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A rational attitude to the language problem is hampered by the logic of “tug of war,” when the center and regions argue about the limits of their power. And you can stimulate language learning not with obligatory tasks, but with really interesting formats
After the president’s order to verify compliance with the principle of voluntary learning of national languages in the Russian republics, discussions on this issue sharply intensified and quickly acquired a political character. In Tatarstan - first of all, but not only.
Supporters of the presence of a second state language and the compulsory study of it argue that if this requirement is abandoned, the very status of a national republic loses its meaning. Opponents believe that mandatory bilingualism almost undermines the unity of the Russian Federation. Both require a final, only correct decision.
Meanwhile, here we are stepping onto rather shaky ground, where there are simply no final and only correct decisions. The question of the relationship between the rights of a federal subject and the rights of an individual, the combination of unity and diversity within a federal state does not have a universal solution; it is a complex and conflict-ridden search for a balance acceptable to all interested parties in each specific case. And the less compromise there is in the decision made, the more “use of power”, the stronger the discontent and instability in society.
In Russia, which has never learned the art of compromise, the search for balance is largely replaced by a “tug of war” based on the principle of a zero-sum game: what some gain, others lose. Moreover, the subjects of the “pull” are the center and the regions; citizens in this process have less and less right to vote. More recently, this was very clearly demonstrated in the story of wearing, where what began as a fight for the constitutional rights of citizens, as a result, was left to the regional authorities. Here the situation is largely similar.
Who's against it?
Let us, however, try, abandoning the language of unrealistic risks and fictitious horror stories, to speculate on what this balance could be in this case.
It seems to me that the problem is not the threat of separatism and the collapse of the country due to the compulsory teaching of national languages. It’s simply that there is no consensus within the republics on resolving the language issue. Despite the ritual statements of the authorities that the existing order is challenged only by individual renegades.
Two groups of residents oppose compulsory study of national languages. Firstly, a significant part of the Russian population, which is focused on the development of its own culture, does not always see the future of its children on the territory of the republic and perceives the compulsory study of the national language as redundant. Secondly, these are representatives of the “titular nation,” so to speak, who perceive themselves as part of the global world and would like to live by the rules of this world, in particular, to pay more attention not to the national language, but, for example, to English. The results of a recent sociological survey show that in Kazan, 23-27% of Tatars admit that their children might not study their native language as part of the school curriculum. Most likely, they belong specifically to the group indicated above. And, as we see, there are not so few of them.
Concede without loss
What are the consequences of such a situation? The most important of them is that compulsory teaching of the national language is not at all equivalent to knowledge of this language. The following story comes to mind. I arrived in one of the Tatar cities. I was met by a driver and a young woman from the city administration - both Russians. On the way, I asked how the name of the central square was translated from Tatar. None of them could answer me. Although they, naturally, studied Tatar in full at school.
And such cases are not isolated. Learning any language requires serious effort. If neither the student nor his parents have incentives for this, moreover, this causes rejection, and there is no hope for high-quality mastery of the subject. And to take a decisive step and try to strictly link a child’s educational opportunities with his knowledge of the national language means causing such destabilization and protest that no adequate republican government will agree to.
Then why all this? In those national republics where there is no official bilingualism and would like to introduce it following the example of Tatarstan, they explained to me that otherwise there is a constant threat of oblivion of the national language. Children from kindergarten speak Russian, learn to think in Russian and can no longer organically perceive their own native language. I don’t presume to judge how justified such fears are. But in the logic of “tug of war” they are quite natural: if we give in, we will certainly lose.
Although in fact, if you go beyond the logic of a zero-sum game, this is not necessarily the case. In any territory, all ethnic groups should have the opportunity to develop their national cultures, and parents, and even the children themselves, should have the opportunity to influence the nature of learning based on promising life trajectories. If there is no universal solution, why not ensure a variety of school programs, which would provide for different amounts of studying the national and Russian languages? In fact, this is actually true. And you can stimulate language learning not with meaningless obligations, but with really interesting formats. In Tatarstan, for example, there is a wonderful system of children’s camps where they speak only the Tatar language and study Tatar culture. Russian guys also go there. An experience worthy of all support.
