A framework for characterizing communication-oriented ELT textbooks

Textbooks hold a fundamental position in English Language Teaching (ELT). Today, their main aim is to contribute to the development of the learner’s communicative competence. This paper sets out to set the basis for constructing a framework for characterizing ELT textbooks, in terms of their opportunities to promote communicative competence. In order to provide a theoretical foundation for the framework, it first introduces the notions of input (Krashen, 1989) and output (Swain & Lapkin, 1995). Then, it presents two influential models of communicative competence, i.e., those of Canale and Swain (1980), and the Common European Framework for Reference of Languages (Council of Europe, 2001, 2018). Following that, it presents two significantly quoted sets of principles for the study of learning materials in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), i.e., the principles of Richards and Rodgers (2014) and Nation (2007). Building on the models and principles, the paper suggests eleven criteria for characterizing communication-oriented ELT textbooks, covering input in the form of topics and texts, and output in the form of activities. A short discussion of the main affordances of the suggested framework is provided at the end of the article. Keywords: Communicative Competence, ELT Textbooks, Textbook Analysis, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

Protection of Whistleblowers by the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights

Whistleblower protection in the European Union is undergoing significant developments. The new Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law sets a minimum standard for the protection of whistleblowers. It is awaiting implementation in Member States' national law by December 2021. However, a certain level of protection is also guaranteed by the European Court of Human Rights case law principles. Reports of illegal activities provided from close internal sources can strengthen the protection of the EU's financial interests. Adequate protection is needed to prevent retaliation against whistleblowers. As the deadline for transposing this directive approaches, the article aims to analyse the Directive 2019/1973 and compare it with the protection guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Development of tourist destinations in the context of Ukraine's participation in the program of the cultural routes of the council of Europe

The purpose of the article is to analyze the existing Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, to explore the historical and cultural connection of these routes with tourist destinations and cultural monuments of Ukraine, to identify those tracks of the Council of Europe to which our country can connect. The methodology involves the treatment of general scientific and special methods, including comparative, analytical, synthesis methods, historical and cultural systems. The scientific novelty of the article is the study of key links between European cultural routes and local historical and cultural sites; in forming a list of cultural routes which possess grounds to be joined for Ukrainian tourist destinations, museums, etc. Conclusions. In the XXI century, the development of tourist destinations, in particular, and tourism as a socio-cultural phenomenon, in general, is correlated with several global factors. One of the mentioned circumstances is the pan-European cultural process, including cultural programs successfully implemented by the Council of Europe. Ukraine has joined only three routes out of the 45 certified European cultural paths. At the same time, according to the study, our country can already apply for active participation in 18 relevant cultural and tourist routes related to the history and culture of Ukraine. Another 11 routes require additional research as well as historical and cultural studies. Joining the above-mentioned Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe will contribute a powerful stimulus for the development of tourist destinations, the formation of advanced models of cultural tourism, the improvement of historical and cultural monuments as well as the intensification of scientific research in the particular field. Key words: cultural tourism, state policy, cultural routes, tourist destinations, interrelation of cultures.

International Standards of Social Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: Administrative and Criminal Aspects

