The relationship between the impressive and the expressive component of written speech and the level of executive functions in children aged 3-11 years

From the perspective of Lev S. Vygotsky’s theory, literacy develops as a tool for executing the task of communicating with the use of script and this, in consequence, results in the development of a new higher mental function—written speech (WS). Both components of this function improve in parallel with acquisition of reading and writing: the impressive component (comprehending the meaning of a written text) and the expressive component (conveying meaning in a written form). These components reflect two directions of one process of communication and are like ‘two sides of the same coin’. Reading and writing demand not only written speech activity but also activity of other mental functions, especially those necessary for planning and controlling behavior which are known as executive functions (EF). Little is found about how EF and two components of WS interact between the age of 3 and 11 when they develop quickly. The main research hypotheses are that (1) the relative dominance of the impres-sive and the expressive component of written speech is different across age groups, and that (2) the level of EF development is connected to patterns of dominance between the impressive and the expres-sive component of WS. A database from a previous cross-sectional study of 1103 healthy, Polish speak-ing children between the age of 3 and 11 was used for exploratory analysis of the EF-WS relationship. The subjects were examined with the use of the Literacy Assessment Battery and the paradigm of di-mensional change card sort. The conducted analyses of the results confirmed both research hypotheses. Differences in the relative dominance of either the impressive or the expressive component of WS sug-gest that advances in the reading ability and in the writing ability cannot have the same dynamics. In turn, the level of EF development seems to predict the relation between both WS components most strongly in the age periods where the most dynamic progress in inhibitory control or cognitive flexibility takes place. Further longitudinal studies with a wider range of EF measures, which would give an oppor-tunity to explore causal relations between EF and WS, could be promising, especially in view of identifi-cation of literacy development factors.Badania zostały przeprowadzone w ramach projektu badawczego nr N N106 047839 pt. Konstrukcja narzędzi do psychologicznej diagnozy gotowości do uczenia się dzieci w wieku od 3 do 11 roku życia sfinansowanego przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego. Kierownik projektu: dr Sławomir Jabłoński, Instytut Psychologii UAM. Zespół: prof. dr hab. Anna I. Brzezińska – UAM, dr Izabela Kaczmarek – Uniwersytet Medyczny w Poznaniu, dr Paweł Kleka - UAM

A vision of the twenty-first century school: teacher key competencies and the new function of education

The authors present a vision of the school as an environment tailored to the developmental needs of students and teachers. They argue that only such an environment creates conditions promoting the achievement of the goal of the twenty-first century education, i.e. a gradual approximation of children’s functions to the mature behavior of an adult. Furthermore, the article describes the key elements of the school functioning as an organization fl exibly adapting its structure and actions to the dynamic developmental situation of students and teachers. In the last part of the text, the authors defi ne the necessary competencies of teachers as those who constitute the core of such an organization

INHIBITORY CONTROL AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT AMONG 3- TO 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

In the article, two competences crucial for the development of school readiness have been analyzed: literacy and inhibitory control. The author, availing himself of the premises of Lev S. Vygotsky’s theory, views the process of acquiring reading and writing skills as the development of a higher mental function – written speech. Early stages of the development of this function coincide also with the period of forming the so-called readiness to acquire reading and writing skills. It enables treating both the period before and after the beginning of formal training in literacy skills as the time during which the same devel-opmental process operates. In addition, the author analyzes the importance of inhibitory control changes for consecutive stages of written speech development in preschoolers. This one of the most pivotal components of executive functions can be investigated already in two and a half year old children, enabling early identification of groups at risk of school difficulties. Assumptions concerning relationships between inhibitory control and literacy in the process of development were verified in a study of 336 children at the age of 3-5, with the use of Children Card Sort and Literacy Assessment Battery.Badania zostały przeprowadzone w ramach projektu badawczego nr N N106 047839 pt. Konstrukcja narzędzi do psychologicznej diagnozy gotowości do uczenia się dzieci w wieku od 3 do 11 roku życia sfinansowanego przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego. Kierownik projektu: dr Sławomir Jabłoński, Instytut Psychologii UAM; prof. dr hab. Anna I. Brzezińska – UAM, dr Izabela Kaczmarek – Uniwersytet Medyczny w Poznaniu

Assessment of literacy development from cultural-historical perspective

Current research on literacy reduces reading and writing to two separate cognitive processes. In the opinion of Vygotsky, along with progress in using script children develop new higher mental function called written speech. In the opinion of Vygotsky, the development of written speech starts not simultaneously with the beginning of reading and writing instruction but much earlier when children collect their first experiences with a script. It seems to be more complete view on literacy than presented in most research because it including not only cognitive but also emotional processes and communicative context. This approach is illustrated in the study of 944 children aged from 3 to 8 years examined with the use of Literacy Assessment Battery designed with respect of Vygotsky’s theory. Results showed that the battery is a promising tool of literacy assessment especially during kindergarten ages.The studies were carried out under the research project no. N N106 047839 entitled: “Construction of tools for psychological assessment of learning readiness of children between the age of 3 and 11”, financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education

Wiek rozpoczęcia nauki w szkole podstawowej a poziom rozwoju mowy pisanej u uczniów klas I-III: analiza porównawcza

