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Purpose: This article examines the use of English medium instruction (EMI) for teaching Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) by non-native speakers with a focus on multilingual classrooms. It also explores teachers' positive and negative beliefs about using EMI in classroom settings for JFL instruction. Methods and procedure: 274 non-native Japanese language teachers from around the world (57 countries) voluntarily participated in a survey, answering a questionnaire on Google Forms and Jotform. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed. The research instrument was piloted before the main study and was found to be effective and adequate to elicit the desired data. The research questions aimed to identify whether there were any relationships between the use of EMI and the multilingual classroom. Findings: The results showed a clear correlation between the extensive use of EMI and the multilingual character of JFL classrooms. Translanguaging turned out to be a common practice adopted by non-native Japanese teachers regardless of the primary language of instruction. The article concludes that EMI can be a valuable tool for JFL instruction in multilingual classrooms. Based on the investigation of the teachers' beliefs, the results showed a changing positive attitude towards English employed in JFL classrooms. Implications for research and practice: The findings can be used to further investigate EMI in JFL instructional practices in multilingual classrooms, improve the quality of JFL instruction and facilitate the integration of multilingual education into foreign language teaching. Future research can explore the effectiveness of EMI in different JFL contexts and investigate the impact of EMI on students' language learning outcomes.

In this paper, we, two transnational doctoral students and language educators of color, engage in a reflexive dialogic conversation focusing on the positionality of our identities. Utilizing duoethnography research methodology, we explored our academic and professional journeys in post-secondary education in our home countries and an Anglophone context. A discussion on negotiating our positionalities in our immediate academic, professional, and sociocultural contexts is provided. We argued that unveiling one's positionality requires a prolonged reflexive engagement that assists in establishing quality in qualitative research and exploring fluidity in positionality. We closed with implications and invitations to use duoethnography as a path to self-exploration, solidarity, and allyship.

Local item dependence (LID) refers to the situation where responses to items in a test or questionnaire are influenced by responses to other items in the test. This could be due to shared prompts, item content similarity, and deficiencies in item construction. LID due to a shared prompt is highly probable in cloze tests where items are nested within a passage. The purpose of this research is to examine the occurrence and magnitude of LID in a cloze test. A cloze test was analyzed with the Rasch model and locally dependent items were identified with the residual correlations. Findings showed that three pairs of items were locally dependent. When these items were removed from the analysis, test reliability dropped but item fit and unidimensionality improved. Removing the three locally dependent items did not affect person ability mean and standard deviation, though. The findings are discussed in terms of LID detection and modeling in the context of cloze test and language testing.

This article presents a new design and delivery strategy for teaching a course in higher education. For this purpose, I adapted a framework developed for business strategy success by Wrona and Ladwig (2015) to an educational context. To illustrate how the framework operates in the new context, I implemented video recorded interviews with industry representatives in a course with third-year students at Westminster International University in Tashkent. The attitudes of the students towards the videos were collected via electronic questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. The students' positive attitudes towards the videos show the success of the strategy. However, the study was limited to one course within one international university in Uzbekistan, thus testing this strategy in larger courses is recommended for future research.

