We are delighted to invite you to the upcoming WA Wednesday Lunch Talk, which will take place on June 18th at 13:15 – please note the room change: this time we’ll meet in the Aula.
This session will feature the presentation:
Dr Karolina Baranowska: “Active Aging: Learning English and developing fine psychomotor abilities”
In the early 21st century, there has been growing interest in Foreign Language Geragogy (Słowik-Krogulec 2021). While much research still focuses on children and working-age adults (Pfenninger and Singleton 2019), studies increasingly demonstrate that foreign language learning can enhance the quality of life in older adulthood (Koutska 2024). It promotes linguistic self-confidence, communication, autonomy, and executive functions (Pfenninger and Polz 2018), and serves as psychosocial rehabilitation, increasing life satisfaction. In this talk, I will present preliminary findings of an interdisciplinary study that explored the effects of using mini-EDUball—educational balls that integrate physical and cognitive activity—on English vocabulary acquisition and fine psychomotor development in older adults. The study involved participants aged 60+, who were divided into four groups with different types of physical and language input. Over a 12-week English course, groups varied in the use of mini-EDUball or anti-stress balls for either language practice or fine motor training.
The study draws on the interdisciplinary EDUball program, officially approved by the Polish Ministry of Education, which integrates physical activity with cognitive learning (Rokita and Cichy 2014). Prior research has shown that this method supports the development of literacy, numeracy, and motor coordination in children (Cichy 2010; Kaczmarczyk 2013; Cichy et al. 2015), and its adaptation for older adults is currently being explored.
During the talk, I will also demonstrate how participants’ fine psychomotor abilities were measured using the MLS battery of the Vienna Test System (Schuhfried 2013), which assesses hand motor efficiency across various contact surfaces.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The other presentation originally scheduled for this event—dr Halszka Bąk: “The “norm” in norming databases of affective language”—has been rescheduled for the first WA Lunch Talk of the academic year 2025–2026.