This article reveals the problem of social security of internally displeased persons. The scope of social protection directed at this category of population is not the same in different countries. Taking into account the origin of the authors of the article, the questions of social protection of internally displaced persons in Ukraine are described in detail. Conclusions. Special attention was paid to the need to provide people with the opportunity to exercise their rights and freedoms as well as the proper conditions for social rehabilitation, that has arisen before the state. As a result of the research – ways how to strengthen the social security, increase the level of social protection and make it more effective are proposed. The European standards of social protection of internally displaced persons are a set of norms fixed in the acts of the Council of Europe, the European Union, decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, which, as a result of their implementation in the internal law of the states become mandatory for implementation and determine the decent living conditions of internally displaced persons, the responsibilities of the state in this area for ensuring security and full decent development of personality. In the system of European standards for social protection of internally displaced persons, the relevant norms developed by various institutions of the Council of Europe are extremely important.Keywords: social protection, social security, internally displaced persons, displacement Standar Internasional Perlindungan Sosial Bagi Pengungsi Internal: Aspek Administratif dan Criminal Abstrak. Artikel ini mengungkapkan masalah jaminan sosial orang-orang yang tidak senang secara internal. Cakupan perlindungan sosial yang ditujukan pada kategori penduduk ini tidak sama di berbagai negara. Mempertimbangkan asal usul penulis artikel, pertanyaan tentang perlindungan sosial bagi para pengungsi internal di Ukraina dijelaskan secara rinci. Kesimpulan. Perhatian khusus diberikan pada kebutuhan untuk memberikan orang kesempatan untuk menggunakan hak dan kebebasan mereka serta kondisi yang tepat untuk rehabilitasi sosial, yang telah muncul sebelum negara. Sebagai hasil penelitian diusulkan cara bagaimana memperkuat jaminan sosial, meningkatkan tingkat perlindungan sosial dan membuatnya lebih efektif. Standar Eropa tentang perlindungan sosial bagi pengungsi internal adalah seperangkat norma yang ditetapkan dalam tindakan Dewan Eropa, Uni Eropa, keputusan Pengadilan Hak Asasi Manusia Eropa, yang, sebagai hasil dari implementasinya dalam hukum internal. negara menjadi wajib untuk implementasi dan menentukan kondisi kehidupan yang layak dari orang-orang yang dipindahkan secara internal, tanggung jawab negara di bidang ini untuk memastikan keamanan dan pengembangan kepribadian yang layak sepenuhnya. Dalam sistem standar Eropa untuk perlindungan sosial bagi pengungsi internal, norma-norma relevan yang dikembangkan oleh berbagai lembaga Dewan Eropa sangat penting.Kata kunci: perlindungan sosial, jaminan sosial, pengungsi internal, pengungsian. Международные стандарты социальной защиты внутренне перемещенных лиц: административные и уголовные аспекты Аннотация. В статье раскрывается проблема социальной защищенности внутренне недовольных. Объем социальной защиты, направленной на эту категорию населения, в разных странах неодинаков. С учетом происхождения авторов статьи подробно освещены вопросы социальной защиты внутренне перемещенных лиц в Украине. Выводы. Особое внимание было уделено необходимости предоставить людям возможность реализовать свои права и свободы, а также создать соответствующие условия для социальной реабилитации, которые возникли перед государством. В результате исследования - предложены способы, как усилить социальную защищенность, повысить уровень социальной защиты и сделать ее более эффективной. Европейские стандарты социальной защиты внутренне перемещенных лиц - это совокупность норм, закрепленных в актах Совета Европы, Европейского Союза, решениях Европейского суда по правам человека, которые в результате их имплементации во внутреннее право государств становятся обязательными для реализации и определяют достойные условия жизни вынужденных переселенцев, обязанности государства в этой сфере по обеспечению безопасности и полноценного достойного развития личности. В системе европейских стандартов социальной защиты внутренне перемещенных лиц чрезвычайно важны соответствующие нормы, разработанные различными учреждениями Совета Европы.Ключевые слова: Социальная Защита, Социальное Обеспечение, Внутренне Перемещенные Лица, Перемещение.

Federalists and the Beginnings of the Council of Europe: Converting Institutions and Opinion to Supranationality (1949–1951)

In 1949, it seemed that Western governments were ready to accept some delegation of sovereignty, which met the ambitions of increasingly well-organised Europeanists. One of the most ambitious advances was the proposal for a European Assembly, which could have heralded the beginning of an integration process. However, on this point, as on many others, there was not total agreement between the unionists and the federalists: for some, the Assembly was simply a co-operation structure, while others thought it should be a constituent body. The federalists—who had been united since December 1946 within the European Union of Federalists (EUF), which claimed to have no fewer than 150,000 members—were very demanding. After the adoption of the Statute of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949, the EUF Central Committee approved a “motion on the Consultative Assembly” in which it openly demanded the drafting of a federal pact that would lead to real European power. Faced with the modest intergovernmental status of the Council of Europe, the EUF proposed that the Assembly of this Council should be transformed from a “consultative” to a “constituent” assembly, which amounted to condemning any kind of conciliatory attitude. Therefore, the constituent path was becoming more and more important within the federalist organisation: it was now a matter of pressing, without restraint, for the triumph of ideals freed from initial reluctance, in the most diverse forums. The most important of these remained the Council of Europe, which was, in the eyes of the federalists, an institution that could be improved. Defending an integrated Europe, the federalists called for the creation of a democratic power on the scale of the challenges of the time, which seemed to them to exceed that of the nation states. To achieve this, they defended a “political” vision of integration, of which the Council of Europe could be the spearhead. It is this struggle, which took place at a time when the construction of Europe seems to be based on a simple but firm act of will, that this article will examine.

