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Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent decades, a decline in male fertility due to deterioration in sperm quality has been noted around the world. This is probably explained by the tendency to increase the diseases of the male genital organs and, as a result, the increase in the percentage of male infertility. In addition, there is a deterioration of the quantitative and qualitative indicators of spermograms in practically healthy men. The average number of sperm in the ejaculate of a healthy man has halved over the past 50 years, and the average volume of ejaculate has decreased by one third. It is known that the multicomponent composition of the internal male genital organs is in constant restructuring due to age changes, functional activity and the influence of various factors. That is why it is important to take into account both physiological and age-related changes in a man's ability to conceive. Diagnosis of male infertility includes clinical research methods and methods of laboratory-instrumental examination. Among the latter, the most important for finding out the functional state of the gonads and the fertilizing ability of sperm is the study of ejaculate. The object of our research was spermograms obtained during the examination of patients at the "Alternative Clinic" reproductive medicine clinic. The purpose of the work was using biometric analysis to the different indicators of men spermograms of younger, middle and older age groups with normozoospermia (N), asthenozoospermia (AZS), teratozoospermia (T) and azoospermia (A). The task of the research was to analyze the main indicators of spermograms of men of different age groups in normal and pathological conditions, to conduct a one-factor and two-factor variance analysis of the influence of the studied diseases and age factor. After analyzing the main indicators of spermograms of men of younger, middle and older age groups with asthenozoospermia, azoospermia, and teratozoospermia, it was established that the indicators that undergo the greatest deviations in the studied diseases are the mobility of spermatozoa according to categories A and B, the morphology of spermatozoa, the Farris fertility index, and the activity of spermatozoa. After conducting a one-factor variance analysis, we established that the share of the influence of the studied diseases on the overall variability of such indicators of spermograms as the mobility of spermatozoa according to category A and B and the morphology of spermatozoa in the spermograms of men of the studied age groups is within 63–98% of the total contribution (younger age group), 60–96% (middle age group) and 75–96% (older age group). The share of influence of unaccounted factors is within 2–40% of the total contribution. The share of the influence of the studied diseases in the overall variability of such indicators as the Farris index and sperm activity in the spermograms of men of all studied groups is significantly reduced and is within 22–44% of the total contribution. Instead, the influence of unaccounted factors (56–78% of the total contribution) is growing significantly. This may indicate the presence of concomitant diseases and other pathologies in the men who took part in the research. After conducting a two-factor variance analysis, we established that the shares of the influence of the studied diseases on the overall variability of such indicators of spermograms as motility of spermatozoa according to category A and B, morphology of spermatozoa, Farris fertility index and activity of spermatozoa are decisive and are within the range of 90.7–99.9% of the total contribution, the share of the influence of the age factor on the variability of spermogram indicators of men of different age groups is insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether severity changes with colposcopic lesion size, regardless of age. Methods: This retrospective comparative study reviewed the records of 428 women with altered cytopathology reports who were directed by primary health care. Only those women with colposcopic alterations were evaluated (n=411). Histopathological analyses were restricted to patients who underwent excisional treatment (n=345). According to their age, they were grouped into the following: 35 years, and also, ≤24 and ≥25 years. The cytopathological, colposcopic, and histopathological findings were grouped according to severity. Lesion size was subjectively assessed from the colposcopic drawing recorded in the chart and according to the number of quadrants of the total cervical surface affected by colposcopic alterations in the transformation zone. Statistical significance was set at p