This study examines emotional well-being variations among students (n = 13,398) across 5 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary analysis is conducted using data from the "Responses to Educational Disruption Survey" (REDS), which focused on the pandemic experiences, including well-being, of 8th-grade students. The study constructs an emotional well-being scale employing bi-factor models and multidimensional item response theory, encompassing students' concerns, loneliness, social isolation, and negative emotions. Cross-analyses with gender and socioeconomic status (SES) reveal significant between-group disparities, measured by Cohen's d effect sizes. It uncovers gender gaps in emotional well-being, with girls consistently scoring lower in most countries. SES effects on emotional well-being vary among countries, with SES group distinctions generally smaller than gender disparities. Thus, gender appears to have played a more significant role than SES in relation to 8th-grade students' emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research aims to investigate the correlation between the academic performance of migrant students and their cultural integration within the context of international education. Additionally, it seeks to identify an optimal acculturation strategy that enhances the academic outcomes of migrant students and explores the influence of VR technology-based learning on acculturation and academic performance. The study conducted an online survey among 1032 participants from China, Vietnam, Mongolia, Turkmenistan (studying at RUDN University in Moscow, Russian Federation), and Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan (studying at Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University in Yelabuga, Russian Federation), forming the primary sample (N = 400). The research utilized Berry's 2D acculturation model (2005) and Schwartz's questionnaire (1992) to assess acculturation strategies. A virtual reality experiment involved 100 students using Oculus Rift and Rhino-Unity technology. Academic performance, acculturation, and stress levels were measured post-virtual excursions. The SL-ASIA (26-item) and ILS (31-item) surveys assessed acculturation levels and stress. The research identified integration as the most effective acculturation strategy (35%), fostering improved academic performance, expanded cultural boundaries, and the development of global cultural capital. Analyzing the relationship between academic performance and acculturation tendencies revealed that the majority of students with "Excellent" (49%) and "Good" (59%) grades exhibited a high level of integration. Those with "Satisfactory" grades showed a tendency towards marginalization (32%). In the realm of cultural education through virtual reality technology, the study demonstrated that immersive VR learning environments can enhance academic performance, reduce psychological and acculturation stress, and multiply adaptive resources essential for acculturation in a new culture. Although the abstract highlights the research objectives, it requires modification for grammatical correctness. Additionally, the methodology for data collection and analysis needs to be explicitly mentioned for clarity.

Uzbekistan has not adopted robotics education as the school curriculum yet. However, several robotics learning centers have introduced robotics education in an informal setting. This research paper aims to highlight the essence of robotics education in Uzbekistan investigating the perception of parents and children to their full potential and identifying impediments to the process of implementing robotics in Uzbekistan. This research study involves primary and secondary research methods. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine the reflection of robotics education among primary and secondary school children. Official statistical data was gathered to prove the scope of demographics. Primary data was collected through the survey among parents whose children attended robotics classes. Ultimately, the authors have used empirical evidence to provide recommendations and solutions on how to implement robotics education effectively in Uzbekistan. Much emphasis has not been put on robotics education in Uzbekistan, despite reforms in the field of STEM education. Moreover, the condition (including teachers, lesson materials, classrooms, computers, and robotics kits) to implement robotics classes as more developed countries are doing has not been created properly, which hampers the introduction of robotics at schools. In addition, the majority of parents are not fully aware of the authentic value of robotics education in children's lives. Hence, Uzbek schools are lagging in the field of robotics.

Central Asian researchers are underrepresented in the global research production in social sciences, resulting in a limited Central Asian perspective on many social issues. To stimulate the production of local knowledge, it is important to develop strong research cultures, including knowledge of ethical practices in research with human participants. There is currently scarce evidence about research ethics regulations used by social science researchers working in the Central Asian region. This article reports findings from an online survey conducted in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan (n = 296) from October 2021 to January 2022. Focusing on three Central Asian countries, this article addresses the following research questions: What are the attitudes and practices of social science researchers based in Central Asia toward research ethics regulations and research ethics committees (RECs)? Is research ethics training associated with improved attitudes and practices in relation to research ethics among social scientists based in Central Asia? Is research experience associated with improved attitudes and practices in relation to research ethics among social scientists based in Central Asia? Regression analyses results demonstrate that locally based social scientists with prior research ethics training implement ethical procedures in their empirical research practice more often compared to researchers without any prior research ethics training. The preliminary findings indicate that research ethics training is positively associated with Central Asia-based social science researchers' engagement in ethical research, thus potentially increasing the amount and quality of empirical social science research produced in the region.

Concerns have long been raised regarding the constraints of CLT. The study aims to discern the exact as opposed to the supposed problems that are taken for granted as obstacles. A total of 95 in-service Korean, North American, Chinese, Uzbek English teachers participated in the study. The results reveal that none of the non-teacher-related external factors such as educational policy, class size, classroom layout, learners' English proficiency, and learners' motivation, was found to be significant for CLT. Amongst teacher-related internal factors such as teachers' language proficiency, teacher's motivation to teach, years in service, teacher competence, and training in instructional methodology, teacher competence was found to be significant. In addition to the influence of the constraints on the teaching methods, the study further investigated teachers' perception of their teaching. The results that teaching methods were selected for 'convenience' and external teaching environments as the No.1 precondition for their change to CLT suggest a need for a shift in teacher perception.

