The present study investigated the effect of synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated
peer feedback on IELTS candidates’ writing improvement and interactions. In so doing, 132 IELTS
candidates from an English language center in six writing classes were chosen based on the
convenience sampling procedure. They were split into three equal groups: two experimental groups
that were instructed through synchronous peer feedback and asynchronous computer-mediated
feedback and one control group. The data were collected using a sample English language proficiency
test and synchronous and asynchronous media writing scoring rubric. One-way ANOVA and
Chi-square test were applied for the statistical analysis of the data. It was revealed that L2 learners
benefited more from the computer-mediated peer feedback than conventional paper and pencil
peer feedback. Further, the participants in the asynchronous group noticeably exceeded the IELTS
candidates in the synchronous group. The results also showed that the most frequent feedback in
both experimental groups was directive feedback. However, there were some discrepancies in the
frequency of various directive subcategories. Suggestion was the most frequent directive subcategory
reported by the synchronous group and instruction feedback was the most repeated one in the
asynchronous group. On the basis of the findings of the study, instructors were advised to employ
asynchronous feedback whenever possible to maximize their learners’ writing accuracy.
Keyword(s) : interaction
Intersections between Education and Social Work in Working with Children at Risk: The Perspective of Pedagogical Specialists
The article presents results from an empirical research study with 208 pedagogic specialists. Its main objective was to find teachers’ views about their cooperation with specialists from social work system regarding working with children at risk in Bulgaria, as well as to find the extend of such cooperation and its future perspectives.
Children at risk learn, educate, and socialize in different types of educational institutions and they also receive support and protectio0n from different organizations for social protection at their residence territory. That is why the development of effective cooperation between those two systems is especially important.
Empirical research was done with a survey questionnaire designed for the research itself. The questionnaire includes questions in three main areas: teachers’ evaluation about the challenges they face when working with children at risk; characteristics of their interaction with social protection system; changes which need to be made at both systems so work with children at risk to be more effective.
Research results show that teachers are mainly dissatisfied with their interaction with social work system due to lack of information, additional workload, and lack of effective support for those working at school level.
More and more teachers state that children at risk create new challenges in their work and teachers face unusual requirements when they interact with social workers. In addition, teachers are not familiar with institutions for social work and social services, and they contact them only in severe cases of family dysfunction and aggression, while expecting social workers to practically solve the problem of the child. They want to transfer all this type of work to social services and outside of educational institutions. Teachers also state that there is a lot of documentation which complicates the interaction between the two systems (educational and social work). They think that there is a need of change in social workers’ work, while work of teachers should not be changed.
Intercultural competences for contemporary teachers
Teachers now work in a global world and need to develop competences in intercultural communication.
This can be achieved through information and communication technologies (ICT) to create
and enrich their environment, leading to a reassessment of the role of technology in the field of
humanitarian knowledge. This article describes the application of a technological model – the wiki
encyclopedia – and its possibilities in understanding different cultural identities and the manifestation
of tolerance. It enhances the ability for the modern teacher to communicate with people from
other cultural communities and successfully carry out intercultural communication. As a result of
the research, it is proposed that the Wiki encyclopedia should be included in the curriculum of training
pedagogical specialists in higher education institutions.