Background This cohort study aims to examine the relationship between the occurrence of cranial nerve palsy (CNP) affecting the third, fourth, or sixth cranial nerve and the subsequent risk of stroke, with a particular focus on the modulating effect of age on this association. Methods and Results We established a cohort of individuals diagnosed with third, fourth, or sixth CNP who underwent national health screening within 2 years of diagnosis from 2010 to 2017. A control group was matched by sex and age at a ratio of 1:5. Participants were followed until December 31, 2019. We use multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to assess the association between ocular motor CNP and subsequent stroke stratified by age. Covariates including lifestyle, health behavior, underlying comorbidities, and Charlson comorbidity index score were also adjusted. Compared with the control group, the ocular motor CNP group had a higher risk of stroke after adjusting for potential confounders (hazard ratio [HR], 1.23 [95% CI,, 1.08–1.39]). The risk of stroke increased by 8.91 times in individuals with ocular motor CNP who were in their 30s (HR, 8.91 [95% CI, 1.63–48.66]). The risk increased by 2.49 times in those who were in their 40s, 1.78 times in those who were in their 50s, and 1.32 times in those who were in their 60s (HRs, 2.49, 1.78, and 1.32 [95% CI, 1.39–4.45, 1.31–2.42, and 1.08–1.62], respectively). However, for those who were in their 20s, 70s, or 80s, the incidence of stroke did not significantly increase. Conclusions Our study establishes an association between ocular motor CNP and an increased risk of stroke, particularly in young adults.

Si vous demandez à des passants quel est le meilleur âge pour apprendre une langue étrangère, la majorité d’entre eux répondront certainement «le plus tôt est le mieux». Cet article montre pourtant que la réponse à cette question est plus complexe. S’il est vrai que, en contexte de migration, les apprenants précoces tendent à atteindre un meilleur niveau sur le long terme que leurs pairs plus âgés, de nombreux exemples montrent que des apprenants tardifs peuvent aussi passer pour natifs de la L2. En ce qui concerne le contexte scolaire, les résultats clairs et consistants de plus de 50 ans de recherche montrent qu’un apprentissage précoce ne confère aucun avantage en comparaison d’un apprentissage plus tardif.

Objective:To reveal the correlation between implantation age, the internal acoustic canal (IAC) width, bony cochlear nerve canal (BCNC) width, and auditory performance in primary school children with bilateral cochlear implantation (CI).Methods:Preoperative IAC and BCNC widths of 57 pre-lingually deaf children aged 7–11 years who had previously undergone bilateral CI in our institution were reviewed and cut-off values were calculated. Twenty-four patients who had additional problems and could not attend school and those who refused to participate in the study were excluded. The remaining 33 were invited to the hospital, and their speech perception tests, and language development scores were analyzed (16 of 33 patients had been operated on before the age of 24 months).Results:The cut-off values calculated from the 114 ears of 57 patients were 3.86 mm for IAC width and 1.56 mm for BCNC width. The auditory performances of the 33 patients after CI were not significantly different in the narrow and normal width groups. However, speech perception test results, and language development scores of patients implanted before the age of 24 months were significantly higher.Conclusion:There are some studies showing that children with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss have narrower IAC and BCNC widths. However, we concluded that the widths of the IAC and the bone cochlear nerve canal did not affect auditory performance. We found that implantation age is the single most important determinant of speech-language development after CI.

