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- Author or Editor: Csaba Kálmán x
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The number of studies examining teachers’ motivation and motivating impact on adult L2 learners in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts is limited, while research carried out in a corporate environment is practically non-existent. This paper attempts to fill this niche by presenting the results of an interview study conducted with 18 EFL teachers who work in companies employing over 250 workers in Hungary. The aim of the study was to explore how motivated corporate language teachers were in their jobs, how they perceived their motivating impact, and what strategies they used to motivate their adult learners of English. The results reveal that EFL teachers in this context are highly motivated due to the freedom, flexibility, and variety that this environment offers. In addition, their relentless efforts to grow and develop all the time to approximate mastery in a highly competitive context also contribute to their motivation. Practicality, getting to know their learners, free conversation, appearance, and being tailor-made seem to play a key role in motivating their learners.
Although the indisputable importance of autonomy, partly due to its motivating capacity, is firmly anchored both in the theory of second-language acquisition and adult education at large, the cross section of the two fields, that is the autonomy of adult language learners, has received little attention in the literature. If we focus on the autonomy of adult language learners in corporate contexts, empirical studies are practically non-existent. This paper fills this niche by synthesizing the findings of 4 interview studies conducted in 18 organizations in Hungary. In this study, 19 human resource policy makers, 18 second-language (L2) teachers, and 21 adult learners were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide to explore how corporate contexts and their language teachers fostered autonomous language learning and how it affected adult learners’ L2 motivation. Results show that while these contexts promote autonomy through their ongoing organic development, teachers foster it by being responsive to learners’ needs, and by providing choices to learners on the basis of which tailor-made teaching is made feasible.
During a general annual fish health survey in natural waters and ponds, epitheliocystis infections were recorded in fingerlings of two cyprinid fish species, the cultured common carp and the wild gibel carp. Benign and heavy infections were equally observed without mortality. In addition to the general health inspection of fish, histopathological examinations of infected gills and molecular biological investigations of separated epitheliocysts were performed. Epitheliocysts were formed both in the interlamellar epithelial cells and in the lamella-free multilayered epithelium of the gill filaments. At the early stage of infection darkstaining inclusion bodies densely stuffed with some pathogenic agents were located at the centre of the cell, while in a progressive stage of the process inclusion bodies within the host cells were disseminated in the cytoplasm and stained pale. Molecular studies demonstrated three different agents related to Neochlamydia, Protochlamydia and Piscichlamydia based on sequence analysis of short regions of the 16S rRNA gene. Among them, Piscichlamydia is a primary fish pathogen, while Neochlamydia and Protochlamydia mostly infect free-living amoebae but have adapted thoroughly to fish.
Molnár et al. (2015) reported two types of echinostomatid metacercariae in the lateral line organ of Hungarian fish species. Type 1 metacercariae possessed 27 collar spines and 16 uniform and three larger dorsal spines, whereas Type 2 metacercariae bore 27 collar spines and 19 equal-sized dorsal spines. In the recent work, molecular studies carried out on the ITS region and partial 28S rDNA sequences of two types of echinostomatid metacercariae and the sequences of adult stages of the species of Petasiger Dietz, 1909 collected from cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) showed that some of the Type 2 metacercariae corresponded to Petasiger exaeretus Dietz, 1909, whereas other morphologically similar metacercariae were identified as Petasiger phalacrocoracis (Yamaguti, 1939). The sequences of the Type 1 metacercariae with three larger dorsal spines could not be identified with any of the known sequences from echinostomatid trematodes.
During a survey on the Myxobolus infection of two cyprinid fishes, the ide (Leuciscus idus) and the roach (Rutilus rutilus), myxosporean developmental stages were found around the arteries of the gill filaments and in the gill lamellae. An analysis of the 18S rDNA sequences of these stages revealed that plasmodia developing in the ide belonged to Myxobolus elegans, those developing in the gill lamellae of the roach corresponded to M. intimus, while plasmodia developing in close contact with the cartilaginous gill rays proved to be developmental stages of M. feisti. A strict seasonal cycle with a very long intrapiscine development was recorded for M. elegans and M. intimus. Developing plasmodia of the latter Myxobolus spp. occurred from early summer to next spring, and spore formation took place only in April. No seasonality associated with M. feisti infections was found. Developing plasmodia and mature spores of this species occurred simultaneously in different seasons of the year. Myxobolus feisti spore formation always occurred in close contact with the cartilaginous tissue of the gill filaments but spores were rarely encapsulated in the cartilaginous gill rays.
Location and tissue preference of filamental-type myxosporean plasmodia in histological slides of the gills can be properly identified only in cross sections of the gill filaments. The authors selected three myxosporeans (Myxobolus rutili, M. dispar and Henneguya psorospermica, parasites of the roach, the common carp and the pike, respectively) for studying the problem. The plasmodia of these species studied in longitudinal sections were earlier regarded as developing inside the filamental arteries. Cross sections of the filaments showed that all the three species developed plasmodia in the dense connective tissue constituting the adventitia of gill arteries and covering the cartilaginous gill rays. Myxobolus rutili started its development close to the afferent branchial artery but attached to the cartilaginous gill ray. More developed plasmodia of this species surrounded the rays. Plasmodia of M. dispar were formed on the inner side of the afferent branchial artery, while those of H. psorospermica were located at the external side of the efferent branchial artery.
A new Henneguya species, H. jaczoi sp. n., is described from perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Lake Balaton, Hungary. This species infects the palatal region of the fish, forming large plasmodia in the thickened caudal part of the buccal cavity and at the dorsal ends of the cartilaginous gill arches. The species differs from the gill-dwelling Henneguya species of perch and pike (Esox lucius) both morphologically and in molecular aspects. The authors conclude that the type species H. psorospermica Thélohan is a specific parasite of pike, while the species forming plasmodia in the gills of perch corresponds to H. texta Cohn, which was hitherto regarded as a synonym of H. psorospermica. Besides the above-mentioned species, H. creplini was frequently found in pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) and Volga pikeperch (Sander volgensis), but no Henneguya infection has been recorded in ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua), which is a common percid fish of the lake and is known to be the type host species for H. creplini.
Abstract
As a consequence of the unprecedented labor market circumstances that the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic brought about, organizations have faced challenges never seen before. One such challenge was the sudden ubiquity of working from home, which resulted in an intensive learning experience for employees and employers alike. While there is an increasing body of research on working from home in general, the perceived effectiveness of this mode of working is still under-researched. This niche provided the inspiration for us to investigate what factors might influence employees' self-efficacy in working from home arrangements. We conducted a mixed-methods case study by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from 24 employees of a division of the Hungarian subsidiary of a chemical and consumer goods multinational. The purpose of our investigation was to gain a deeper understanding of perceived self-efficacy and self-regulation during the learning processes that the participants experienced under the new circumstances. Results suggest that the perceived high level of work-efficiency among the employees of the examined division was based on the firmly controlled work-division, trusting managers, as well as supportive and clear communication, which created space for autonomy in the adaptation process. The findings also revealed that self-reflection acted as a predictor of perceived work self-efficacy.
