American Journal of Educational Research

Socio-Cultural Theory, based on Vygotskian thought, is a theory about the development of human cognitive and higher mental function. The theory specially emphasizes the integration of social, cultural and biological elements in learning processes and stresses the socio-cultural circumstances’ central role in human’s cognitive development. Second Language Acquisition is concerned with the process of how a new language other than the native language is acquired and how much this is affected by other disciplines, among which is Socio-Cultural Theory. This theory facilitates reflection on some of the problems on second language acquisition from a new perspective. In addition, this new perspective provides some pedagogical implications for foreign language teaching. This article makes attempts to elucidate Social-Cultural Theory’s constructs, its influence on second language acquisition and the pedagogical implications for foreign language teaching.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(5), 162-167. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-5-3
Pub. Date: May 19, 2013

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Way of Life of the Educational Organization: Intellectual Model

by Tatiana Korsakova and Mikhail Korsakov

Original Research

This problem analytical scientific article informs the reader about nowadays academic standards of secondary school management and their suitability to social, historical, political and economic realities of the development of civilization. It sets out and protects by academic evidence different points of view on the new enough concept of «Way of educational organization life», gives modern approaches to the problem and methods for its solution, justifies the concept. It is built on the rules of the logic of scientific research. The presented intellectual model of Way of life of educational organization is based on the most important elements of intellectual capital, and the latent factors of cumulative approach to the development of the educational organization. As the way of life of the educational institutions is multifaceted and complex phenomenon of reality six main factors of the intellectual model were appointed in the paper. As the way of life of the educational institutions is multifaceted and complex phenomenon of reality six main factors of the intellectual model were appointed in the paper. It is demonstrated that there within the Way of life are internal communications, the basic properties of the laws of development, self-development and interaction with the environment.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(5), 156-161. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-5-2
Pub. Date: May 17, 2013

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Intellectual Capital’s Leverage on Shareholder Value Growth: A Lesson for Developing Economies

by Bongani Ngwenya

Original Research

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether there is a correlation between the intellectual capital of employees, i.e. top managers (the agent) and the shareholder (the principal) value growth among Zimbabwean companies, listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. By using these results the aim is to further examine a possible indicator for leveraging the efficiency of intellectual capital in a developing economy as a lesson. In order to perform this investigation, intellectual capital and shareholder value are quantified with, respectively, value added per employee and share price value per employee. These measurements are gathered from 17 Zimbabwean listed companies, divided into five industry sectors, that is, services, manufacturing, agriculture, mining and information technology, and tested statistically in order to find a relationship. This means, according to the researcher`s propositions on the return on intellectual capital, that there also is a correlation between intellectual capital and shareholder value growth. In order to provide an indicator for improving companies’ intellectual capital, a statistical examination concerning the relationship between the Intellectual Capital Multiplier (IC Multiplier) and value added is also performed. This examination shows that there is a strong correlation between the IC Multiplier and value added, value added can to a degree of 84 percent be predicted by the IC Multiplier, and that working with the ratio between structural and human capital is an excellent method for companies in developing economies to increase their intellectual capital. In conclusion it can be said that most companies in this investigation show moderately low values regarding the IC Multiplier, leading to an erosion of the companies’ human capital. In order to become more stable and lower the degree of risk, these companies must improve their IC Multiplier. What this study demonstrates is that an improvement of the IC Multiplier also will have an extensive effect on the company’s shareholder value growth.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(5), 149-155. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-5-1
Pub. Date: May 31, 2013

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