Copyright of Van Tip Dergisi is the property of Yuzuncu Yil University, Faculty of Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study aimed to analyze whether age determines the lightness and darkness of tooth shades. The demand for esthetics has soared to a next level progressively in many developing countries including India; the importance provided to match the tooth shade creates a great difference in the satisfactory outcome of the patient in the field of dentistry. Therefore, this particular study analyzed the differences in tooth shade values based on age factor among the Indian population. 238 individual's case sheets with the age between 18 and 65 years. 18–30 years of age were considered as group 1 (young adults), 31–45 years in group 2 (middle age), and above 45 years in group 3 (older age). The clinical intraoral pictures of the patients which were taken prior to the treatment were obtained and the shade of any one of the upper permanent central incisors was assessed using the Vitapan 3D-Master shade guide, especially the middle portion of the facial surface of the incisors. The collected data were imported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 17 (IBM Corporation). Chi-square test was used to assess the significance. From the data, 17.2% showed A1 shade, 35.2% A2 shade, 7.5% A3 shade, 5% A4 shade, 7.1% B1 shade, 15.9% B2 shade, 7.1% B3 shade, 3.3% B4 shade, and 1.1% C1 shade. The individuals under the category of above 45 years showed darker tooth shade compared to young adults and middle age population (Chi-square test, P < 0.001). Significant association was established with darker tooth shades by increasing age and vice versa. The older age population showed a higher correlation for dark shade between teeth. The aging process significantly affects the teeth color. Hence, as a dentist, it is important to know about the distribution of tooth shade and its association with age to get an outcome with adequate patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to analyze whether age determines the lightness and darkness of tooth shades. The demand for esthetics has soared to a next level progressively in many developing countries including India; the importance provided to match the tooth shade creates a great difference in the satisfactory outcome of the patient in the field of dentistry. Therefore, this particular study analyzed the differences in tooth shade values based on age factor among the Indian population. 238 individual's case sheets with the age between 18 and 65 years. 18–30 years of age were considered as group 1 (young adults), 31–45 years in group 2 (middle age), and above 45 years in group 3 (older age). The clinical intraoral pictures of the patients which were taken prior to the treatment were obtained and the shade of any one of the upper permanent central incisors was assessed using the Vitapan 3D-Master shade guide, especially the middle portion of the facial surface of the incisors. The collected data were imported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 17 (IBM Corporation). Chi-square test was used to assess the significance. From the data, 17.2% showed A1 shade, 35.2% A2 shade, 7.5% A3 shade, 5% A4 shade, 7.1% B1 shade, 15.9% B2 shade, 7.1% B3 shade, 3.3% B4 shade, and 1.1% C1 shade. The individuals under the category of above 45 years showed darker tooth shade compared to young adults and middle age population (Chi-square test, P < 0.001). Significant association was established with darker tooth shades by increasing age and vice versa. The older age population showed a higher correlation for dark shade between teeth. The aging process significantly affects the teeth color. Hence, as a dentist, it is important to know about the distribution of tooth shade and its association with age to get an outcome with adequate patient satisfaction.

Background/Aim. Apoptotic protease-activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) is a key molecule in the intrinsic or mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Some pathological conditions, such as cancer, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases, are the result of dysregulation in the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. The aim of this study was to analyze the immuno-histochemical expression of Apaf-1 in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) cells of the salivary glands and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters of patients (gender, age, localization, histological type, and overall survival). Methods. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of ACC of the salivary glands from 50 male and female patients with an average age of 58 years, were used for the study. We used the technique of tissue microarray (TMA blocks). Sections from the TMA mold, 5 μm thick, were stained with the streptavidin-biotin immunohistochemical technique using primary antibodies specific for Apaf-1 (Leica Biosystems, Newcastle, UK). Stained tissue sections were analyzed by the light microscope (Olympus type BH-2). Based on the data collected, the database was created in SPSS software v. 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, ILL, USA), which was used for further statistical analysis. The statistical data analysis included methods of descriptive and analytical (inferential) statistics. Results. The results of the immunohistochemical analysis of Apaf-1 expression in the samples of patients with ACC of the salivary glands were compared with the clinicopathological parameters of these patients. The immunohistochemical expression of Apaf-1 showed no statistical significance with regard to the patients’ gender (p = 0.552), age (p = 0.106), histological tumor type (p = 0.654), and localization of ACC in the salivary glands (p = 0.486). There was no statistically significant correlation observed between the overall survival of ACC patients and Apaf-1 expression in tumor cells (p = 0.340, Log-Rank test). Conclusion. With regard to ACC, Apaf-1 expression is not in correlation with clinicopathological parameters (gender, age, localization, histological tumor type, outcome of the disease, and overall survival). Therefore, we believe Apaf-1 cannot be regarded as an independent prognostic factor for course and outcome of ACC of the salivary glands.