In a number of national republics, teaching the “second state” (local national) language has been mandatory for several years for all children in the region (including Russian-speaking Russians and nationals from urban families who have switched to Russian). This practice is condemned by some parents and citizens who sympathize with them. Instead, the principle of voluntariness in studying the local language as a subject is proposed, or even its removal from the secondary school curriculum into additional education.
Often the proposed principle “let only Tatar children learn Tatar” (and Ossetian - only Ossetian children) against the background of uncertainty of ethnicity criteria (“under Stalin” nationality was part of passport data) leads to the self-destruction of the system at the expense of urban national parents who want the best for their children and sending them to “Russian” groups consciously, “to make it easier for the children.”
In this sense, voluntariness works poorly and, what is especially bad, leads to differences in background knowledge and competencies among children in the same locality.
The right to education generally presupposes obligation- because there have always and everywhere been children who do not want to study at all or “can’t” due to “objective” family conditions, such as the need to help in the garden or at the market. Mandatory and universal coverage give a common cultural basis to all children when they leave school; In the same context, one can consider the compulsory teaching of a regional language to all children in one region.
Since the topic is very sensitive, there should be quality(if the child takes local language lessons, he should gain a confident knowledge of the language at a certain practical level), and equal access to good grades(through groups at different levels, for example).
Can't be better take care of Russian children in the school of the national region, than to provide them with sufficient knowledge of the local language and local cultural values. I grew up in North Ossetia, and I really missed at least some accessibility to the Ossetian language - the first mass self-instruction manual was published, let me remind you, only in the 21st century, when I was already... I don’t know how anyone experiences the multilingualism of those around them, but for me in elementary school it was feeling of inferiority (and God forbid that no one on the other side gets a mirror feeling of superiority). At the same time, at school “with an English bias,” Ossetian was not taught to anyone at all, and if Ossetian had been an option (of parents), my parents would most likely have decided to protect me from the “extra load.”
Priest Alexy Agapov, a Moscow region priest, spoke conciliatoryly in a widely distributed collection of quotes on the topic:
It is also obvious that for Russians living in regions with a clear quantitative predominance of representatives of one or another ethnic group, it is useful to know the language of their neighbors, at least at the level of everyday communication, out of elementary respect for them and their culture, and, no less, out of self-respect. But it is clear that this cannot be imposed, it is simply a matter of general culture.
An unintelligent child or an eternally protesting teenager does not have the culture to teach anything “out of self-respect.” If we admit that learning the local language is useful (at least “out of self-respect” and “respect for neighbors”, but there are other benefits), then it must be taught without discrimination based on nationality(I repeat, difficult to define) - that is, completely.
After the first three grades, there are practically no subjects in school with obvious practical benefits. To the benefits of teaching local languages, I would add more tangible effects than respect for oneself or neighbors. Acquaintance with languages partially fills the lack of linguistic education at school noted by classics such as Shcherba; along with the study of a foreign language, it allows one to obtain a more comprehensive picture of possible linguistic phenomena; the experience of studying several languages facilitates the further study of these or other languages if necessary (and for some major regional languages of the Russian Federation have related ones among geopolitically important foreign languages). Studying a local language in a regular school (as opposed to learning a foreign language) has an achievable goal because one can easily find a language environment and language practice. Finally, practiced bilingualism has health benefits; It is also useful for society.
Certainly, specific implementation can and should be discussed. This seems to be the case with the quality of teaching in most schools now. According to documents, the language being studied passes through the inertia of the Soviet era as a “native” language, which causes understandable protests in families where it is not. All this can and should be regulated, but there is no need to destroy the system due to its individual shortcomings.
