The Language Issue in Ukraine: Legal and Educational Challenges in the Budjak Region
Martin Henzelmann
University of Greifswald
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-01
Abstract. This study addresses the language issue in the Budjak region, located in the southwesternmost part of Ukraine’s Odesa oblast. After providing geographical and historical context, recent Ukrainian measures in the field of language policy are commented on, while examining their consequences for heritage language instruction among the linguistically diverse local population. It is shown how political efforts to elevate Ukrainian’s status over Russian nationwide are inadvertently disadvantaging ethnic minorities, as are numerous in Budjak. I further argue that the language issue in Ukraine is exceptional in its strong impact on the sensitivities of minority language speakers in the country, in particular those who speak languages other than Russian.
Keywords: Linguodidactology; Ukraine; Budjak; Minority Languages; Language Laws; Language Education
Language Matters: Stability and/or Change of Personality Traits in Bilingual Sample
Camellia Hancheva
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-02
Abstract. This study examines how language influences personality assessment outcomes in bilingual individuals by comparing responses to standardized instruments administered in both English and Bulgarian. A community sample of 236 Bulgarian-English bilinguals (Mage = 32.89, SD = 9.61), who used English daily for at least two years, completed four personality measures in both languages during a single session, with a music-based cognitive task break in between to reduce translation effects.
Overall, results showed strong equivalence between language versions. However, subtle differences emerged, particularly in subscales related to reality testing, reflective functioning, and detachment – suggesting that certain self-perceptions may be more nuanced or emotionally resonant when assessed in the mother tongue. Age-related differences in Negative Affectivity were significant only in the Bulgarian version, aligning with developmental theories that highlight emotional and personality shifts during emerging adulthood.
These findings support psychodynamic perspectives emphasizing the emotional depth and symbolic richness of the native language. Clinically, they underscore the importance of considering language preference and emotional comfort in bilingual assessments and therapeutic contexts. Future research should explore these effects in clinical populations and investigate how language shapes psychological expression and therapeutic outcomes.
Keywords: linguodidactology; personality assessment; bilinguals; emerging adulthood; psychological counselling; mother tongue
The Implementation of Methods Based on Digital Tools in Foreign Language Teaching
Petar Todorov
Sofia University
Yem Natalya
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Krasimira Desheva
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-03
AbstractThe article presents innovative methods that can be successfully implemented in foreign language teaching. The methods are based on digital tools and can be used both for giving assignments for the development of skills such as speaking, listening, writing and building a range of vocabulary, and for group work as additional resources to the main learning systems used by teachers. The importance of methodologies such as gamification and total physical response is explained, and the SpeakPipe and LingoClip applications are discussed. Instructions for using these tools are provided, as well as methodological guidelines for their application in specific educational situations. The material can be useful for pedagogical specialists, students and kindergarten teachers who use innovative teaching methods, especially those based on digital technologies. The article has been developed as part of the activities funded under the project “Sofia University marking momentum for innovation and technology transfer (SUMMIT)”.
Keywords: linguodidactology; digital tools; gamification; total physical response; Speak Pipe; LingoClip
The Nonlinearity of the New Reality in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language
Elena Stoyanova
Episkop Konstantin Preslavski Shumen University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-04
We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used
when we created them.
A. Einstein
Abstract. . The paper is devoted to the problem of nonlinearity as a key characteristic of the modern information society. In the education system, nonlinearity is reflected in the organization of the educational process, educational technologies and teaching tools. Under the influence of the constantly increasing flow of information in the Russian language, there is a change in the understanding of the educational text. The boundaries of textuality are expanding. The traditional linear way of presenting and transmitting information is losing its dominant role, and texts of a new nature begin to spread as a special type of structured text. At the present stage, nonlinear has significant linguistic and didactic potential and is used, along with linear text, in teaching Russian as a foreign language.
Keywords: linguodidactology; Russian as a foreign language; educational tools; nonlinear text
Challenges and Advantages in Implementing STEM/STEAM Projects in School Education in Bulgaria
Hilda Terlemezyan
University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”
Meglena Zapreva
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-05
Abstract. The integration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and STEAM (including Arts) education in schools in Bulgaria is a crucial step in preparing students for the modern technological world. This type of education promotes critical thinking, innovation, and creative problem-solving. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of these disciplines, the implementation of STEM/STEAM projects in Bulgarian schools faces significant challenges. This article examines these challenges and benefits based on focus interviews with primary school teachers, secondary school teachers and university professors and local experts in STEM/STEAM pedagogy conducted during training organized by the Faculty of Education at Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski." The main challenges include a lack of adequate teacher training, insufficient resources and equipment, predominant traditional teaching methods, and a lack of support and collaboration. However, the advantages of STEM/STEAM education are considerable, including the development of critical thinking, computational and design thinking skills, increased student motivation, understanding for the interrelations among different disciplines, acquiring lasting knowledge, and preparation for future careers.
