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MALL (Mobile assisted language learning) affords new opportunities for EFL (English as a foreign language) learners and teachers. Research on MALL is still in its infancy in Slovakia, and this paper attempts to fill in this gap by examining students' perception and attitudes towards the use of smartphones for the purposes of learning and practicing English. The target population of this study constituted of the Slovak university EFL learners whose major was Teacher Training of English Language and Literature (n = 77) at a Slovak university. The research method employed to achieve the objectives of this study was a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, comprising of two sets of statements: general and out-of-the-classroom statements with a total of 29 items. The research results for both sets of statements imply that the participants display moderately positive attitudes towards smartphones in the context of EFL learning. However, the findings also reveal some issues surrounding the perception and potential use of smartphones such as the inability to plan students' language learning appropriately and effectively, general underuse of smartphone apps, or problems related to practicing speaking skills. The results further suggest the immediate need to develop and enhance the awareness of smartphones and their potential in the process of teaching and learning English so that the EFL learners can utilize considerable opportunities these smart devices offer. Finally, the limitations of this study are recognized, and it is emphasized that conducting further research in this area is urgently needed.

The approach to language learning as a way of coming to understand target culture and its impact on target language is reflected in the concept of teaching and learning languages through the integration of intercultural capabilities. The concept will be supported by a number of examples taken from authentic materials language learners have encountered in target language contexts, predominantly gaining experience through reading authentic materials. The paper presents the ideas of university students who carried out their own projects within and after research run by Trnava University, the representatives of which actively participated in a three-year project, supported by the VEGA funding scheme under number 1/0106/15. Twenty-two students who participated in our experiment were asked to analyze formal English in its written mode, searching for characteristic features of formal writing, used in contemporary English. After the completion of the first task related to the selection of appropriate samples, the students were expected to compare the quality of authentic materials received through technologies and that achieved from reading contemporary literary prose, newspapers and academic texts. The idea behind this task was to help university students to be able to critically assess other people's ideas and arguments, to apply critical thinking when reading, to evaluate authentic materials and to achieve the ability to construct effective arguments in formal writing.

The article outlines the profile of editorial work of Jozef Felix (1913 - 1977) and aims at grasping his conceptual contribution to research in Slovak textual studies and his influence on editorial practice in the 1950s when Slovak culture paid great attention to the publishing of literary heritage. The author takes into consideration the fact that J. Felix formed his vision of textual studies' strategies and aims of the discipline and editorial practice under the conditions and restrictions of the period (and in confrontation with these). The article identifies basic features of Felix's editorial approach that - since he was an editor of the section for Slovak and Czech literature at the Slovak Publishing House of Belles-Lettres - shaped the development of editorial practice in Slovakia. Drawing on Felix's key essays on the topic, especially on his O vydávaní klasikov ([Publishing the classics], 1953), Poznámky k vydávaniu Spisov Jána Kalinèiaka ([Notes on publishing Ján Kalinèiak's oeuvre], 1954), and the interview Preklada? diela našich klasikov do dnešnej slovenèiny? ([Should we translate the work of our classics into contemporary Slovak?] 1957), the article scrutinises his initiatory activities regarding the conceptual consolidation of textological principles, the contradictory issues pertaining to these, and the positive and negative impact these had on subsequent editorial projects. In this way, the paper contributes towards the knowledge of the history of Slovak textual studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the presence of linguistic discrimination in pedagogical situations, especially in pedagogical evaluation. The paper is based on a survey which involved 502 Hungarian Language and Literature teachers and teacher trainees from Hungary (N = 216), Slovakia (N = 128), Romania (N = 108) and Ukraine (N = 50). Data were primarily collected through a technique similar to matched-guise tests; however, the method of the present research had some additional complexity. The article discusses similarities and differences in linguistic discrimination between Slovak and Hungarian teachers who teach Hungarian Language and Literature. The question it raises is whether there are any differences between the two samples. The results of the mentioned research show that the presence of linguistic discrimination is powerful in both samples, but there are differences in its strength and realization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on selected journalistic texts, offering a demonstration of several period-specific ways of reflecting on and evaluating certain aspects of the publishing activities of Leopold Mazáč. It pays attention to an aspect of his collaboration with the editor and poet Ján Smrek and touches upon various reactions to the publication of the anthologies Zborník mladej slovenskej literatúry (An Antholo‹y of Early Slovak Literature, 1924) and Slovenská prítomnosť literárna a umelecká (The Slovak Literary and Artistic Presence, 1931). The beginnings of the publication of the journal Elán are also mentioned. The paper is a reminder of