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According to the Constitution of Russia, Russian is the state language throughout the Russian Federation, but the republics are given the right to establish their own state languages. According to the Basic Law, a person and a citizen are granted the right to use their native language, to freely choose the language of communication, education, training and creativity. The Constitution also guarantees all peoples of Russia the right to preserve their native language and create conditions for its study and development.
Now the issue of studying native languages in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation has been transferred to the competence of regional authorities. In Russian schools, 89 languages are studied, of which 39 are taught.
Adygea
In 2013, the parliament of the republic returned the compulsory study of the native language for Adyghe children in schools where instruction is conducted in Russian, abolished in 2007. If desired, parents of preschoolers can also assign their children to groups in state kindergartens, where education and training is conducted in the Adyghe language.
On March 14, on the Day of the Adyghe Language and Writing, the Ministry of Education and Science reported on the results: in 43 preschool educational institutions, 4,759 children are studying the Adyghe language, in 127 preschool educational institutions, children are taught the basics of ethnoculture, Adyghe customs and traditions. All Russian-language schools teach the history and geography of Adygea, and Russian-speaking students are given the opportunity to choose to study the Adyghe language or Adyghe literature. In total, about 22 thousand schoolchildren study the Adyghe language, and more than 27.6 thousand students study Adyghe literature.
Altai
Teachers and the public of the Altai Republic regularly take the initiative to introduce compulsory learning of their native language for Altai children. Several years ago, an attempt was already made to pass a law that would oblige Altai children to learn their native language, but the prosecutor’s office considered that this would violate their rights.
On March 15 in Gorno-Altaisk, at the ninth Kurultai of the Altai people, a resolution was adopted proposing to make the Altai language compulsory for all schoolchildren of the republic, without exception, to study. The public organization "Russian Center" spoke out against it. According to its representatives, this will inevitably cause an increase in protest sentiments among Russians and other non-titular ethnic groups in the region, which could ultimately lead to the elimination of the very status of the republic.
Bashkortostan
The republic has a law providing for the compulsory study of Bashkir as the state language. The number of hours devoted to its study in schools is determined by the educational institution itself. Parents of Russian children regularly hold protests and seek the introduction of voluntary learning of the Bashkir language. According to their information, district administration officials are forcing school management to adopt curricula with a reduced number of hours of Russian language and literature. These speeches even influenced the region's position in one of the rankings of interethnic tensions.
Not only Russians experience problems with learning their native language in the republic; a Chuvash activist recently complained about the infringement of language and culture.
Buryatia
The issue of the possible introduction of compulsory study of the Buryat language in the republic’s schools is being discussed in government offices with broad public support. In January, cultural and artistic figures of the republic made a call not to forget their native language in the video “Buryaad halaeree duugarayal!” - "Let's speak Buryat!" The public campaign was supported by director Solbon Lygdenov with a number of his short propaganda films; the first KVN in the Buryat language was recently held in the republic.
However, deputies of the People's Khural decided to leave language learning optional. Some deputies protested this resolution, but the amendments adopted after this did not change anything significantly.
Opponents of the idea of compulsory study of the Buryat language in schools fear that this will lead to inter-ethnic tension in the republic.
Dagestan
The specificity of Dagestan is that its inhabitants speak 32 languages, although only 14 ethnic groups are officially recognized as titular ones. Teaching in schools is conducted in 14 languages, primary school is in the native language, further education is in Russian. According to Murtazali Dugrichilov, a columnist for the North Caucasus service of Radio Liberty, the native language in the republic is spoken at the everyday level. “In rural areas, almost everyone speaks local languages. In large cities, like Makhachkala or Derbent, teaching national languages is optional,” he said.
In the near future, in Dagestan, at the proposal of the head of the republic, Ramazan Abdulatipov, a commission will be created on the problems of the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Dagestan. It is also expected that after the adoption of the law “On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Dagestan”, all 32 languages in the republic will receive state status.
