4 research outputs found
"The Joy of Reading" - An Intervention Program to Increase Reading Motivation for Pupils with Learning Disabilities
This study aimed to examine the effect of an intensive reading intervention on reading motivation. The intervention program, ("Joy of Reading"), was implemented in six 2nd grade special education classes for pupils with learning disabilities, compared to a control group (n=108 pupils in total). The intervention program was created based on learning principles that were proven effective among children with learning disabilities, included intensive exposure to daily structured reading activities, encouraging pupils' involvement in various reading and writing activities. The reading activities included traditional children's literature from all over the world, exposing the pupils to different cultures while being sensitive to their own cultural values. Additional components, such as systematic exposure to schema story discourse, linguistic enrichment and social values, were added through various activities. At the end of the school year, both groups were assessed (the intervention and control groups) using three measures: Book preference, Quality of reading and Quantity of reading. The results indicate a significant difference between the intervention group and the control group in all three measures, confirming the hypothesis that intensive, systematic and structured exposure to reading helps pupils with learning disabilities adopt reading habits as an enjoyable way to spend time. The results also show a relatively more active reading routine is established enabling the improvement of readers' ability to reconstruct stories, analyze what they read, recommend it to their peers, and explain their choice Keywords: Joy of reading, Quantity of reading, Quality of reading, Reading motivatio
The interplay of bilingualism, executive functions and creativity in problem solving among male university students
The present study explores the interplay among bilingualism, executive functions and creativity in problem solving among adult male university students. In this context, the associations between two factors critical for understanding the topic, i.e. type of bilingualism (i.e. balanced versus non-balanced bilingualism) and type of creative thinking (i.e. convergent versus divergent thinking) are examined, as well. 28 Russian/Hebrew/English trilinguals (balanced Russian/Hebrew bilinguals), and 25 non-balanced Hebrew/English bilinguals participated in the study. All participants performed several standard tasks on executive functions (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Eriksen flanker task, digit span test, Corsi block-tapping test) and two tests on creativity: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural Form A) and Remote Associates Test (in appropriate languages). The findings showed that the Russian-speaking participants performed better on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, particularly in flexibility and fluency measures. On the Remote Associates Test, balanced bilinguals outperformed non-balanced bilinguals in the English version and exhibited the same results in the Hebrew version of the test. In this case, there were significant correlations between the Remote Associates Test results in all three languages in the Russian group. Thus, balanced bilingualism seems to be also characterized by a well-organized language system in which all of the individual’s languages are interconnected. This appears to be a significant factor in the performance of balanced bilinguals on the Remote Associates Test in the different languages. In addition, the findings seem to confirm the hypothesis that balanced bilingualism positively influences divergent thinking. The hypothesis that performance of bilinguals on creativity tasks is linked to distinctions in the development of their executive functions was not confirmed.
Santrauka
Šiame tyrime nagrinėjama sąveika tarp dvikalbystės, vykdomųjų funkcijų ir kūrybiškumo sprendžiant universiteto vyriškosios lyties studentų problemas. Šiame kontekste taip pat analizuojami du veiksniai, svarbūs siekiant suprasti šią temą, t. y. dvikalbystės rūšį (vienodai gerai įvaldyta versus nevienodai gerai įvaldyta dvikalbystė) ir kūrybinio mąstymo tipą (konvergentinis versus divergentinis mąstymas). Tyrime dalyvavo 28 asmenys, kalbantys trimis kalbomis – rusų, hebrajų ir anglų (asmenys, vienodai gerai kalbantys dviem kalbomis, t. y. rusų ir hebrajų) bei 25 asmenys, nevienodai gerai kalbantys hebrajų ir anglų kalbomis. Visi dalyviai atliko keletą standartinių užduočių, skirtų vykdomosioms funkcijoms (Viskonsino kortelių atrankos testas, Erikseno šoninių rodyklių užduotis, skaičių eilės pakartojimo testas, Corsio blokelių jungimo testas) bei du kūrybiškumo testus – Torrance’o kūrybinio mąstymo testą (paveikslas A) ir tolimų asociacijų testą (skirtą atitinkamoms kalboms). Rezultatai atskleidė, kad rusakalbiams dalyviams geriau sekėsi atlikti Torrence’o kūrybinio mąstymo testą, ypač lankstumo ir sklandumo atžvilgiais. Naudojant tolimų asociacijų testą vienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantys asmenys sulaukė didesnės sėkmės nei nevienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantys asmenys, atlikę anglišką testo versiją ir pademonstravę tokius pat rezultatus, spręsdami hebrajišką testo versiją. Šiuo atveju esama reikšmingų koreliacijų tarp tolimų asociacijų testo rezultatų visų trijų kalbų atžvilgiu rusakalbių grupėje. Vadinasi, atrodo, kad vienodai gerai įvaldytą dvikalbystę taip pat charakterizuoja tinkamai organizuota kalbų sistema, kurioje visos kalbos, kuriomis kalba asmuo, yra tarpusavyje susijusios. Regis, tai reikšmingas veiksnys vienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantiems asmenims, atlikusiems tolimų asociacijų testą skirtingomis kalbomis. Be to, atrodo, kad rezultatai patvirtina hipotezę, jog vienodai gerai įvaldyta dvikalbystė daro teigiamą įtaką divergentiniam mąstymui. Nebuvo patvirtinta hipotezė, esą dviem kalbomis kalbančių asmenų, atliekančių kūrybines užduotis, sėkmė ar nesėkmė yra susijusi su skirtumais, plėtojant jų vykdomąsias funkcijas.
Reikšminiai žodžiai: dvikalbystė, pažinimas, konvergentinis mąstymas, kūrybiškumas, divergentinis mąstymas, vykdomosios funkcijos