W artykule podjęto problem gotowości szkolnej dzieci z klas 1–3, różniących się wiekiem rozpoczęcia edukacji w szkole. Skupiono się na analizie poziomu umiejętności posługiwania się pismem w porównywanych grupach. Czytanie i pisanie zostały przedstawione z perspektywy kulturowo-historycznej psychologii Lwa Wygotskiego jako dwie formy wyższej funkcji psychicznej – mowy pisanej i jednocześnie jako główne wskaźniki interakcyjnie ujętej gotowości szkolnej w pierwszych latach edukacji wczesnoszkolnej. W celu identyfikacji różnic pomiędzy dziećmi, które rozpoczęły naukę w szkole w wieku 6 i 7 lat, poddano analizie wyniki badania grupy 314 uczniów klas 1–3. Badanie przeprowadzono z wykorzystaniem Baterii do oceny czytania i pisania oraz Testu matryc Ravena w wersji kolorowej. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują na brak różnic w zakresie poziomu mowy pisanej w badanych grupach. Najbardziej prawdopodobnym tego powodem jest elitarność grupy dzieci posłanych do szkoły w wieku 6 lat. Cechuje je bowiem wyższy poziom inteligencji płynnej oraz wyższy poziom wykształcenia ich rodziców.Artykuł przygotowany na podstawie wyników badania przeprowadzonego w ramach projektu badawczego „Konstrukcja narzędzi do psychologicznej diagnozy gotowości do uczenia się dzieci w wieku od 3. do 11. roku życia”, sfinansowanego przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego (nr N N106 047839)

Miejsce kompetencji społeczno-emocjonalnych w edukacji wczesnoszkolnej

W artykule chcemy podjąć refleksję się nad tym, czym są i jak kształtują się kompetencje społeczno-emocjonalne (KSE) oraz w jaki sposób można wspierać ich rozwój w ramach pierwszego etapu edukacji szkolnej. Analizujemy pięć kategorii KSE, które są najczęściej wskazywane w konstruowanych programach diagnostycznych i profilaktyczno-interwencyjnych: 1) samoświadomość, 2) świadomość społeczna, 3) odpowiedzialne podejmowanie decyzji, 4) zarządzanie własnym zachowaniem oraz 5) zarządzanie relacjami z innymi. Artykuł zawiera propozycję odniesienia KSE do podstawowych funkcji psychicznych niezbędnych do sprawnej realizacji zadań przez człowieka. Prezentujemy powody wysokiego znaczenia KSE w edukacji wczesnoszkolnej oraz wskazujemy rozbieżności między miejscem obecnie zajmowanym przez KSE a miejscem należnym tym kompetencjom. Analizujemy też możliwe sposoby rozwijania kompetencji społeczno-emocjonalnych w procesie edukacji

An attempt to control Cameraria ohridella using an attract-and-kill technique

This study estimates the efficacy of an attract-and-kill (A&K) technique to control the horse chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella Deschka and Dimic (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae), an invasive insect pest of the horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum L. (Hippocastanaceae). The A&K formulation was dispensed as 50 μl droplets of paste-like matrix, containing C. ohridella sex pheromone, (8E,10Z)-tetradeca-8,10-dienal (85% + pure; 0.16% w/w) and a fast acting contact toxicant, pyrocides (94% pure; 6% w/w), applied directly to the bark of the trees. It was tested in 2003 at rates of 30 and 45 droplets/tree at the Ostrobramska site and at rates of 30, 60 and 90 droplets/tree at the Woloska site in Warsaw, Poland, for the first insect generation. A set of untreated plots (0 droplets/tree) was established at each site as well. The treatment efficacy was estimated using two indices: (1) moth catches in pheromone traps and (2) the number of mines per leaf. Trap catches were significantly higher in the untreated plots than in the treated plots regardless of the application rate in all sites. However, there were no significant differences in leaf damage amongst all plots on each site. At the “Lazienki Krolewskie” park the attractiveness of two types of pheromone sources were compared: traps were baited with rubber septum lures or with A&K droplets. The catches of C. ohridella in traps baited with lures were lower than captures in A&K droplet-baited traps, but the difference was not significant. Possible reasons for the low efficacy of the A&K method in management of C. ohridella and reducing leaf damage are discussed

Children with epilepsy: specific learning difficulties

The problems of children and adolescents with epilepsy pose an important challenge for educational systems around the world. Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease, which occurs in up to 1% of children and adolescents. The largest incidence of onset is from early childhood to adolescence, therefore, mostly the emotional, cognitive and social problems experienced by patients coincide with the school period. It is commonly believed, as indicated by research, that some of the children and adolescents with epilepsy experience learning difficulties and school problems. This article presents the educational problems of a group of patients in Poland with epilepsy and the co-occurring specific difficulties in the acquisition of scholastic skills like dyslexia, spelling disorder or dyscalculia. The work is a review with an analysis of a case study

Efficiency of executive functions and literacy among children with specific language impairment

Recently, extensive studies investigating executive functions in children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been performed. In the present study, we compared the level of executive functions (i.e., inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility) and literacy skills between 53 healthy children and 53 children with SLIs between the ages of 3 and 11 years. The groups were matched by age, gender and parental education level. Executive functions were assessed using the Children Card Sort, and the Literacy Assessment Battery was applied to measure literacy skills. The patients with SLI displayed a significantly lower level of cognitive flexibility than that of the healthy children. No significant differences were observed between the groups in inhibitory control and the majority of literacy skills. The results confirm the hypothesis that patients with SLI experience difficulties in cognitive flexibility.Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, under grant no. NN106 047839 en-titled: Construction of tools for psychological assessment of learning readiness of children between the age of 3 and 11