The director of the Institute of Language, Literature and Art of the Dagestan Scientific Center, Magomed Magomedov, believes that after the adoption of the law, the native language will be compulsory in school. The negative experience of other national republics in Dagestan was taken into account - as Magomedov said, the law will prohibit demonstrations and pickets of parents demanding the exclusion of the native language subject from the list of compulsory academic disciplines.
Ingushetia
According to the law "On the state languages of the Republic of Ingushetia", Ingush and Russian are studied as state languages in all educational institutions of the republic.
Experts believe that in order to preserve and develop the Ingush language, it is necessary to ensure its use along with Russian in all areas of life in the republic. In addition, there is talk in the republic that it is now necessary to develop industry terminology in the Ingush language, fully use the Ingush language as the state language and develop methods for teaching the native language in the schools of the republic.
Kabardino-Balkaria
In Kabardino-Balkaria, a discussion around language issues flared up in connection with the adoption of amendments to the law “On Education”. In accordance with them, the national languages, Kabardian and Balkar, will be studied compulsorily from the first grade by children for whom one or another language is native.
Meanwhile, members of the public are asking the head of the CBD not to sign the changes. In their opinion, the law “will significantly reduce the number of students studying the Kabardian and Balkar languages” and will become “a significant step towards narrowing their living space.” They believe that education and training in kindergartens and primary schools should be conducted in their native languages. However, this clause, proposed during the discussion of the bill, was not included in the final version.
Kalmykia
According to the law “On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Kalmykia”, in secondary schools where instruction is conducted in Russian, the Kalmyk language is introduced from the first grade as a compulsory subject as one of the state languages of the republic. However, national activists believe that the status of the Kalmyk language as the state language still remains declarative in the sphere of use. As an example, they cite the fact that cultural events and even national holidays are held exclusively in Russian.
Representatives of the non-titular ethnic group are unhappy with the current situation, but there are no public statements on this topic.
Karachay-Cherkessia
The official languages in the republic are Abaza, Karachay, Nogai, Russian and Circassian. Mandatory teaching of native languages by native speakers in schools is stipulated in the Constitution of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. In addition, according to the Law “On Education”, the native language must be studied as a compulsory subject in educational institutions where instruction is conducted in Russian. However, as it turned out, this obligation does not guarantee a sufficient level and quality of education in the opinion of national activists. Now in the republic there is an urgent issue of updating the content of textbooks on native languages - Abaza, Karachay, Nogai, Circassian.
Karelia
Karelia is the only national republic of the Russian Federation in which there is only one state language - Russian. The problem for raising the status of the Karelian language is the small number of representatives of this ethnic group relative to other residents of the republic and, as a consequence, the low level of distribution of the Karelian language. Recently, the chairman of the Karelian Congress, Anatoly Grigoriev, proposed introducing three state languages in Karelia - Russian, Karelian and Finnish. The reason was the authorities' promise to introduce trilingualism in Crimea.
National languages are optionally taught in primary schools and studied in universities and preschool institutions. According to the Ministry of Education, in 2013, more than 6.5 thousand people studied Karelian, Finnish and Vepsian languages in the republic’s schools.
Komi
The Komi Ministry of Education introduced compulsory learning of the Komi language from the first grade in 2011. According to Natalya Mironova, an employee of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this leads to latent discontent among young people. “High school students don’t understand why they should take away their precious time from preparing for the Unified State Exam in mathematics to study the Komi language,” the researcher said.
In September 2011, the Constitutional Court of Komi made a decision on the compulsory study of the Komi language in schools of the republic - for both Komi and non-Komi students. Now in the republic, schools can choose a program for teaching the Komi language - “as a native language” (up to 5 hours a week) and “as a state language” (2 hours a week in primary grades).
Crimea
The recently adopted constitution of the new Russian region enshrines three state languages - Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar. Education in schools will be conducted in these three languages.
