Investing in Human Capital as a Key Factor for the Development of Enterprises | InTechOpen, Published on: 2017-06-07. Authors: Josef Drábek, Silvia Lorincová and Jana Javorčíková

This study is an analysis of quantitative research conducted in September 2020, based on a 113-respondent sample unit of adult readers in English (100 Slovak and 13 international respondents). Researchers analysed respondents’ abilities to evaluate a text critically; i.e. to identify its assumed author, genre, organization of the text, and the importance of the text for the reader and his or her community. Research outcomes proved that university undergraduates in Slovakia do not possess a good command of critical reading skills for academic reading in four out of five items. International students outscored Slovak students in two items; the research proves the need to intensify preparation of undergraduates in critical thinking in order to fit the needs of a changing society and reading load.

Teaching is a specific type of profession with a specific mission. In this study, the motivation level of primary school teachers in Slovakia in the period from 2015 to 2020 was analyzed. A total of 1189 Slovak teachers with a stratified selection were addressed. Cronbach’s Alpha, Tukey’s HSD (honest significant difference), and ANOVA were used to analyze the data obtained. The research results confirm that Slovak teachers are motivated most by relationship and financial factors. Other important motivation factors are atmosphere in the workplace, a good work team, a supervisor’s approach, a fair appraisal system, and a basic salary. The research also confirms that, over the duration of the study, there was a significant change in the average level of motivation factors; however, there was no change in their relative proportion and structure. In relation to gender, significant diachronic differences were confirmed. Research results prove that Slovak teachers have stable requirements in terms of motivation. This study’s findings will further help school management create effective motivation programs for primary school teachers. Regarding the fact that no similar research has been conducted in Slovakia in a long time, the research results presented here are original and unique.

Human resources refer to a special and unique field as they are the most valuable but also the most costly factor of production. The aim of the research is to analyze the level of motivation of university teachers in Slovakia in terms of time and age, and to define the motivational needs of university teachers. The method of sociological questioning is used. The collected data from 2016 university teachers from Slovak technical universities are analyzed using the Tukey HSD test. Based on the research results, it can be stated that university teachers are the most motivated by relational and financial motivational factors. There is a significant change in the level of average importance of motivational factors across time (years), but there is no change in their structure. In terms of the age factor, significant differences over time are identified. Finally, Slovak teachers display the need for a more respected social status and a better image of their profession. The research findings will help university managers in raising the level of teachers’ motivation and in designing motivation programs.

Based on recent research (Alderson, 2005; Khalifa and Weir, 2009), this study focuses on three areas of reading comprehension necessary for a successful academic career: general L2 EFL reading skills, more specific academic reading skills and critical thinking and reading. The study presents an analysis of quantitative research conducted in 2020, based on a sample of Slovak undergraduate students reading an academic text in English as L2 in EFL CLIL-formatted classes in humanities. The respondents’ general reading skills were analysed in the context of their critical reading skills and academic preparedness. When tested for general reading skills, respondents were asked to identify implicit and explicit information and the gist of the text. Academic abilities were tested via the ability to identify the attributes of an academic text, such as the system of references, rational and logical language and causeeffect type of argumentation, which indicated the author and genre of the text. In order to evaluate participants’ critical skills with a focus on the social aspects of the text, respondents were asked to identify the importance of the text for themselves and for their community and life. The participants’ mean scores and differences in their performances on each task type were compared using descriptive statistics, and multiple analysis of variance. The results suggest that the general reading skills of university undergraduates in Slovakia are adequate, however, more difficulty was encountered with implicit, rather than explicit, tasks. Students also need to improve their critical reading skills and reading for academic purposes. The research outcomes highlight the need to hone the education of future linguists to the new needs of a more text-based society.

In Slovakia, modern Cultural Studies of English-speaking countries have been integrated into university curricula since the 1990s. However, there is a fundamental difference in the role CLIL plays in teaching “realia” (alternatively: cultural studies, country studies and area studies) for philological students and for business students of non-philological faculties. While philological students study realia with primary linguistic and cultural goals (i.e. to learn new words, terminology, context and comparative cultural aspects), non-philological students’ goals are business oriented (i.e. allow a successful graduate to function effectively in a new business environment). That affects the methodology, teaching procedure and assessment of both disciplines in debate.