Formation of the modern paradigm of countering gender-based violence in the activities of international organizations

The author conducted a retrospective review of the activities of international organizations through the prism of their role in forming the legislative foundation for combating gender-based violence. It is noted that for the first time at the international level the norm of equality of all people was enshrined in Art. 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. An important step towards combating gender-based violence was the signing in 2011 of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The Istanbul Convention visualizes the issue of gender-based violence. It has been determined that women and girls are increasingly exposed to severe forms of violence, such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, forced marriage, crimes committed in the name of so-called "honor", and genital mutilation, which constitutes a significant violation of human rights. for women and girls and is a major obstacle to achieving equality between women and men. The author singles out three conditional periods of formation of the modern paradigm of counteraction to gender - based violence in the activity of international organizations: 1) 1945 - 1974. The basic foundations of gender equality are laid at the level of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Combating gender-based violence was not considered through the prism of sex discrimination. The activities of the world community were aimed primarily at combating discrimination against women in the political, socio-economic and cultural spheres of society. 2) 1975-2010.During this period, all 4 World Conferences on the Status of Women were held. In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Articles 30 of the Convention clearly define discrimination against women and propose an agenda for action at the national level to end such discrimination. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the General Assembly in 1993, contains a definition of violence against women. 3) 2011 - to the present time. This period covers the process of realizing the scale of the spread of gender-based violence. A key event of this period was the adoption in 2011 of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Activation of the world community to intensify the fight against gender-based violence. Adoption of sustainable development goals, in which gender equality is recognized as the general idea (Goal 5) and condition of sustainable development.

Czy świat algorytmów i sztucznej inteligencji będzie sprawiedliwy? Wykorzystywanie nowoczesnych technologii, algorytmów i modeli predykcyjnych w wymiarze sprawiedliwości

The possibility of using artificial intelligence, modern technologies and algorithms, and going into more details – predictive models, in the judiciary, which was predicted by the authors of science fiction books, has become a fact today. However, this raises a number of concerns, mainly of an ethical nature, and the need to answer philosophical questions regarding the role of a judge, the tasks of the judiciary, access to a court, and the right to defense. Both in the legal system of the Council of Europe and the European Union, numerous normative acts have been made to regulate these issues, but they should be continued and even deepened so that technological progress doesn’t surprise lawyers and doesn’t cause irreversible social consequences.

Crafting Emotions: The valence of time in narratives about the future of Europe in the Council of Europe (1949)

How are emotional narratives used to mobilise support for or opposition against policy ideas about the institutional set-up of European integration? This article systematically examines the first General Debate of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe in 1949, which featured as a laboratory for the rise and demise of various blueprints for European integration. This article makes a threefold contribution. First, it introduces a narrative approach that combines the valence of emotions with their temporal dimension. Second, it demonstrates how these emotionally charged narratives of hope, redemption, fear and sacrifice provide the affective glue of an emerging (transnational) emotional community that cuts through nationality and political colour. Third, taking a historical approach this article points at the need to historicise the role of emotions in European integration.

Fedotova v. Russ. (Eur. Ct. H.R.)

On June 13, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a judgment in Fedotova and Others v. Russia. The ECtHR found that Russia was in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for not allowing same-sex couples to have their partnerships legally recognized. The decision reflects the ECtHR's firm position: the formal recognition of partnership shall not depend on the partners' sex, and the complete exclusion of same-sex couples cannot be justified with opposing public sentiments or the need to protect traditional families. While the Fedotova ruling is the first judgment that challenged the discriminatory legislative framework in a country belonging to the Eastern Bloc of the Council of Europe, it is not unprecedented. In its judgment, the ECtHR applied the standards entrenched in the case law on the rights of same-sex partners and, although it did not address the issue of marriage equality under Article 12 of the ECHR, it did conclude that the applicants' rights under Article 8 had been violated.