Parents of schoolchildren in Buryatia, Bashkiria and Tatarstan have already appealed to the President of Russia and a number of officials, including from the leadership of Crimea, with a request to consolidate the voluntary study of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages in the republic. Activists fear that otherwise, in the future, all children of Crimea, regardless of nationality, will be obliged to study all three state languages. The signatories cite as an example their national republics, where schoolchildren have to learn non-native languages.
Mari El
In the Republic of Mari El, where the official languages are Russian and Mari (meadow and mountain), compulsory study of the latter was introduced in 2013. Analysts note that there is growing dissatisfaction among the Russian population that they are being forced to learn a language they do not need, but so far there have been no public statements on this matter.
Mordovia
The republic introduced compulsory study of Erzya and Moksha languages in all schools of the republic in 2006. Initially, the study of these languages was compulsory only in national schools in areas and settlements with dense populations of Erzyans and Mokshans. Since 2004, these subjects began to be taught as electives in Russian-language schools.
At the time of the introduction of compulsory study of Mordovian languages, there were manifestations of dissatisfaction on the part of Russian-speaking parents. Now, after 7 years, the number of dissatisfied people has decreased significantly, and their voice has become almost invisible. Teachers said that the introduction of new subjects over time changed the attitude of parents of non-Mordovian nationality to the study of national languages.
Yakutia
According to the law of the Sakha Republic "On Languages", the languages of instruction in secondary national schools are Sakha, Evenki, Even, Yukagir, Dolgan and Chukotka, and in Russian-language schools - Russian. In national schools, Russian is studied as a subject. Local official languages are also studied as a subject in Russian-language schools in areas where small-numbered peoples of the North live densely.
Despite the measures taken, positive trends in recent years have been observed only in the development of the Yakut language. Native languages as modes of communication are well preserved only in seven settlements where indigenous peoples live compactly. In other uluses, native languages are practically lost. They are used mainly by representatives of the older and middle generations, and even then only in everyday life or in those families that maintain a traditional way of life.
North Ossetia
According to the regional law on languages, parents, taking into account the opinions of their children, have the right to choose an educational institution with one of two state languages of education and training - Russian or Ossetian, which includes the Iron and Digor dialects.
As Ossetian journalist Zaur Karaev writes, studying the native language in the schools of the republic is mandatory for everyone - Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis and all other nationalities. But for those who are not strong in knowledge of Ossetian, there are special “weak classes” - with a simpler learning system and with teaching almost entirely in Russian. In strong classes the program is much more complex. However, this does not help preserve the Ossetian language. According to Karaev, for some reason, approximately a third of Vladikavkaz schoolchildren of Ossetian origin are studying under the program prepared to familiarize representatives of a non-titular ethnic group living in the North Ossetia with the Ossetian language in general terms.
Tatarstan
The leadership of the republic has been accused of inculcating the Tatar language for several years now. In Tatarstan, where only half of the population is the titular ethnic group, the Tatar language is mandatory for everyone to learn. Parents of Russian children in Tatarstan regularly hold protests and even contacted the prosecutor’s office about discrimination against Russian-speaking schoolchildren, but the audit did not reveal any violations.
Meanwhile, Tatar nationalists, for their part, are also sounding the alarm. According to them, the status of the Tatar language as the state language in the republic is almost not realized - there are few information stands in the national language on the streets, there is no full-fledged state federal channel in the Tatar language, there is no university in which teaching would be conducted entirely in the Tatar language.
The official authorities refute both the statements of Russian parents that the study of Tatar is being carried out to the detriment of the Russian language, and the claims of Tatar nationalists. The republic regularly implements language projects and programs, for example, studying the national language in kindergartens.
Tuva
In Tuva in 2008, the catastrophic state of the Russian language was recorded. According to Valeria Kan, a researcher at the sociology and political science sector of the Tuvan Institute for Humanitarian Research, the authorities were forced to pay attention to this problem. 2014 was declared the year of the Russian language. Systematic measures are being taken to ensure that children in rural areas, first of all, can master this language. According to her, the Tuvan language is doing great. Travelers also note that the residents of the republic speak mostly Tuvan among themselves, although signs in Russian predominate on the streets.