This article examines how the crisis of COVID-19 became a crucible, or a means of transformation, for global educators. How teachers leverage their lived experience of teaching through the implications of COVID-19 to transform identity and practice is a new phenomenon, a merits examination. Through a collection of interviews, the ways in which the life experiences of teaching through COVID-19 worked to create new identities in teachers and new practices within the classroom is examined. Data was gathered through informal interviews from eleven educators teaching through the crisis of COVID-19 across the world, including four continents and six countries. Drawing on simple thematic analysis, a narrative approach was utilized to examine the process of transformation in teachers across the globe. The findings and analysis of this research will help those working with teachers better understand how teachers leverage a crisis be it COVID-19, or another disruptive force, as a crucible for transformation.

The paper examines the degree of digitalization of Academic Writing and Information Literacy (hereafter AW & IL) course in the countries of the post-Soviet era. Numerous research demonstrated that digital transformation has taken place toward the teaching of AW & IL in most of the developed countries and beyond, yet little is studied about the digitalization in countries of the former Soviet Union that have passed a long way to align their education with the globe. Keeping up with the four main categories of digitalization, the paper will look at its application as a part of curriculum development, assessment, students' competency, and university maintenance. The paper employs a phenomenological approach confirmed through the qualitative analysis of 18 in-depth interviews conducted with AW & IL instructors from nine countries. The study revealed that recently AW & IL course has moved through partial digitalization, providing that the university stakeholders do not exert any necessary support.

With the increase in linguistic and cultural diversity in South Korea, the landscape of English education in Korean classrooms has been changing. This has led to an increased need to explore the language and literacy practices of the emergent multilingual youth in Korea where one (official) language (Korean) has been predominantly used as the medium of instruction for English teaching and learning. Addressing this need for more research on how emerging multilingual children learn English in the diverse Korean classrooms of today, this four-year longitudinal case study explored out-of-classroom English language learning experiences of three Uzbek students in South Korea. Drawing upon the conceptual framework of "translanguaging" and "agency," data were collected from various sources. I found that the actions taken by these students to learn English depended on their interlocutors, practical and academic purposes, and language ideologies embedded in contexts, which in turn influenced learners' agency and translanguaging practices. More specifically, the findings show the students exercised agency over their choice of linguistic and non-linguistic resources in order to expand their linguistic repertoires on their own accord. These findings provide implications for EFL research and pedagogy, particularly within the context of the transition from monolingual to multilingual.

This research explores how paper and online assessments (OA) can affect EFL learners' personal development variables such as self-esteem, mindfulness, demotivation, and language learning development. Sixty intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) students participated in the current research and were randomly grouped into the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). Before the intervention, the data collection tools assessing language learners' self-esteem, mindfulness, demotivation, and language learning development were administered as pre-tests to all the participants. Subsequently, the EG was taught all lessons of the coursebook, Top Notch 2, by utilizing OA while the CG was taught the identical lessons using a conventional (pen and paper) assessment. In the post-treatment phase, the two groups completed the post-tests on self-esteem mindfulness, demotivation, and language learning progress. The study demonstrated that the EG group outperformed the CG group on the four post-tests. The findings indicate that the intervention of OA significantly enhanced language learning outcomes and psychological well-being regarding the measured personal development variables. The enhanced efficacy in the EG group can be ascribed to the utilization of OA during the treatment phase, which has a beneficial effect on academic and personal development. This study also posits that integrating OA augments psychological engagement and language development among EFL learners. It highlights the implications of the results associating teaching EFL via OA with the observed personal development aspects and attributes them to effects of positive psychology.

Very little is known about the status of autism research in Central Asia. The purpose of this scoping review was to examine the scope and focus of the peer-reviewed research studies conducted with autistic people and their families in five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The electronic databases of EBSCO Host and Web of Science were used for systematic search of literature. Eleven articles that met eligibility criteria were included in the review and analyzed for topics and research areas outlined in the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan. Ten of these studies were conducted in Kazakhstan and one in Uzbekistan using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research designs. Five of the seven research areas - Diagnosis, Biology, Risk Factors, Services, and Treatment and Interventions - were represented in these studies, while there were no studies identified in the areas of Lifespan Issues or Infrastructure and Surveillance, highlighting a gap in research. None of the studies reported co-authorship of scientists from Central Asian countries. The review identified knowledge gaps and research needs to guide future research in autism in Central Asia to address the needs of autistic individuals and their families living in this region.

