noticeable in some children, for others it is significant. Without knowledge about the child’s language skills in the other, non-assessed language, it is impossible to determine if the results of language assessment point to the dominance of one language over another or general language difficulties. In bilingual areas of Croatia, such as Rijeka and Istria, this can be quite a challenge. While language dominance has generally been measured using a large number of different methods, there is no universally accepted procedure. This research uses the results of the Italian and Croatian versions of the TROG test to determine language dominance. Participants were 56 preschool-aged children attending kindergartens with an Italian language programme in Rijeka and Istria. Participants were preselected by their kindergarten teachers as children that might be balanced bilinguals. Using the differences in results between both TROG tests, approximately 70% of children were placed in a balanced bilinguals group. No differences were shown between groups of participants from Rijeka and Istria

Language dominance in bilingual speakers of Italian and Croatian language

Zbog visoke varijabilnosti unutar dvojezične populacije, poznavanje jezične dominantnosti ključno je i u istraživanjima i za prikladnu jezičnu procjenu. U istraživanjima je takvo poznavanje ključno radi usporedbe ispitanika koji formiraju ujednačenu skupinu, ili radi njihova promatranja s obzirom na jezičnu dominantnost. Za valjanu jezičnu procjenu važno je moći ispitati jezične vještine dvojezične djece te odrediti dominantni jezik. Djeca koja su od najranije dobi izložena dvama jezicima, mogu pokazivati kašnjenja u jezicima koje paralelno usvajaju. Neka djeca ne pokazuju gotovo nikakve razlike u razinama jezičnog znanja, a neka pokazuju značajnije teškoće. Bez spoznaje o jezičnim znanjima u drugom jeziku nemoguće je odrediti jesu li ti rezultati posljedica lošijeg znanja jednog jezika ili općenitih teškoća u jezičnom razvoju. To dovodi do teškoća i u dvojezičnim područjima u Hrvatskoj, kao što su dvojezična područja u Rijeci i Istri, gdje se govore hrvatski i talijanski jezik. Brojni su načini na koje se pokušavalo odrediti jezičnu dominantnost dvojezičnih govornika, ali ne i jedinstvena općeprihvaćena procedura. U ovom istraživanju temeljni kriterij je razlika u standardnim rezultatima hrvatske i talijanske inačice testa TROG. Ispitano je 56 sudionika koji pohađaju vrtićke skupine s programom na talijanskom jeziku, a prepoznati su kao kandidati za ujednačenu dvojezičnost (procjena odgojitelja). Primjenom odabranog kriterija, oko 70 % djece svrstano je u skupinu ujednačenih dvojezičnih govornika, a nisu se pokazale razlike između sudionika iz Rijeke i Poreča i okolice.Because of the high variability in any bilingual population, it is of a great importance to control for language dominance in both research and language assessment. This control is crucial in research in order to form unified groups of participants according to language dominance. In the language assessment of bilingual children, determining language dominance should be a priority. Children exposed to two languages from an early age may acquire them at a slower rate when compared to their monolingual piers. While this lag is hardly noticeable in some children, for others it is significant. Without knowledge about the child’s language skills in the other, non-assessed language, it is impossible to determine if the results of language assessment point to the dominance of one language over another or general language difficulties. In bilingual areas of Croatia, such as Rijeka and Istria, this can be quite a challenge. While language dominance has generally been measured using a large number of different methods, there is no universally accepted procedure. This research uses the results of the Italian and Croatian versions of the TROG test to determine language dominance. Participants were 56 preschool-aged children attending kindergartens with an Italian language programme in Rijeka and Istria. Participants were preselected by their kindergarten teachers as children that might be balanced bilinguals. Using the differences in results between both TROG tests, approximately 70% of children were placed in a balanced bilinguals group. No differences were shown between groups of participants from Rijeka and Istria

Investigation of the radical scavenging potential of vanillin-based pyrido-dipyrimidines: experimental and in silico approach

Antioxidants have a significant contribution in the cell protection against free radicals which may induce oxidative stress, and permanently damage the cells causing different disorders such as tumors, degenerative diseases, and accelerated aging. Nowadays, a multi-functionalized heterocyclic framework plays an important role in drug development, and it is of great importance in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry. Encouraged by the bioactivity of the pyrido-dipyrimidine scaffold and vanillin core, herein, we made an effort to thoroughly investigate the antioxidant potential of the vanillin-based pyrido-dipyrimidines A–E to reveal novel promising free radical inhibitors. The structural analysis and the antioxidant action of the investigated molecules were performed in silico by DFT calculations. Studied compounds were screened for their antioxidant capacity using in vitro ABTS and DPPH assays. All the investigated compounds showed remarkable antioxidant activity, especially derivative A exhibiting inhibition of free radicals at the IC50 value (ABTS and DPPH assay 0.1 mg ml−1 and 0.081 mg ml−1, respectively). Compound A has higher TEAC values implying its stronger antioxidant activity compared to a trolox standard. The applied calculation method and in vitro tests confirmed that compound A has a strong potential against free radicals and may be a novel candidate for application in antioxidant therapy