Keywords: linguodidactology; STEM; STEAM; primary school; integrated education innovations
Educational Gains of Digital Transformation in Academic Libraries: The Case of Istanbul University’s DijitalKütüpİST Project
Pervin Bezirci
Istanbul University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-06
Abstract. In an era of uncertain information explosion and accessible media, libraries worldwide have rapidly embraced the digitization of their resources to develop a survival mechanism and support education by increasing relevance. To meet the ever-changing needs of researchers and remain relevant in the 21st century, academic libraries have had to take on new roles. As cultural memory institutions, libraries have had to improve their infrastructure in line with the developments in information technologies to provide information resources following the needs and expectations of researchers, to support education, and to ensure that their collections can be used by future generations. This has led to the need to transfer existing printed resources to readable formats and/or media through communication technologies. In this framework, the study discusses the contribution of digitization projects, which have increased in academic libraries in parallel with digital transformation processes, to education. The Istanbul University “Istanbul Cultural Heritage Digital Library (DijitalKütüpİST)” project is briefly described as an example of information access services in new-generation libraries. In conclusion, this paper highlights the contributions that university libraries make to scientific research and education through digitalization and enhanced information access, by analyzing the researcher profiles and quantitative data from the DijitalKütüpİST Project, which digitally connects cultural heritage works of historical significance with researchers.
Keywords: digitization; rare works; digital transformation; university libraries; ıstanbul university library; linguodidactology
Post-truth as a Linguistic and Cultural Phenomenon
Silvia Petrova
South-West University “Neofit Rilski”
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-07
Abstract. . The paper discusses the concept of post-truth as a cultural and linguistic phenomenon that has gained popularity in the last decade. It analyses its semantic and ideological implications in media and political discourse. The article focuses on the ways in which post-truth serves not only to describe an era in which facts are losing their importance at the expense of a preference for emotion in the formation of public opinion, but also as a rhetorical tool in struggles for power and legitimacy. Attention is drawn to the need for a critical approach to language in the face of disinformation and information overload in an era of social media dominance.
Keywords: post-truth; social media; new media; post-truth politics; discourse; linguodectology
The Ethno-Religious Political Subculture in Bulgaria – Origin, Main Characteristics, and Challenges (1878 – 1934)
Dimitar Ganev
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-08
Abstract. This study explores the emergence, core characteristics, and historical evolution of the ethno-religious political subculture in Bulgaria between 1878 and 1934. Applying the concept of political subcultures, it analyzes how Muslim communities – including Turks, Pomaks, Tatars, Circassians, and Roma—formed a distinct political subculture united by religious affiliation. The research shows that this subculture emerged as a response to historical traumas, loss of social status, and marginalization following Bulgaria’s liberation. It developed resilient strategies for political adaptation, including reliance on international law, internal consolidation, and cooperation with Bulgarian agrarian and left-wing movements.
Keywords: political culture; political subculture; ethnicity; religion; minority; linguodidactology
Two Beginnings: Slovak Surrealism and its European Context
Slaveia Dimitrova
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-09
Abstract. The article focuses on the belated entry of surrealism into Slovak literature, its asynchronous development vis-a-vis Czech surrealism and on its perception as a foreign phenomenon that was followed by an effort for its incorporation into the system of national literature. The text disputes the established view that by the mid-1930s, surrealism was practically unfamiliar to the Slovak literary circles, and that what little was known passed through the filter of Czech literature. Particular attention is paid to the patterns of adaptation of surrealism into Slovak literature, dominated as it was by a sense of “chaos” generated by the proliferation of -isms in Europe at the time. The article argues that it was the resistance to this “chaos” that functioned as a key factor for the delay in the emergence of Slovak surrealist texts. The movement is examined as a creative tendency both on an individual and a generational level, with the corresponding collective gestures representing it.
The article could be used in university courses on the history of Slovak and Slavic literatures.
Keywords: linguodidactology; slovak surrealism/overrealism; phases of development; polemics; patterns of adaptation; theoretical arguments
On Leadership in Education – with Facts and Arguments
Angel Petrov
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-10
Liderstvoto v stolichnoto obrazovanie. Uspeshni upravlenski praktiki.
VESELINOV, D., KASTREVA, V. (eds.).
Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“, 2024.
Fascination: E.T.A. Hoffmann
Sonya Aleksandrova
University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-02-11
Обаянието Е. Т. А. Хофман. Faszination E.T.A. Hoffmann. Fascination: E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Svetla Cherpokova (ed.), Sofia: Az-buki National Publishing House, 2024, 423 p., ISBN 978-619-7667-69-1
