Front Matter: Volume 2

This PDF file contains the front matter of the Proceedings of CBU in Proceedings of CBU in Social Sciences Volume 2 including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

SPANISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN TERTIARY EDUCATION: THE ACTUAL SITUATION IN LATVIA

The data published by The Instituto Cervantes (2021) prove that Spanish language use in the world is constantly rising. The current number of native speakers is 489 million people, and there are more than 22 million learners worldwide. It is the fourth most spoken language in the EU and the third in the UN. The newest Latvian Educational Standard states that the first and second-level educational institutions should offer a minimum of two foreign language acquisition. Nevertheless, the Latvian Educational Curriculum does not include Spanish as an option; therefore, it lacks institutional support to establish Spanish studies in all educational levels with the proper follow-up. The article presents the current situation in various study programs proposed by several Latvian tertiary education institutions in 2020/2021. The data has been collected by contacting current Spanish lecturers and analyzing the current study programs offering Spanish language acquisition in tertiary education institutions mentioned in the article. The analysis presents the content of the study programs in the bachelor and master study levels and the estimated number of students in each study program. It is a panoramic insight into Latvia's Spanish language teaching situation, which is necessary to understand Latvian-speaking Spanish learners' needs, existing resources for Spanish language teaching, and a further perspective for promoting Spanish studies in Latvia. It proves a lack of institutional cooperation to provide the constant Spanish language acquisition from the first till the tertiary educational level that would improve the general recognition of Spanish and its need in Latvian society as a part of the European Union.

SOCIO-EDUCATIONAL CORRELATES OF BULLYING IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXT

Bullying is an increasingly common problem in schools, associated with negative educational outcomes for both bullies and victims. This study explored the socio-educational family and school variables related to bullying, victimization and positive behavior, such as age, gender, separation from parents, school results, and truancy. In this study 311 students (50.8% boys) have participated, they were aged between 6 and 16 years (M = 11.01, SD = 1.71), enrolled in primary school (47.3%) and in secondary school (52.7%), all were from urban areas. 43.8% of respondents were separated from one or both parents due to divorce (17.4%), parental death (6.1%), migration (20%) or abandonment (0.3%). Bullying, victimization and positive behavior were measured with one standardized scale; the data about school results and attendance of the students was collected from the school registers; family information was self-reported by participants. Because Cronbach’s Alpha for the positive behavior scale was 0.57, lower that 0.7, this scale was not considered for further data analysis. Empirical data for the study was collected before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mann-Whitney U test showed significant age differences: secondary school students scored higher in aggression than primary school students. We also found significant gender differences in bullying behavior: boys’ reported higher level of aggression. The Independent Sample Student’s t-test indicated gender differences in school results: the boys obtained lower school results in Language and Mathematics than the girls. Separation from one or both parents did not lead to significant differences in bullying behavior, but pupils separated from their parents had fewer school absences than their colleagues not separated from their parents. Pearson’s correlation indicated that students with higher bullying scores, also scored higher on victimization and had higher number of school absences, but had scored lower grades in Language and Mathematics. One-way ANOVA indicated that victimization was influenced by age and bullying was influenced by gender. Also, one-way ANOVA indicated an effect of bullying on school results. Two-way ANOVA showed an interaction effect between gender and separation from parents on bullying. When living with both parents, boys had higher bullying scores, but under separation condition, the boys scored slightly lower than girls. The implications of the results for education and counseling are discussed.

INTRODUCTION OF ELEMENTS FROM PROBABILITY THEORY IN THE EDUCATION IN MATHEMATICS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

The article considers the prerequisites for the inclusion of problems with elements of probability theory in mathematics education in grades 1-4. This type of task is generally not present in the compulsory curriculum in mathematics in primary school, but they could be used in classes for compulsory, extended, and additional training, thus creating conditions for implementing developmental learning. Some theoretical statements about the theory of probabilities are systematized, related to the tasks included in the constructed and approbated methodological system of work. Some of its characteristics are presented. This article offers some of the tasks for grades 1-4. A longitudinal empirical study was conducted with students of the 1-4th grade in the period 2015 to 2020. The results of the outgoing diagnostics in 4th grade are processed by mathematical and statistical methods and are presented graphically. They show that fourth-graders successfully solve problems with elements of probability theory, and a primary school teacher could use them in the systematic work in mathematics at the initial stage of the basic educational degree. Solving non-standard mathematical problems is an element of probability theory that helps arouse interest, motivate students, and place them in an active cognitive position by solving problem situations in the pedagogical interaction in mathematics in primary school.

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL AND PEER ATTACHMENT ON SELF-ESTEEM AT LATE ADOLESCENCE

The present study investigates the relationship between parent and peer attachment bonds on the development of self-esteem during late adolescence. The sample was randomly selected. Data was collected from 387 participants including 166 male and 221 female students from seven high schools of the Shkoder Municipality in Albania. A self-developed Demographic Questionnaire, Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) were administered. A Pearson Correlation and Independent sample t-test were applied. Specific attention is focused on the assessment of attachment in adolescence. The results show the existence of a significant positive correlation between parental/peer attachment and self-esteem. Concerning gender differences during late adolescence, females showed higher attachment with parents and peers than males, but there were no gender differences in self-esteem. This research enables us to develop new insight into the importance of parent and peer attachment for a healthy adolescence.

