Currently, high-tech assistive technologies (ATs), particularly Socially Assistive Robots (SARs), virtual reality (VR) and conversational AI (ConvAI), are considered very useful in supporting professionals in Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) for children with communication disorders. However, despite a positive public perception, therapists face difficulties when integrating these technologies into practice due to technical challenges and a lack of user-friendly interfaces. To address this gap, a design-based research approach has been employed to streamline the integration of SARs, VR and ConvAI in SLT, and a new software platform called “ATLog” has been developed for designing interactive and playful learning scenarios with ATs. ATLog’s main features include visual-based programming with graphical interface, enabling therapists to intuitively create personalized interactive scenarios without advanced programming skills. The platform follows a subprocess-oriented design, breaking down SAR skills and VR scenarios into microskills represented by pre-programmed graphical blocks, tailored to specific treatment domains, therapy goals, and language skill levels. The ATLog platform was evaluated by 27 SLT experts using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaires, extended with additional questions specifically focused on ATLog structure and functionalities. According to the SUS results, most of the experts (74%) evaluated ATLog with grades over 70, indicating high acceptance of its usability. Over half (52%) of the experts rated the additional questions focused on ATLog’s structure and functionalities in the A range (90–100), while 26% rated them in the B range (80–89), showing strong acceptance of the platform for creating and running personalized interactive scenarios with ATs. According to the TAM results, experts gave high grades for both perceived usefulness (44% in the A range) and perceived ease of use (63% in the A range).

The article presents the results based on a pilot study over the components of communicative competences, particularly linguistic and discourse competences in Bulgarian among children attending Bulgarian schools abroad. The study is based on questionnaires developed by the authors’ team. It is aimed at identifying problem areas in terms of written speech (writing in Bulgarian) and the scope of vocabulary in different lexical-semantic fields (domains, according to Grosjean, 2013). The occurrences of mixing of two or more lexical systems (in Bulgarian and the language of the country of residence, as well as in other languages that the students speak to a certain extent) are discussed. The third focus is given for the specific skills of the bilingual children for creating connected speech in a given situation with visual support. The results of the pilot study demonstrate the implementation of different stages of mastering writing as a technical skill and as a speech activity. The analysis and the results can help build an appropriate methodology for teaching in Bulgarian schools abroad. It can be concluded that among students from Bulgarian schools abroad, we observe that the transition from oral to written speech is a complex and prolonged process, and for some students, it is a transition to an entirely new language system (Bulgarian is learned as a foreign language). KEYWORDS: Bulgarian language as L2 and foreign language, writing, Bulgarian schools abroad, communicative competence