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Use of social bots on social media platforms is spreading. Their use became prominent in US 2010 midterm elections and later in 2016 presidential elections between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. In Turkey and Russia social bots were not used just for one purpose, they silenced political opposition, sent out propaganda and padded the number of social media followers. They had avatars with pictures on social media platforms. Social bots were clearly connected to PRI party in Mexico, whose leader Enrique Peña Nieto won the 2012 election. The case of 2015 UK general election shows that when more resources are put into social bots, the more effective they are.
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This paper aims to identify and reconstruct social imaginary connected with the category of „social system”, and to answer the question how, thirty years after the systemic transformation in Poland, the relation between the individual and the system is conceptualized. The analysis stems from the research into psycho-social consequences of the transformation. However, it is innovative since it employs the methods and tools ofcorpus linguistics. The corpus encompasses the content of 12 focus group interviews (FGI) and of 29 in-depth interviews (IDI) carried out in different Polish cities duringthe project „Values in the times of (global) crisis” financed by National Science Centre(NCN grant no. 2016/21//B/HS6/03199). The results indicate the tendency to locate the individual in an antagonistic opposition towards the social system. A feeling that individuals’ claims towards the system are unsatisfied, and a sense that system blocks and limits individual opportunities, are manifestations of this antagonism.
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The aim of this article was to examine the cohesion and political connotations of the term „totalitarianism”, which is often used in the public debate in Poland. On the basis of a contemporary critical research, the content of the most popular concepts of totalitarianism has been analyzed, paying particular attention to the so-called „Cold Ward efinition of totalitarianism”, as it seems to be the most popular in a public debate. The author claims that the concept of „totalitarianism” was created in specific historical conditions and was frequently used as a tool to sanction the rule of liberal ideology. Thus, although „totalitarian model” is generally recognized in social sciences, it should be used with caution in assessing entire political or ideological currents.
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The article presents some results of a field study of intergenerational mechanisms of transmission of political attitudes in a rural community of Kobylin-Borzymy located inthe Podlasie region in northeastern Poland. Using quantitative and qualitative methods researchers analyse factors underlying the extremely high and stable electoral results ofthe right-wing parties in this community. The data collected during extensive qualitative interviews have been analysed in the broad context of socio-economical preconditions characteristic for this community. The authors come to the conclusion that the influence of Roman Catholicism and regional traditions are the key factors explaining attitudes and behaviour of members of the community. Values and practices related to both elements serve as an intermediate factor in sustaining the political climate in a long term and determine the decisions of the electorate.
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The aim of the text is to historically contextualize Decameron and to analyse the motives for certain behaviour of the characters in several of the novels. The author tries to outline some more general social values, which determine the personal behaviour. Decameron is referred to such events as the famine in 1346 – 1347; it fosters the plague in 1348, and to the changing socio-psychological situation from the end of the 1340-ies in Florence. An answer is sought to a question, topical for our contemporary society as well: what is the sense of security of the inhabitants in the town-republic in the 1340-ies and the beginning of the 1350-ies? The irresistible vitality in Decameron, most frequently expressed in intimacy of the bodies, is considered an effect of the sense of insecurity, which reigns both minds and hearts at the time of the plague pandemic. The value of life is enhanced and the experience of love makes this value tangible. A reference is made to the fabliau from the 13th c. and to The Romance of the Rose. In Decameron is present, although in an idealized form, the actual background of the republican government of Florence.
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The article focuses on the benefits of introducing the Biblical study in the school on the learners’ literary interpretive competences. This study as a part of literature classes, although its place is not precise enough, and the number of hours provided for it is not enough, is important for the Bulgarian education after decades of silence about the existence of Biblical themes, images, and motifs. The paper points out that teaching should focus not only on the study of the Bible but on the way certain Biblical elements function in other works as well as practical examples with intertextual links and references are given. The paper emphasizes the importance of Biblical knowledge for cultural growth and shaping aesthetic taste of students.
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Regional headlines: Jewish pilgrims stuck in Belarus; Bosnian war crimes suspects; attack on Bulgarian journalist; education and COVID-19 in the Caucasus; and ancient bear found in Russia.
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Regional headlines: animal rights in Poland; war of words in Belarus; military games in Eastern Europe; informal payments in Moldova; and Turkmenistan dusts off Parthian past.