INFLUENCE OF DISTANCE LEARNING ON THE ACADEMIC MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS FROM SPECIALTIES IN THE FIELD OF ARTS

This article discusses the problem of the impact of distance learning on the motivation to learn in students studying arts. Learning arts such as music, dance, and fine arts via distance learning is proving to be a real challenge for students and teachers. The aim of the present study is to determine how distance learning affects the learning motivation of students studying art at the university. Method: a questionnaire for measuring academic motivation and a modified scale for measuring students' engagement in online learning, and a survey. Sample: 109 students from first to fourth-year in university, studying specialties related to music, fine arts and dance Results: The results showed that distance learning did not prove to be a major obstacle in establishing the learning material, but students who are internally motivated to learn prefer traditional learning. The main difficulties in distance learning turned out to be technical - the use of too many and different learning platforms, lack of a good internet connection, organizational - time management difficulties, easy distraction and psychological factors such – overwhelming written information, the high demands of the teachers, and a lack of social exchange. Correlation analysis found that students who prefer traditional education have a high intrinsic motivation to study art-related disciplines. ANOVA did not establish statistically significant differences in the factors, course and specialty.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EXPERIENCE OF LONELINESS BETWEEN BULGARIANS AND RUSSIANS

Loneliness is a painful and alienating experience, which is an increasingly widespread phenomenon all over the globe. However, this phenomenon is perceived and interpreted differently in the world. The present study aims to compare the emotional, social, and romantic loneliness between Bulgarians and Russians. The two Slavic countries are historically and culturally close, but at the same time, there are many differences. Some studies have found that in the minds of both Russian and Bulgarian young people, loneliness is associated with both negative and positive aspects. This creates a common ground for the analysis and interpretation of this phenomenon in both countries. But the Russian people are more characterized by a positive-resource view of loneliness, while Bulgarian young people emphasize the negative. The study involved 608 people from Bulgaria and Russia aged 18-73 years. They completed the short version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults by Di Tommaso E., Brannen C., Best L.A. (2004). The results indicated that „romantic loneliness“was108 the most pronounced and present with its frequency in the content of the overall experience of loneliness. This outlines deficits, expectations, and emotions that are realized / function / in the deeply personal world of the person, of the studied groups of adults both in Bulgaria and in Russia. In second place in terms of its representation is the "social loneliness", which ​​stands out among the studied adults from Bulgaria according to its marginal values. In the third place as third structural-content component is the "emotional loneliness", which is especially present in the experiences of the respondents from Bulgaria in comparison with those from Russia. Statistically significant results on the factors "country", “age” and "marital status" are also discussed.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS AND TEACHING ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND US, MAN AND NATURE, AND MAN AND SOCIETY IN GRADES 1 - 4

The article aims to justify and elucidate the role of multimedia presentations in learning about the world around us. Multimedia presentations accompany early training aimed at the child's natural and social environment. They are systematically used due to the visual nature of the predominant learning material, which quite often combines illustrative and educational functions. This article focuses on the didactic use of presentations in lessons and its methodology. The objective of this research is to establish which didactic tasks are performed with the help of multimedia presentations in lessons. The results in the areas studied show that there is no single unified method for using multimedia presentations in the lessons on the surrounding world. In practice, different approaches are used, which, in some cases, are incompatible with the traditional teaching procedure.

LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF CHARTED KNITTING PATTERNS

The paper outlines the linguistic and semiotic aspects of a specialty text – a knitting pattern. In today’s busy world, nobody wants to read long and complicated texts if it can be easier illustrated by a photograph or a charted image that uses a set of specific symbols with their own, non-arbitrary meanings to make a text reader’s time usage more effective but also clear. Aspects of signs, semiotics, and language games are also explored in alignment with knitting charts as the main reference, as a knitting chart symbol is a concrete referent in its context. Finally, the translation of knitting charts is described, including the importance of a chart key and what transformations of text have occurred in the translation of knitting charts from English into Latvian. Charted knitting patterns could become a that could be easily transferred between different languages and cultures, helping people share their skills and heritage. Knitting and linguistics and translation studies is a new area of research that could bring many new insights about crafting and specialized language use.

COMPETENCIES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN CONDUCTING ONLINE EDUCATION

The state of emergency, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, has completely changed the education system in Bulgaria, including the training of physical education and sports in Bulgarian schools. Physical education and sports training have been transformed into distance and online education and training. The aim of the research was to study the competencies of PE teachers in the country for the implementation of online teaching. The subject of the study was a total of 138 teachers, of whom 100 (72.5%) were female and 38 (27.5%) were male. The teachers were aged from 24 to 68 years old, with different pedagogical experience and were representatives of all regions of the country. A specially developed international questionnaire with closed questions was applied. Alternative analysis and chi-square Pearson's test (ײ) were used to analyze the results. The results show that the sampled teachers evaluated the current use of online education in physical education and sport as relatively good (47.1%). At the same time, the acquired results show that the educational activity of sports pedagogues during the pandemic has reduced their motivation for professional activity (43.5%). Teachers have rated as very good (29.7%) and good (45.7%) their competencies for using online technologies to conduct physical education and sports classes. The majority of them – 79%, actively applied the new technologies in the training process. No differences were found in the answers of the respondents to any of the questions on the criteria of gender, age and pedagogical experience.