The adoption of English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has gained popularity in China's tertiary education as a result of globalization. International students in Chinese universities are celebrated as part of soft power projection to extend China's global impact. Informed by Piller and Cho's concept of "Neoliberalism as language policy" (2013) and Collins' "social reproduction theory" (2009, 2012), this study attempts to explore the EMI learning experiences of a cohort of international students at a border university in China. The policy documents, in-depth interviews, classroom observation, reflective journals and online interactions converge to reveal that, international students in EMI programmes experience exclusion and inequality despite the welcoming discourses of diversity. The paper highlights the necessity to pay attention to the ways in which higher education institutions reproduce inequalities of social stratification of international students through explicit and implicit institutional practices. It is argued that EMI policy in China's peripheral regions targeting international students from less-developed countries tends to perpetuate and accentuate educational inequalities. The study sheds light on a more inclusive pedagogical approach to alleviating international students' marginalisation and educating students of diverse linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds for global citizenship in the context of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Given the growing movement in support of blurring the divisions between language and literature teaching, it has become increasingly vital to understand what language teachers think of literature as a language resource, the approaches they employ when teaching with it, the extent to which they can appreciate, understand, analyse, and interpret literary texts, that is, their literary competence, and whether certain traits predict such competence. Yet, research into the use of literature in language education has been primarily concerned with learners rather than teachers. This article reports on an online questionnaire-based study that explored the creativity, orientations towards literature, teaching approaches, and beliefs regarding literature of 170 language teachers in Central Asia and how these elements predicted their literary competence. Participants worked at universities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan and were teaching Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish as foreign languages. The findings revealed that their reading habits and creativity statistically significantly predicted their literary competence while their selection of texts was partly at odds with their professed orientations towards literature.

Since Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, nationalist discourses have been overtly masculinized, continuing to inform Uzbek males' daily lives. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Uzbekistan, this article illustrates how Uzbek boys' domestic relations contribute to the way they learn to (re)produce masculinities, foregrounding a high degree of agency and utility. The analysis uncovered three themes central to the (re)production of Uzbek boyhood in Uzbek families as a site of informal learning: (1) being helpful through domestic labour; (2) being social through showing hospitality; and (3) being tarbiyali through practising national culture. Through scrutinizing the intersections of gender, education and nationalism, this article concludes by connecting Uzbek boyhood in the domestic sphere and nationalist campaigns fostering masculine hegemony in Uzbekistan's nation building process. Through domesticity -- a contentious concept in feminist criticism -- this article expands our understanding of the (re)production of boyhood in a conventionally feminized space.

In this article, we explore the drivers of students' success in a first-year university statistics course. Using a unique sample from Westminster International University in Tashkent, we discover that student engagement with their studies is reflected in their class attendance and in the use of online resources, which continue to play an important role in their academic performance. Moreover, we discovered that socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, employment, and language of instruction of prior schooling are significant in explaining student academic outcomes. These factors have important policy implications for both the university and the broader national level.

With the large influx of Russian-speaking migrant workers and their children to South Korea, there is a growing need to explore the language and literacy practices of emerging multilingual learners. Specifically, as the Korean language is predominantly used in South Korean contexts, including school, Russian-speaking children face enormous linguistic and academic challenges and demonstrate different language practices in and out of school contexts. Drawing upon the conceptual frameworks of translingualism and agency, this three-year longitudinal case study attempts to investigate how and for what purposes an emergent multilingual youth executes his agency to engage in translingual practices within and across different contexts (in and out of school, and in an after-school program called Translingual Writing Program) and how his participation in translingual practices influences how he exercises his agency as a language learner. This study employs multiple sources of data to build a multifaceted perspective on an emerging multilingual youth's translingual practices and agency across multiple contexts over the course of three years. The findings suggest that the youth's engagement in translingual practices became more agentive and active under circumstances in which his multilingual beliefs and competence were valued, and where a relatively large number of resources were available.