This longitudinal case study aimed at investigating the development of metalinguistic awareness in EFL spelling and vocabulary in two Croatian learners with dyslexia who differed in age and language proficiency – a child and an adult. They attended weekly sessions that aimed at improving their English spelling and vocabulary. The data were collected for 45 weeks using the teacher’s notes and audio-recorded lesson observations. The results showed that the participants developed their metalinguistic skills; however, the age and language proficiency factor was salient. Also, the metacognitive component of the instruction had a different effect on the development of metalinguistic skills in spelling and vocabulary acquisition. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has emerged as a public healthcare problem. Sustained hyperglycemia has been linked with many complications including impaired male fertility. The aim of the study: to evaluate the effect of STZ-induced diabetes mellitus on testicular immunomorphology both in the peripubertal period and adulthood of rats. Material and methods. Peripubertal male rats were injected with STZ (70 mg/kg), adult rats received 60 mg/kg. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to assess cell proliferation (Ki-67), apoptosis (caspase-3), expression of androgen receptors (AR), Wilms Tumor (WT1) protein. Also, the morphology of blood vessels was analyzed on the basis of CD34-immunoreactivity. Taking into consideration the small groups of animals, statistical analysis was made with the Mann–Whitney U test. Results. Fewer rows of proliferating spermatogonia were observed in the experimental animals (P < 0.05) of both age groups. Surprisingly, diabetes resulted in decreased caspase-3 expression (P < 0.05) except for the early period (2 weeks) in the peripubertal group, in which this trend was not observed. The same principles are true in terms of AR expression in seminiferous tubules. Hyperglycemia prevented immature testes from the complete development but thickens the walls of microvessels (P < 0.05). Also, the atrophy of spermatogenic epithelium and Sertoli cells was registered in most tubules of all the experimental groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion. the diabetic injury of testicular tissue is a long time process possessing characteristic feature in the peripubertal period, for example, the later development of AR deficiency. In addition, the high level of apoptosis is characteristic of an immature testis and so is the tendency of caspase-immunoreactivity to persist.

Background: This cohort study aims to examine the relationship between the occurrence of cranial nerve palsy (CNP) affecting the third, fourth, or sixth cranial nerve and the subsequent risk of stroke, with a particular focus on the modulating effect of age on this association., Methods and Results: We established a cohort of individuals diagnosed with third, fourth, or sixth CNP who underwent national health screening within 2 years of diagnosis from 2010 to 2017. A control group was matched by sex and age at a ratio of 1:5. Participants were followed until December 31, 2019. We use multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to assess the association between ocular motor CNP and subsequent stroke stratified by age. Covariates including lifestyle, health behavior, underlying comorbidities, and Charlson comorbidity index score were also adjusted. Compared with the control group, the ocular motor CNP group had a higher risk of stroke after adjusting for potential confounders (hazard ratio [HR], 1.23 [95% CI,, 1.08-1.39]). The risk of stroke increased by 8.91 times in individuals with ocular motor CNP who were in their 30s (HR, 8.91 [95% CI, 1.63-48.66]). The risk increased by 2.49 times in those who were in their 40s, 1.78 times in those who were in their 50s, and 1.32 times in those who were in their 60s (HRs, 2.49, 1.78, and 1.32 [95% CI, 1.39-4.45, 1.31-2.42, and 1.08-1.62], respectively). However, for those who were in their 20s, 70s, or 80s, the incidence of stroke did not significantly increase., Conclusions: Our study establishes an association between ocular motor CNP and an increased risk of stroke, particularly in young adults.

Background: Diabetes is a risk factor for colorectal neoplasms. The association between the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and the risk of colorectal adenomas (CRAs) in non-diabetic adults needs to be investigated. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on non-diabetic adults with normal HbA1c level who underwent colonoscopy between January 2010 and December 2016 during health check-ups in our hospital in China. The association between HbA1c level and CRAs was assessed by multiple logistic regression models stratified by age group (<40, ≥40 and <50, and ≥50 years old). The age group-specified thresholds for HbA1c on elevated risk of CRAs were estimated using the piecewise logistic regression. Results: Among the 2,764 subjects, 445 (16.1%) had CRA. The prevalence of CRA varied across the three age groups. A higher HbA1c level was found to be significantly associated with increased CRA risk in the 40–50 years group (odds ratio [OR]=1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04–2.78, p=0.035) after adjusting for other related factors, while this association was borderline significant among the 50 years and older group (OR=1.57, 95% CI 0.97–2.54, p=0.067). Based on the piecewise logistic regression analysis results, the thresholds for HbA1c on elevated risk of CRA were 5.44% for the 40–50 years group and 4.81% for the 50 years and older group, respectively. Conclusions: Higher levels of HbA1c, even within the normal range, were associated with elevated CRA risk among non-diabetic adults. The threshold effects of HbA1c on the risk of CRA varied across different age groups, and early screening colonoscopy might be needed for individuals in their 40s and with HbA1c levels ≥5.44%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundDiabetes is a risk factor for colorectal neoplasms. The association between the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and the risk of colorectal adenomas (CRAs) in non-diabetic adults needs to be investigated.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed on non-diabetic adults with normal HbA1c level who underwent colonoscopy between January 2010 and December 2016 during health check-ups in our hospital in China. The association between HbA1c level and CRAs was assessed by multiple logistic regression models stratified by age group (

