Yearbook of the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

The infinitive subjunctive with obscure reference in modern Italian through the eyes of native speakers

Maria Ladovinska — 2021-12-30

The paper uses the perspective of native speakers to present an aspect of the topic of the infinitive subjunctive in modern Italian that cannot be extracted through sentence grammar. The study is based on a corpus extracted from the pages of three novels – contemporary Italian fiction – and on a questionnaire distributed to twenty native speakers. Through a linguistic analysis of the informants’ responses to the questionnaire created for this purpose, their point of view is interpreted with regard to the phenomenon under study. The main aim of the study is to get at the strategies that native speakers use in interpreting linguistic facts, and to try to answer the question why the violation of syntactic norms does not interfere with the comprehension of the text.

Lexicographical synonymic work in Spanish: the beginnings

Magdalena Karadjounkova — 2021-12-30

The article looks at the issue of synonymy and presents a brief history of Spanish synonym dictionaries, focusing on the first lexicographical works in this field. This research could be useful for both scholars and students as well as for people who want to enrich their knowledge in the area of Spanish lexicography.

The beginnings of cultural studies in Bulgaria: Academics in Veliko Turnovo

Elena Tarasheva — 2021-12-30

The article traces the initial steps of the discipline Cultural Studies in Bulgaria. The first conference convened in Veliko Turnovo by the British Council in 1993 is taken as a conceptual metaphor for the influences on the discipline and the basic principles that inform the theoretical framework of this cross-disciplinary field. Cultural Studies is a relatively new phenomenon in Academia. The first conference in Bulgaria was also the first conference on British Studies to be held outside the United Kingdom, so the inchoative factor operates at various levels. The status of English as a “target” language has long been approved all around the world and the need for knowledge about countries where it is spoken as the official language has long sought and found some degree of satisfaction in Civilisation courses. However, the field of Cultural Studies had never been introduced into the picture of language learning as a rich multidisciplinary project up until that conference. The presentations reveal what Bulgarian academics had developed to contribute and what the invited guests sought to showcase. Thus, the presentations are analyzed for the topics and key concepts they apply. The conclusions relate to the scope of Cultural Studies courses, their interdisciplinary nature, and the constitutive principles. Additionally, relevance for courses of philology is proposed, with a view of the fields of graduate employment: teaching and translation.

Validation of research tools and activities in a distance-learning course in English in an e-environment using interactive teaching methods

Tsvetelina Gospodinova — 2021-12-30

Validation of research tools and activities in a distance-learning course in English in an e-environment using interactive teaching methods

Increasing the motivation of students in small settlements in Ukraine to learn foreign languages

Oleg Alexandrov — 2021-12-30

This article presents some trends in educational policy in Ukraine in recent decades as a prerequisite for improving the language competences of young people there. Among the challenges hindering the successful acquisition of a foreign language is the low personal motivation of learners. Observations and positive personal experiences from the author’s participation as a volunteer in an international GoCamp project aimed at increasing motivation to learn English, German and French in informal settings in small towns in Ukraine are shared. For many children and young people, extracurricular activities with foreign volunteers during summer language camps (projects, educational games, quizzes, discussions, arts and sports activities, etc.) are the first steps towards developing intercultural communicative competence, without which success in a globalizing world is difficult to achieve.

The effect of implementing CLIL on subject learning in the context of business English

Eda Cauli — 2021-12-30

This paper aims to outline the effect of implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach in teaching Business English through task-based practice. This includes gap-filling exercises, words in context activities, reading comprehension of ESP texts, translation of specialized terms, and oral presentation rubric. Students were divided into a CLIL and a Non-CLIL group. The aim was to assess students’ speaking skills in terms of acquisition of subject-specific profession-related terms depending on the used approach. The obtained qualitative data revealed higher progress of the students in the CLIL group. The results support the importance of CLIL methodology as a relatively new and more effective approach for an overall improvement of language skills and more specifically for the development of communicative competence in terms of teaching Business English terminology and ESP as an important part of preparation for problem solving in real-life situations enhancing future career opportunities.

E-portfolios as an assessment tool in EsP online learning

Lilyana Todorova-Ruskova — 2021-12-30

The use of electronic portfolios as an effective tool for formative assessment enables students to track their own learning experiences, thus enhancing their engagement, motivation and autonomy. The present data-driven research is based on quantitative and qualitative data on the implementation of e-portfolios in the English for Specific Purposes classes at the University of National and World Economy in the online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. An overview of the recent literature related to the use of e-portfolios is provided and the benefits and challenges of implementing an e-portfolio assessment tool using the application Microsoft Class Notebook for the purposes of assessment for learning are presented. Student participants in the study developed e-portfolios, providing reflection on their learning, supported with artefacts, collected in the process of acquiring skills and competences. A survey and interviews among students of economics in the experimental group were carried out at the end of the academic year in order to evaluate the efficacy of the e-portfolio assessment tool.