This article reports upon roleplaying simulations used for teaching and learning subjects in the field of international relations. It is based upon five years of experience gained by the author while teaching in RUDN University in Moscow, Russia, and Webster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The article aims to unravel both the value of roleplaying simulations in teaching international relations subjects, and how this practice correlates with the regional specificity of students in post-Soviet space. The main hypothesis advanced is that due to the peculiarities of traditional higher education processes in the countries of post-Soviet space, and the unique national traits of the students involved, the application of roleplaying simulations has provided additional motivation for the students. It has raised their level of immersion in their education, partially alleviating concerns about under-performance and low interest in the classroom activities among most of the students. The author argues that besides such scenario-based learning being in general a more pro-active way of learning, leading to better performance and overall facilitating competences formation process, it is specifically effective in learning environments that can be characterised as conservative and reactive, which for the most part is the case for post-Soviet space higher education.

The aim of the research is to examine the structure of education and training from pre-school to high school in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the States of the Turkic World, and to compare them with each other. In order to achieve this aim, it has been collected through document review from the literature related to each of these states, printed scientific and official sources, and data on the official websites of the ministries of the relevant states. While analyzing the data, descriptive analysis method was used. In the research, the themes of languages of education, pre-school education, primary school education, secondary school education and high school education were created by considering the descriptive analysis method stages. The sources that can be accessed and evaluated within the scope of the research were examined within the scope of these themes. The data obtained were defined, supported by direct quotations, and interpreted by adhering to the original form of the data. At the end of the research, it was concluded that there are similarities and differences in the structure of the education and training systems of the Turkish States. Based on these results, at the end of the research, suggestions were presented for the continuation and further development of the common points and good practices in the education and training system of the Turkish States with an increasing contribution.

The lack of sufficiently developed methodological basis before graduation adversely affects the mathematical competency of future experts that are required by the modern economy. The study aims to investigate the features of the development of a personalized model of teaching mathematics by means of interactive novels to improve the quality of educational results. The main methods of research were the generalization of pedagogical experience and science literature, modelling, observation, analysis of results in AXMA Story Research methods. The chosen methods made it possible to justify the necessity of using interactive novels to personalize teaching mathematics and to confirm the qualitative improvements in the pedagogical system. Fisher's criterion was used to evaluate the results. 121 schoolchildren from Russian and Uzbek schools participated in the experiment. Individual educational routes supporting the studying of mathematical theory, problem solving in the interactive space AXMA Story Maker were developed. The peculiarities to be considered when designing a personalized model of mathematics learning by means of interactive novelties were formulated. These are the correlation between the didactic goal and the result of educational and research work in a nonlinear environment, the selection of the plot for a visual novel, the elaboration of the text component and the personalized learning track, etc. According to ANCOVA test results, the post-score of the experimental group is statistically higher than the control group. The results of the article can be used to develop ideas for personalising of learning in the digital school, as well as justification for the need for inclusion of digital interactive tools in mathematics education at all levels of education and training.

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of Uzbeks' views towards Turkish language and Turkish culture on language learning processes. In the study, which was designed according to the qualitative research model, a semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. Interviews were held with 33 B1-level Uzbek learners who study Turkish language in language teaching centers affiliated to higher education institutions in Turkey. After the data obtained through semi-structured interviews were transcribed, the researchers carried out coding, categorization and classification according to themes on the raw data. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that Uzbek learners generally had a positive perception of Turkish language learning processes, life in Turkey and Turkish culture, and this situation was directly related to the perception that Turkey provided historical closeness, religion, language, cultural similarity and quality education and life opportunities in today's conditions for Uzbeks. In addition, it was seen that learners developed a positive attitude towards learning because they thought that they were advantageous as speakers of the same language dialects in the language learning process, and they also supported their positive view of language with the facilitating effect of vocabulary and grammatical similarity.