This longitudinal case study aimed at investigating the development of metalinguistic awareness in EFL spelling and vocabulary in two Croatian learners with dyslexia who differed in age and language proficiency - a child and an adult. They attended weekly sessions that aimed at improving their English spelling and vocabulary. The data were collected for 45 weeks using the teacher's notes and audio-recorded lesson observations. The results showed that the participants developed their metalinguistic skills; however, the age and language proficiency factor was salient. Also, the metacognitive component of the instruction had a different effect on the development of metalinguistic skills in spelling and vocabulary acquisition. Pedagogical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a growing body of research on second language acquisition in children and prime-of-life learners, much remains to be explored about how older adults learn a new language and how good additional language learning is for them (see e.g. Mackey & Sachs, 2012). In this study we present the findings of a longitudinal pilot study in which 12 German-speaking subjects, half of them German-Slovenian bilinguals, between 63 and 90 years of age attended a four-week intensive English course for beginners, and were tested in a pre-/post-test design on a range of linguistic, cognitive, and socio-affective parameters. The results of non-parametric statistical tests and qualitative analyses suggest that: (1) the learning of an additional language in the third age can contribute to healthy and active aging, as it has a positive effect on executive function, (linguistic) self-confidence, autonomy, communicative skills and overall well-being, irrespective of age and prior language knowledge (bilingualism); and (2) age-related social, psychological and contextual factors seem to play as significant a role as strictly maturational factors. Such research promises in due course to inform adult educators about the establishment of relevant third-age learner profiles as well as the design of individualized third-age language training.

This article focuses on the uncertainty surrounding the issue of the Critical Period Hypothesis. It puts forward the case that, with regard to naturalistic situations, the hypothesis has the status of both “not proven” and unfalsified. The article analyzes a number of reasons for this situation, including the effects of multi-competence, which remove any possibility that competence in more than one language can ever be identical to monolingual competence. With regard to the formal instructional setting, it points to many decades of research showing that, as critical period advocates acknowledge, in a normal schooling situation, adolescent beginners in the long run do as well as younger beginners. The article laments the profusion of definitions of what the critical period for language actually is and the generally piecemeal nature of research into this important area. In particular, it calls for a fuller integration of recent neurolinguistic perspectives into discussion of the age factor in second language acquisition research.

The study investigates predictors of the acquisition of selected English phonemes in a foreign language context. Czech students’ pronunciation was diagnosed by two tests; their ability to produce seven selected phonemes was assessed. Furthermore, data regarding the students’ learning histories was obtained through a questionnaire. Then a multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to identify predictors of the acquisition of the selected phonemes. The analysis uncovered several factors, the most significant being pre - school exposure to English and positive attitudes to English in adolescence, which appeared to influence the subjects’ pronunciation positively. Interestingly, several factors which relate to learning English at school appeared to exert a negative influence on the acquisition of the selected phonemes. Furthermore, besides the importance of long-term exposure to English starting before the age of six, the study also underscored the importance of metacognition in relation to autonomous learning.

Background: The number of elderly patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is increasing worldwide. Therefore, the assessment of comorbidities based on the age factor in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is highly relevant.Aim: To assess the associations between the age factor and comorbidities in patients undergoing CABG. Material and Methods: Data of 680 patients [538 (79.10%) men and 142 (20.90%) women], undergoing elective CABG in the period 2011-2012, included in the CABG Registry were used to detect comorbidities.All patients were enrolled into 4 age groups: below 50 years, 51-60 years, 61-70 years, over 70 years.Results: Aging was associated with an increase in the proportion of women suffering from arterial hypertension (AH), and multivessel disease. Similarly, the proportion of patients with higher func-tional class (FC) of angina, heart failure (CH), and heart rhythm disturbances increased. The number of patients referred to elective CABG with previous myocardial infarction (MI) was the highest among young adults (77%). Aging was associated with an increase in the number of patients with chronic pyelonephritis (44.30%) and thyroid pathology (3.40%).Conclusion: Patients’ aging is associated with an increase in cardiovascular comorbidities, but not MI. Importantly, there was no any increase in the rate of non-cardiovascular comorbidities.

