Vilmante Liubiniene

This article aims to investigate the interest of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in working virtually for their country of origin and its relationship to the values of the individual. This research contributes to our understanding of the interest in working virtually for the country of origin and its relationships to universal values. The analysis is based on a quantitative study conducted with 1,970 SIEs from Lithuania. More than half of the respondents were willing to work virtually for their country of origin. Moreover, higher motivation influences the willingness to work virtually. Positive correlations were found between collectivist and individualist values and willingness to work virtually for the country of origin and between individualist values and economic motivation. The study is based solely on self-reports of their subjective values and opinions and refers to the case of expatriates from a single country.

Technologies offered and used on the Internet play a significant part in the lives of children; nevertheless, little research has been done on how children view and use machine translation (MT). According to recent literature, there are various benefits to using MT in teaching/learning foreign languages, such as more fluent writing, more effective communication, and fewer errors. Nevertheless, the use of MT in classroom settings is often viewed as problematic by language teachers. Despite the fact that a vast number of students have used MT for various purposes or have tried experimenting with MT for certain academic or entertainment purposes, they seem to have mixed feelings about it. The present qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews and aims to capture a snapshot of Lithuanian children’s perceptions and awareness of MT technologies. The results of the interviews reveal that children mostly find out about MT as a result of their own efforts and employ MT tools fo...

The present paper analyses the role of social and cultural background knowledge in the cognition of meaning. Language and culture integrated studies have long been in the focus of attention. In order to study the language of a target culture, one should understand how human beings construct meanings, understand processes of meaning-making, account for different meanings, and examine their effects in social life. The language cannot be interpreted in the right way without taking the target culture into account. In the knowledge-based society people of all professions have realized that they will be more successful if they take “cultural“ factors into consideration. Our analysis of meaning-making process follows Lyn Spillman’s (2002) theoretical perspectives. To analyze the data, qualitative analysis is used. Our findings suggest that miscommunication occurs as a result of the lack of knowledge about the target culture. A foreign language could act as an obstacle to express one’s thou...

This article explores the issue of introducing children between six and ten years of age to robotics and investigates the use of robots in schools and in extracurricular activities. The central questions are 1) whether and how the introduction of robotics is addressed in political strategies and educational policies (RQ1), and 2) what the main actors in the introduction of robots in educational settings are (RQ2). Therefore, a pilot study in three European countries (Austria, Lithuania, Romania) was conducted, which included an analysis of national policy strategies, as well as interviews with three stakeholders per country. The article illustrates the specificities of the investigated countries presented as case studies and discusses them in a comparative way. The findings show that the investigated countries’ educational policies aim at mirroring the Digital Agenda for Europe and that two opposite approaches to implementation of robotics (bottom-up vs. top-down) can be identified.

Summary Issues in minority education in relation to citizenship have received more attention lately, because of new requirements for language testing in several countries (Bevelander, Fernandez & Hellström, 2011, p. 101). The acquisition of citizenship is more decisive for immigrant participation in society than the duration of stay in the country (Bevelander, Fernandez & Hellström, 2011). The second language is crucial for active citizenship and integration in this perspective. Most countries in the EU (except Ireland and Sweden) have language requirements for citizenship and the use of language testing becomes increasingly common among the countries that receive migrants. The rapid development highlights the need for new international studies on the relationship between citizenship and conditions for second language learning. The goal of the recent study is to compare premises, perspectives and scales of values of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish language educators, related to the re...

Although more and more children engage in daily online activities with digital technologies, the roles that online technologies play in children's lives are still understudied. This article aims at identifying the role of digital devices as well as practices in which young children are engaged at home. It also strives to explore digital literacy practices and to research how these are embedded into the family context. The case study of Lithuania discussed in this article contributes with new knowledge about the local contexts and may help to understand the main problems to be further worked upon with on a global and European scale. The research of young children and their engagement with digital technology in Lithuania comes as part of the EC JRC project “Young Children (0–8) and Digital Technologies.” The findings reveal that although children perceive online technologies and the use of smart devices as entertainment and relaxation, they are not addicted. Several factors affect young children's uses and skills of digital technologies, including family constitution and parental styles.

The present paper analyses the role of social and cultural background knowledge in the cognition of meaning. Language and culture integrated studies have long been in the focus of attention. In order to study the language of a target culture, one should understand how human beings construct meanings, understand processes of meaning-making, account for different meanings, and examine their effects in social life. The language cannot be interpreted in the right way without taking the target culture into account. In the knowledge-based society people of all professions have realized that they will be more successful if they take "cultural" factors into consideration. Our analysis of meaning-making process follows Lyn Spillman's (2002) theoretical perspectives. To analyze the data, qualitative analysis is used. Our findings suggest that miscommunication occurs as a result of the lack of knowledge about the target culture. A foreign language could act as an obstacle to expr...