Soviet higher education had a distinctive institutional landscape. It combined two institutional types in a uniform model that embedded higher education in the national economy. This paper focuses on the post-Soviet system-level changes in the institutional landscape in all 15 countries of the former USSR. It shows that over last three decades the Soviet two-type institutional model evolved into a three-type model, with the specialized university as a new institutional type. Highlighting the instruments of horizontal and vertical differentiation for each country, the paper explains how structural reforms and market forces led to the rise of the university/multiversity form of institution, and the strengthening of vertical stratification at system level. The comparative analysis shows that there have been different patterns of transformation in the 15 countries, shaped by unique combinations of structural reforms and marketization policies, with certain countries having made more distinctive steps away from the Soviet institutional model. There are now 15 formally different systems of higher education which poses further questions for comparative analysis.

The article deals with the main aspects of the digital technology impact on education. The aim of the research is to collect and analyze most of digital technologies that have been implemented into educational system of Uzbekistan recently and to find out how they have influenced upon the development of the modern educational methods. The paper presents an assessment of the quality of education on the basis of system performance indicators, which makes it possible to evaluate education in the framework of management criteria based on the results of the participants' preparedness for practical activities. Analysing the foreign and domestic experience, the solution was found out to manage the educational system of the higher education organizations. At the same time, the work stipulates that such an approach should not violate the existing academic traditions and prevent commercial orientation of university management.

This article examines how the crisis of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a crucible, or a means of transformation, for global educators. How teachers leverage their lived experience of teaching through the implications of COVID-19 to transform identity and practice is a new phenomenon and merits examination. Through a collection of interviews, the ways in which the life experiences of teaching through COVID-19 worked to create new identities in teachers and new practices within the classroom is examined. Data was gathered through informal interviews from eleven educators teaching through the crisis of COVID-19 across the world, including four continents and six countries. Drawing on simple thematic analysis, a narrative approach was utilized to examine the process of transformation in teachers across the globe. The findings and analysis of this research will help those working with teachers better understand how teachers leverage a crisis be it COVID-19, or another disruptive force, as a crucible for transformation.

The purpose of this research is to examine the structure of education and training in the Turk World and to compare them with each other. In the study, the general structure, development and current situation of the education and training systems of the Turk World has been researched in detail and compared. In this comparative study, a horizontal approach was used that examined the elements of different education systems as a whole. The education and training systems in these countries, the stages of the educational institutions, the structure of the institutions that educate students, the admission conditions of the students to the schools, the duration of education, the status of higher education, and postgraduate education were examined, and evaluated. The education and training systems of the countries in the Turk World were first researched one by one and explanations were made in the light of the gathered information, then the tables were created with the information, the information in the tables was analysed and explanations were made under the tables. In the conclusion part, the information in the tables for all countries was summarized, the current situations were compared, and evaluations were made. At the stage of data collection; printed scientific resources such as thesis, books, journals, and articles related to the education and training systems applied in the Turk World were used. The data gathered were analysed using descriptive analysis approach according to the criteria determined with the aims of the research. As a result, it has been determined that there are similarities and differences in the structure of the education and training of the Turk World, and these determinations have been revealed. The main differences achieved are; secondary education (high school) and higher education periods, and the difference in the age of starting primary school. The duration of basic education (primary school) is the same in all countries. The Turk World should establish common quality standards in education and training, reflect these standards in their programs, and carry out remedial studies to bring education and training to the level of exclusive civilizations and put them into practice as soon as possible.

One of the biggest challenges seasoned English language teacher Mina Gavell has faced in the classroom is how to liven up reading classes. Not only is reading inherently a quiet and solo task, but the standard skills teachers are trying to build in their students--skimming, scanning, making predictions and inferences, guessing vocabulary meaning from context--require practice, practice, practice. While useful and necessary, such practice can easily come to feel repetitive, redundant, and downright boring. One solution Gavell came up with while teaching university students in Uzbekistan combines the use of authentic materials, task-based learning, and stations. This article discusses this activity and how it evolved into two separate stages, both of which can easily be adapted for a variety of needs, levels, and age groups. The strategy encourages learners to explore, make their own choices, and apply critical thinking, all while changing their physical space. It is a strategy that can be used once in a semester or on a more regular basis. The result will be a reading class that is active, engaging, and effective.