Alternate members of the Chinese Communist Central Committee are often overlooked regarding elite formation or even when assessing Chinese elites in general. This article focuses on the case of alternate members of the Central Committee from 1992 to 2007 in order to understand why some individuals will eventually be promoted and why some will never be. Through extensive quantitative testing, I argue that these non-promoted individuals differ from their counterparts in many ways, most of which can possibly be traced back to the type of formation they received early on. As such, the article concludes that Party School attendance and the age factor, through threshold analysis, are a significant factor helping us understand the difference between promoted and non-promoted houbu.

Background: Age is considered as an important factor for the development of sublingual varices (SV). It has been suggested that some other conditions such as gender, systemic diseases, smoking, denture wearing may play a role in aetiology. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating these associations. This study was perform to evaluate association between SV and the conditions which are described as possible risk factors previously.Materials and Methods: A total of 691 patients (470 females, 221 males) who attended for comprehensive clinical examination were included in the study. Age, gender, systemic health, venous varix of the lower extremities, smoking status, denture wearing were recorded during the history taking. SV were classified into two categories: stage 0 (few or none visible) and stage 1 (moderate or severe). Tongue photographs were taken from a group of these patients. For the evalu- ation of intra-observer reliability, 60 photographs of tongue were re-evaluated by the same observer. Intra-observer reliability was evaluated using Kappa statistics. Pearson c2 test and Fisher's exact test were used to assess SV in relation to each variable, and variables showing associations with p < 0.05 were selected for the multivariable analysis, then logistic regression analysis was applied.Results: Kappa value of intra-observer reliability was 0.91. SV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08, p = 0.000), hypertension (OR = 2.3, p = 0.007) and denture wearing (OR = 2.17, p = 0.02).Conclusions: The presence of SV is associated with hypertension and denture wearing as well as aging. More detailed studies are needed to prove causative relations between SV and systemic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Turkish traffic survey data (n=5,520), driver accident rates per million kilometre-driver were compared according to the daily driven distances (DDD) for each age group as very old (65+, n=39), old (56-65, n=183), above middle-aged (36-55, n=1,875), middle-aged (26-35, n=2,204), and young (25-, n=1,219). When the accidents-per-km comparison was made in groups matched for daily exposure, there was no evidence of higher risk with increasing age. In all age groups, risk per km decreased with increasing daily driving distance. With this study the accident involvement prediction models have been obtained related to the daily driven distance with and without considering age. These models have been applied to some earlier studies. The results are quite satisfactory. The set of data of this study and the analysis controlling the daily (yearly) driving distance might make the “age” effect disappear.

In this paper, we discuss the problem of articulation between levels in the educational system, as the transition from a rather more communicative, contentbased and holistic approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at primary level to more formal and explicit ways of foreign language (FL) teaching at secondary is often experienced as problematic by students and teachers alike (see, e.g., Muñoz, Tragant, & Camuñas, 2015). The results of a mixed methods analysis are presented, in which we analyzed, through a questionnaire and language experience essays, perceived continuity between input received in primary school and secondary school, as well as learners' beliefs, attitudes and self-efficacy before and after they transitioned to secondary school. Twelve primary schools and six secondary schools in Switzerland participated in the study, with a total of 280 early learners of EFL (biological age 12-13 years, age of onset 8 years). We will argue that one of the main reasons why early FL instruction seems not to bear fruit later in secondary school is that, on the one hand, coherence in curriculum design and practice vary in a few--but crucial--aspects within and between primary schools. On the other hand, the fact that secondary education becomes a meeting point for mixed ability classes also seems to mitigate the potential advantages of an earlier start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]