A hedonistic mood in Florence with Antonfrancesco grazzini il lasca’s “le cene”

Petya Petkova-Staleva — 2021-12-30

In the vast panorama of 16th-century Italian collections of novellas, Grazzini’s “Le cene” stands out for its extraordinary hedonistic mood. The narrative is set in Florence in the winter at the end of Carnival, when the time is set aside for merriment and fun. And one of the amusements consists precisely in the telling of novellas, which brings delight to both the tellers and the listeners, and therefore to potential readers. The framed narrative situation also corresponds with the subject matter of most of the novellas narrated, as the narration is intended to bring pleasure, to provoke laughter, to the exclusion of the lecturing tone present in many other authors. The formation of the narrating company is not dictated by any tragic events, but is merely a coincidence of circumstances whereby they find themselves shut out of the bad winter weather in the warm parlour of the landlady on the first evening of the telling. Subsequent gatherings, however, are the result of the desire of the company to continue in time the pleasure of good and entertaining story telling which brings laughter and merriment on winter evenings.

The novels of Giovanni Sercambi: On the trail and away from the Decameron

Petya Petkova-Staleva — 2021-12-30

Giovanni Sercambi’s collection of novellas is another step in the development of the genre: although it ostensibly follows the path outlined by the Decameron, a number of innovations can be found that give it a special place. The author-narrator enjoys a privileged position in the artistic world of the work, fitting into the framing narrative as one of the characters acting to create a narrative situation as “realistic” as possible. His role as narrator and author of the book is formalised within the narrative itself. The purpose of the novella’s narrative evolves throughout the collection from consolation during the long journey at the beginning of the collection to a lesson contained in the examples worthy of emulation. The traveling party, which voluntarily agrees to obey certain rules, can be seen as a model of society in miniature, and its formation as a political and social project based on Christian morality. The path, into which the fellowship embarks, therefore, far from aiming only at physical survival, also aims at salvation from spiritual death, becoming a symbol of man’s way of life. The titles of the novellas are also a novelty in the novelistic tradition, which will have almost no precedents in the next two centuries.

St. Jerome and the horns of Moses: Do not judge hastily

Boris Naimushin — 2021-12-30

This article addresses the issue of translation quality and translation errors. The aim of the study is to show that when translating certain types of text, one should be cautious about speaking of “elementary translation errors” because they may be interpretations or dogmatic requirements. Discussed is the widespread view that the horns of Moses in Exodus 34:29-30 and 34:35 in the Vulgate are the result of an “elementary” translation error by St. Jerome who “confused” the Hebrew words keren “horn” and its derivative karan “shining, emitting light.” The author supports the view that this is not a translation error, but a conscious translation decision by Jerome, who was aware of the two possible interpretations of the Hebrew text, but deliberately departed from the Hebrew tradition and the Septuagint translation, choosing the literal translation based on certain theological considerations and personal views.

Signs of cheating: The editor’s thoughts

Boris Naimushin — 2021-12-30

The paper addresses some ethical issues that prevent a number of research articles received by the English Studies at NBU editorial office of the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures from passing initial editorial approval and from going on to the actual peer review stage. These problems include a large number of authors and false authorship, and plagiarism and self-plagiarism, including translation. These signs alert editors to possible ethical violations. The article will be useful for both young science editors and young researchers.

Editorial

Editorial Board — 2021-12-30

Editorial Board — 2021-12-29

Editor's Message

Boris Naimushin — 2021-12-30

About the Authors

Editorial Board — 2021-12-29

Abstracts in English

Editorial Board — 2021-12-29

Yearbook of the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

The infinitive subjunctive with obscure reference in modern Italian through the eyes of native speakers

Lexicographical synonymic work in Spanish: the beginnings

The beginnings of cultural studies in Bulgaria: Academics in Veliko Turnovo

Validation of research tools and activities in a distance-learning course in English in an e-environment using interactive teaching methods

Increasing the motivation of students in small settlements in Ukraine to learn foreign languages

The effect of implementing CLIL on subject learning in the context of business English

E-portfolios as an assessment tool in EsP online learning

A hedonistic mood in Florence with Antonfrancesco grazzini il lasca’s “le cene”

The novels of Giovanni Sercambi: On the trail and away from the Decameron

St. Jerome and the horns of Moses: Do not judge hastily

Signs of cheating: The editor’s thoughts

Editorial

Contents

Editor's Message

About the Authors

Abstracts in English