In this scientific article we take a look about education and that, one of the important components in the education of future specialists is language training. So, the main goal of teaching languages at a university is the formation and improvement of skills and abilities in the educational and professional sphere of communication, both orally and in writing. In this regard, the problem of studying language and literature by law students seems to us actual. For this reason we created self-education "Electronic multimedia textbook on the Russian language for law students" and we have discussed in this article its features, one of them is, that in the process of studying the program material, the student has the opportunity to receive current reference information. To do this, in our tutorial there is a section Reference, where a student with the help of a video can find commenting, interpretation, clarity of words and phrases, which interesting to him/her. Also we see, that the material of the textbook supports and enhances the interest of pupils and students of national groups in the country of the target language, which in turn contributes to the implementation of the principles of connection between learning and life and the development of cognitive activity of students.

Background: This paper investigates how the COVID-19 school closure has affected the gender gap in grade-8 students' performance and what are the drivers behind this. By analysing four different countries (i.e., the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates), the paper represents the first study addressing the issue from a comparative perspective. Methods: The study uses data from the Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS) survey, which comprises international comparable data on how students approached remote learning during the COVID-19 disruption. The extent of the gender gap is estimated by employing an ordered logit model, while the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) decomposition method is used to analyse the different potential channels that could account for the gender gap during COVID-19. Results: The empirical results reveal that, during the COVID-19 school closure, girls tended to perceive changes in their learnings less favourably than boys, both in terms of improvement in self-perceived learning and self-reported improvement in grades--with odds of a more affirmative response between 20 and 25% lower for girls relative to boys. The main drivers explaining this gender gap are physical activity and psychological distress of students during the COVID-19 disruption, as well as the perceived family climate. Conclusions: The paper shows systematic gender differences in how students perceived their educational outcomes changed due to the COVID-19 disruption, providing evidence on the factors driving these differences. The findings could be employed to design policy actions aimed at increasing gender equality in education.

Post-Soviet republics have undergone a variety of political and economic changes following the collapse of the Soviet Union to transform themselves into market-oriented open societies. Transitional countries have faced various problems, including social inequality, political unrest, economic hardship, and ethnic conflict. The countries had to introduce reforms in education in response to changing conditions to produce a new generation with ideas and skills that support pluralistic societies and market economies. Some countries opted for rapid, drastic reforms; others chose to restructure their economies while retaining centralized governments. Using examples from post-Soviet countries, the study examines the challenges and strategies in reforming the curriculum for states in transition. The study investigates the ideological aspects that have influenced curriculum revisions in post-Soviet nations.

This study provides a comparative analysis of pre-service science teachers in Uzbekistan and Korea, exploring ecological footprint, ecological worldview, subjective happiness, and pro-environmental behavior. Using a questionnaire whose reliability and validity had been verified, an online and offline survey was conducted targeting pre-science teachers attending teacher education universities: in metropolitan areas in Korea and Uzbekistan. Independent samples t-tests revealed significant findings: Uzbekistani teachers exhibited a lower ecological footprint but shared a similar ecological worldview with their Korean counterparts, while also reporting higher levels of subjective happiness and pro-environmental behavior. The results emphasize the need for science education strategies tailored to Uzbekistan's context, particularly the development of the new ecological paradigm (NEP). To enhance subjective happiness and pro-environmental behavior, we suggest employing pedagogical approaches such as case-based or phenomenon-based learning. This research underscores the importance of contextualization, with NEP development, and practical methodologies among Uzbekistani students.

Virtual reality (VR) technology makes it possible to create an authentic virtual environment that benefits immersive learning. We designed an intercultural learning activity and applied VR technology to support it. Then, we investigated students' perceptions of the learning activity, VR technology, and intercultural competence (IC) development during learning. Students from China and Uzbekistan participated in the activity, in which a pragmatic mixed-methods approach was used. The data were collected through student reports, three questionnaires, and interviews, and then analyzed. Three main findings were obtained. First, 13 items related to perception of the learning activity were revealed. When compared with earlier studies, new items were found, including presence, immersion, and authentic cultural experience. Second, the results showed that the participants intended to continue using VR technology, were satisfied with intercultural learning supported by VR technology, and felt that the technology confirmed their expectations. Third, the results showed that intercultural learning supported by VR technology helped facilitate IC development. Based on these results, we discuss implications and offer suggestions for educators and researchers.