an interwar personality who was openly involved in but also in the background of the post-revolutionary socio-cultural development in Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the dedications made by authors and usually placed af-ter the title page. The author observes any characteristic features of these texts, their forms and informative values, structure, attitude of address, expressiveness, inven-tiveness or even potential ideological background. The research sample comprised several publications written in Latin and published in the 18th century in the territo-ry of Slovakia, coming mainly from the environment of the historic Trnava Univer-sity. A more detailed analysis of dedications as a paratext part of the work leads the author to the conclusion that an often simple text can reveal a whole range of hidden connections and deep associations that hold a direct link to the person of the author and the place where the subject matter of the work originated. By placing the find - ings into their cultural-historical context, the study concludes with a summary of se-veral possibilities regularly occurring in connection with the research of dedication texts in Baroque literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study deals with the issue of conceptualization inconsistency in dark tourism, the identification of existing and potential dark tourism localities in Slovakia and the attendance analysis of the three main dark tourism destinations in Slovakia. The first part of the study is built on the theoretical and methodological level, when it introduces the issue of the diversity concerning specialized terms in dark tourism. Next, we focus on a brief history of the term (dark tourism) since 1996, when it was first defined as a specific tourism form. We present a basic overview of the definitions related to the dark tourism, its classification into types and the definition of the basic motivations that lead tourists to visit dark places. In the second part, based on a critical theoretical and methodological content analysis of the latest literature sources and our more than 10 years of field research, we have created and described 16 types of dark tourism in the conditions of Slovakia. For each type we have compiled a database of existing (visited) and potential sites in Slovakia. In the final part of the study, we analysed three museums dealing with dark tourism in Slovakia in terms of their attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an overview of scholarly literature on Latin America published by Slovak authors is briefly introduced within a broader cultural and societal context. The latter is given by the Slovak society's perceptions of this target region. The picture of the development of the Latin American Area Studies in Slovakia is presented according to different disciplines (mainly linguistics, literary studies, history, and archaeology) with a short reference to those institutions in which research and education in Latin American issues have been performed. At the end, the article brings a case study of the University of Economics in Bratislava (UEBA) which shows, among others, how teaching/learning the Spanish languageforfuture economists and managers stimulated the development of Latin American studies from the perspective of economics, political science, international relations, and relatedfields. The UEBA s activities aimed at initiating and developing relations and cooperation with universities from Latin American countries are shortly introduced, as well. Structure of thepaper: 1. Perceptions ofLatin America in Slovakia. A historicalperspective. 2. Slovak scholarly literature on Latin America. Overview of developments, disciplinary approaches, and main topics 3. In search of awakening interest in Latin American studies and in developing cooperation with Latin American universities. The experience of the University of Economics in Bratislava [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous designs of punctal and canalicular plugs are available on the market. This variety presents challenges to ophthalmologists when choosing punctal plugs for the management of various ocular conditions. The aim of this literature review is to provide a classification system for lacrimal occlusive devices based on their location and duration of action as well as to identify different characteristics of each one of them. We want to give a comprehensive overview on punctal and canalicular plugs including their manufacturing companies, indications, and complications that have been reported in various articles. PubMed and Google Scholar were used to identify articles written in English as well as few articles written in Japanese, Chinese, Slovak, and Spanish that had abstracts in English. Nine different companies that manufacture punctal and canalicular plugs were identified and their plugs were included in this review. Punctal and canalicular plugs are used in the management of various ocular conditions including dry eye disease and punctal stenosis as well as in ocular drug delivery. Although they are a relatively safe option, associated complications have been reported in the literature such as infection, allergic reaction, extrusion, and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social critics in many societies invoke the reading of literature as critical to both a desired form of political organization and the state of national politics. Relatedly, a variety of political projects throughout the past several centuries have employed literature as a technology for the construction of particular subjectivities. This article critiques the quasi-magical powers with which literature has been endowed over space and time, and describes a 'critical' orientation toward society encouraged through reading literature in college-preparatory Slovak secondary schools in the first part of the 2000s. Drawing inspiration from anthropological studies of literacy as situated practice, I outline features of how Slovak students have learned social critique while pointing out areas in which anthropologists could improve their perspectives on how classroom practices relate to macrosociological and political phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]