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This paper includes tracing and analysing the dynamics of integrated design based pedagogical and art skills of children placed in an informal educational environment. In the conceptual frame of the research are included theoretical and empiric pedagogical models that provoke childrens’ thinking and develop their creativity, knowledge and skills for creative experiments. Art techniques that are attractive to children are preferred (paper application, drawing with wax and water colour, tampon painting, template printing). Interactive processes are being tracked in the report, and some integrated connections with different scientific subjects – pedagogy, art, history, archaeology, semiotics, combinatorics of the shape-forming etc., are made, brought out on a theoretical and analytical level. The interdisciplinary and analytical approach when researching the processes connected with childrens’ free creative choice when communicating with historical artefacts takes an important part of the project. Children are given the opportunity to form visual culture and the capability to perceive and understand the sculptural achievements of the ancient Balkan civilizations and cultures in a fun and interactive way. In order to fulfil and scientifically develop the project we chose artefacts from the rich historical heritage of the region of Stara Zagora – collection of prehistory and early mid-centuries of the Historical museum. For children acquiring a different type of visual-plastic skills and techniques helps achieve an integrated innovative design thinking, which is very fundamental for achieving main pedagogical purposes and methods aimed entirely at the contemporary needs of the social environment. For the analysis of the received data we used standard methods for pedagogical researches which include: empirical – pedagogical experiment, praximetric – observation, analysis of childrens’ creativity, content analysis, quantity and quality analysis of the received empiric data, expert evaluation. The conclusions made could help the development of the future pedagogical practice in a museum environment not only in the fine arts educational area but also in all educational fields.
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The purpose of this article is to explore the confidence of preschool and primary school teachers in their ability to include children with special educational needs in physical education activities. The study involved 120 preschool teachers and 100 primary school teachers. They complete a modified and adapted version of the Block “Self-Efficacy Scale for Physical Education Teacher Education Majors toward Inclusion – SE-PETE-D” questionnaire. The results show that respondents have a moderate level of inclusive self-efficacy and, despite their hesitation, are more confident in their ability to include children with special educational needs in motor education. Also, teachers who have personal contact with people with disabilities, experience in inclusive physical education or feel prepared show a higher degree of inclusive self-efficacy.
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The article presents an empirical study of zero-anaphora in co-referential chains – an inscrutable and opaque phenomenon in modern Italian that takes place when the verb bears no number or gender marking due to its form and there is no indication of its actual subject. Methods from text linguistics are applied to corpora compiled from three novels by modern Italian authors.
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The article analyses a little-explored collection of short stories – novellas – by the sixteenth-century Italian novelist Girolamo Parabosco. The argument is developed that in Diporti several innovative features occur for the first time. While following the structure of Boccaccio’s frame novel, the text refrains from imposing a common theme and digresses into several alternative genres, such as discussions, poetry, comment.
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The article tackles the issue of English orthography and the challenges it presents to people with various learning disabilities. A range of experiments is reported to elicit the responses of people with dyslexia to specific problems in the traditional system of English spellings. Approaches are put forwards to deal with such challenges both in the ordinary classroom and with people with disabilities. The author urges for more open-mindedness towards the challenge of English orthography.
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The article outlines the concept INTERLANGUAGE as developed by Larry Selinker and Pit Corder last century. Defined as a complex system, the phenomenon of Interlanguage needs to be taken into consideration both by specialists in foreign language teaching who research the area of linguistics, and by teachers. Then contributions to the topic by Spanish speaking specialists are described with a view of the specifics of learning Spanish.
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In the article, the authors revealed some aspects of improvement in the methodological preparation of future teachers of the Ukrainian language and literature for the implementation of the competence-based approach which is deemed to be constitutive in international educational practice, in particular in Ukraine. Teaching in Ukrainian school is based on competence-based principles. The reform “New Ukrainian School” undertaken by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine aims at establishing school, at which it will be pleasant to study, and which will provide the learners not only with knowledge but also with the respective skills of applying it in everyday life which is changing rapidly in its social aspect, and the skills of being an active citizen of ones own country. The aforementioned challenges of contemporary life determine the preparation of teachers to the implementation of the competence-based approach into the educational process. In the article, a number techniques are highlighted, notably the types of activities applied at lessons of language and literature using the competence-based approach.
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The Bulgarian language and the Bulgarian literature include two research areas. They are complex related and are part of one whole subject in the initial stage of the primary level of education. The formation of students' literary competence becomes possible by building them together with language, communication speech and socio-cultural competences. These are the four areas of competence, on which basis the curricula in Bulgarian language and literature for the 1th to 4th grade is developed. The reason for conducting this research among representatives of the parents is the fact that the closest social environment is a factor which stimulates the formation of literary competences and is environment that objectively evaluates the abilities and the progress of the students.
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Upbringing and education of children is essential to the development of society. The law on pre-school and school education provides for mandatory training of children before entering first grade. In this sense, Bulgarian language training starts in the kindergarten. In the preparatory group training provides the foundation for enabling primary school students to have sufficient knowledge to carry out complete educational process. The relationship between kindergarten and primary school is extremely important. The children who attended kindergarten and are trained have established skills in oral speech. Therefore, a key priority of the state and society is the inclusion of children from an early age and reaching the complete training of students in school.
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