The current study explores the perceptions of a group of Academic English (AE) lecturers on their views on critical thinking in teaching English for academic purposes and the ways they believe this can be developed, if at all. The findings suggest that the majority of teachers believe in the importance of touching upon critical thinking in their classes. They consider evaluating information, analyzing, logical reasoning, arguing, reflecting, and problem solving are among the main strategies needed for developing critical thinking skills and believe that that they can be developed in the academic English language classes. The results of the second survey (second stage) showed that AE teachers believe Academic English should be responsible for incorporating critical thinking into their teaching. The main activities perceived to be effective were debates, class discussions, evaluating presentations, listening for main ideas and details, reading for the main idea and evaluation of sources, writing argumentative essays, academic reports and reflection.

Due to socio-economic difficulties, many teachers in Uzbekistan combine their regular teaching activities with private supplementary tutoring (PST). Involvement in two professional activities has led to the emergence of teacher and tutor professional identities. It is assumed that the co-existence of dual identities has an influence on the professional activities of a tutor and/or of a teacher. Although a plethora of studies has focused on teacher identity and its effect on teachers' professional activities and some on co-existence of teacher identity with other social identities, there is a gap in the academic literature with only a few studies on teacher-tutor identity and its impact on their professional activities. The present qualitative study has made an attempt to reveal the types of relationship between these two professional identities, to find out the reasons for the existing relationship and to explore how this relationship impacts their professional activities as a tutor and/or as a teacher. For these purposes, the research utilizes semi-structured interview questions with six university teaching staff members who are also private tutors. By applying a predetermined theoretical framework, an intrapersonal identity network approach, the study reveals the three most predominant types--power relationship, temporal and conflicting. These types of relationship found to have a negative impact on the respondents' activities as private tutors.

Current comprehensive changes in the field of higher education in Uzbekistan have a potential impact on the overall enrollment in higher education (PP-4359, 2019). Rigid admission quotas in Uzbekistan are slowly conceding to a more market-based admissions and student recruitment to support reforms implementation. Cursory glance at the reforms fails to explain unprecedented growth of application numbers to higher education in 2019/20 (PP-4359, 2019; "STC comments on the delay of test results publication", 2019) or conjecture about future application patterns. Research presented in this paper aims to investigate the trends in higher education admissions in Uzbekistan through document analysis. It further draws on the effects of the government policy and legislation changes on the admission numbers in Uzbekistan and attempts to shed light on the future dynamics of student recruitment in higher education. The findings suggest that profound all-encompassing reforms in Uzbekistan have, firstly, precipitously increased relevant-age application numbers for 2019/20 academic year, but analysis suggests that this trend is unlikely to continue in the future.

While technology-assisted learning has become commonplace in education, its applications are rarely examined along geopolitical and cultural perspectives that reveal certain shared and vastly distinct localized practices in evolving pedagogy and cultural dynamics. For developing countries such as Uzbekistan, collaborating virtually with a university in the U.S. may represent both a technological and socio-cultural challenge. Conducting a virtual international project, nonetheless, offers a unique chance to experience "another" culture in real time through its people, exposing reductionist perceptions of "other" cultures and humanizing that "other" through community-generated dialogue. Virtual intercultural exchanges advance intercultural communicative competency and constitute an effective format for high-impact learning practices that advance students' understanding and appreciation of diversity, equity and inclusion in traditional and online classrooms. This surveys student evaluations of a pilot Virtual International Exchange (VIE) completed between U.S. and Uzbek students in 2018, and underpins a theoretical framework for the benefits of concurring "cognitive dissonance" for the benefit of open, equitable and inclusive pedagogical models.

The growing use of technology for mathematics in higher education opens new pedagogical and technological challenges for teachers. The objective of this study was to analyze the teaching approaches and technology-related pedagogical competencies of 29 mathematics teachers (15 females and 14 males) from nine European countries. After conducting semi-structured interviews, the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI-16) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework survey were applied. The results show large individual variations in teaching approaches, technological competencies, and institutional support. One-third of teachers apply a more student-centered approach, one-third a more teacher-centered approach, and one-third a mixed approach. Educating and supporting teachers in embracing educational technologies thus needs to be tailored strongly to individual needs and the available institutional support resources and infrastructure.