The hypothesis posed was whether being part of a football/soccer team influenced the quality of life (QL) of the people who participated in it since their perception of themselves is enhanced by factors, such as self-determination, social inclusion, emotional well-being, physical well-being, material well-being, rights, personal development, and internal relationships. The objective was to evaluate the QL of people with Down Syndrome (DS) using their self-perception (n = 39) and the perception of the informants (family members, teachers) (n = 39). The KidsLife-Down Scale, with a few modifications, was used. In general, differences of opinion between the subgroups of participants with DS and informants showed that results were higher in terms of perception for participants in the DS subgroup. Scores for all variables were higher for those participants with DS who said they did engage in practicing competitive football/soccer. Although the perception of informants provides a great deal of information regarding the QL of participants with DS, participants with DS should also be involved in the evaluation process and their self-perceptions taken into account. It is not participating in a football team that causes the conclusions of the study, but training (which includes the friendly matches that are played), the cause correlated with the improvements detected in the athlete’s DS.

Since ERASMUS (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) was launched there has been a constant debate about the civic significance of this mobility programme. The purpose of this article is to analyse the understanding of active citizenship by Erasmus students. In order to discover Erasmus students’ perceptions, values, beliefs and attitudes regarding the issue under discussion, original data were collected from 174 students who participated in our survey in March 2014. By applying a statistical analysis, the most and the least important criteria for being considered an active citizen have been extracted from the answers of our respondents. In addition, we studied their attitudes towards and knowledge of the European Union (EU). We found that their understanding of ‘active citizenship’ echoes with the definition of the concept provided in the research literature.

Las competencias ortográficas son destrezas esenciales del alumnado universitario, son parte del bagaje académico adquirido tanto en el nivel básico como en el nivel medio. No obstante, para el profesorado son un reto porque traen consigo deficiencias ortográficas cuando inician el nivel superior. Dada la situación descrita, el objetivo del estudio es diagnosticar la competencia ortográfica que posee el estudiantado universitario de primer semestre en las carreras de la Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabí Manuel Félix López (ESPAM MFL) en Ecuador. Se aplicó una evaluación diagnóstica a 438 asistentes matriculados durante las dos primeras semanas del período académico (Octubre 2015 – Marzo 2016), para el análisis de datos se utilizó la teoría descriptiva y tablas cruzadas, con lo cual se identificaron las falencias de carácter ortográfico y de vocabulario. Las variables demográficas utilizadas durante el análisis de los datos fueron el sexo, edad y la procedencia de estudios. Los resultados muestran que existe una carencia alarmante en la aplicación de las reglas ortográficas. Se observa la necesidad de desarrollar un programa para la mejora de la ortografía del alumnado universitario, por lo que se plantea el diseño de estrategias de solución a este problema ya que, una buena formación en ortografía es fundamental en el desarrollo personal y profesional del estudiantado universitario.

The connections between music and language are still to be clarified in educational terms; despite the great deal of literature on the common mechanisms underlying their working in learning, memory, and some other related factors, there is not robust research on their combined potential. Educational bilingualism and musical instruction have been shown to facilitate reading in a foreign language. Our study intends to throw light on their potential for reading in a second language and the relationship they keep to self-efficacy, a key factor in such a complex realm as learning a foreign language. The silent reading of 252 Spanish secondary school students was examined to show if bilingual instruction, music training, and self-efficacy influenced second language silent reading fluency (L2 SRF). Our ANOVA analysis shows bilingual instruction having the strongest influence of the three groups analysed, followed by the music training and the standard group. Self-efficacy was also included in the MANOVA model as a covariate and was shown to have an influence on L2 SRF. The study also revealed a significant influence of bilingual and musical instruction on self-efficacy, which may partially account for their effect on L2 SRF.