Meanwhile, Tuvan journalist Oyumaa Dongak believes that the national language is being oppressed. Yes, in my blog she notes that among the population it is difficult to find Tuvans who speak their own language purely, and even the government of the republic employs mostly people who do not know their native language. At the same time, she points out, the head of Tuva allocated 210 million rubles for the development of the Russian language, but nothing for the development of Tuvan.
Udmurtia
The issue of compulsory study of the national language in schools has not bypassed Udmurtia. At the beginning of the year, the Udmurt Kenesh association came up with a similar initiative. According to them, compulsory learning of Udmurt by everyone will help combat the loss of the Udmurt language in those families where parents do not speak to their children, as well as develop a culture of multilingualism among the residents of the republic.
Russian activists of the republic spoke out sharply against it. In February, the State Council of Udmurtia rejected the initiative to compulsorily study the Udmurt language in the republic’s schools. According to the acting head of Udmurtia, Alexander Solovyov, money is already allocated from the budget annually for teaching the national language, which can be chosen voluntarily.
Khakassia
As in many republics, in Khakassia the national linguistic environment is preserved mainly in rural areas, where the indigenous population lives compactly.
The Khakass language is compulsorily taught only in national schools of the republic.
Meanwhile, candidate of political sciences Garma-Khanda Gunzhitova stated in the media that in Khakassia, from September 1, 2014, compulsory study of the Khakassian language will be introduced in three programs: for Russians, Russian-Khakassians and for Khakassian schools. According to her, the language will be studied from grades 1 to 11 with an exam.
Chechnya
In Chechnya, the national language is taught in all schools of the republic as a separate subject. Since 95% of the population of the republic is the titular ethnic group, no protests regarding the study of a non-native language have been recorded. It is noted that in rural areas there are no problems with the Chechen language; on the contrary, children in villages do not speak Russian well. But despite the fact that the national language is actively used in everyday life, the republic still notes that the scope of its use continues to steadily narrow, as interest in its study and use in society is declining. At the last round table, the Ministry of Culture of the Chechen Republic noted the alarming, in the opinion of the participants, process of mixing the spoken language of the native and Russian languages, as well as the tendency towards the gradual displacement of the Chechen language from the official sphere.
According to the director of the Institute for Educational Development of the Chechen Republic, Abdulla Arsanukaev, the introduction of teaching in schools in the native language could have a positive effect on the Chechen language. The government, for its part, is going to equalize the Russian and Chechen languages at the official level - for now, document flow in the government is conducted in Russian. It is also expected that a state commission will be created for the preservation, development and dissemination of the Chechen language.
Chuvashia
The Chuvash language is studied as a compulsory subject in schools of the republic and in a number of universities in Chuvashia for one or two semesters. “At the very beginning of teaching, there were a lot of parents who came to school and opposed their child studying Chuvash. But today I can say with confidence: such parents no longer exist. Some even, on the contrary, want them the child developed and knew the native language of Chuvashia and, probably, this is correct,” notes Olga Alekseeva, teacher of the Chuvash language and literature at secondary school No. 50 in Cheboksary.
The severity of the language issue in the republic can be judged by recent events - in 2013, a court in Chuvashia found journalist Ille Ivanov guilty of inciting ethnic hatred for a publication that spoke about the disadvantaged position of the Chuvash language in the republic. Discussions around the native language have also been intensified by the recent language reform. According to the new rules, some Chuvash words must be written separately. However, the resulting phrase can be interpreted in two ways. According to opponents of the reform, it has impoverished the language and could serve as a catalyst for its Russification.
Nenets Autonomous Okrug
43 thousand people live in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, of which about 8 thousand are indigenous people. The main problem in studying the Nenets language is the lack of textbooks and teachers. In educational institutions of the district, hours for language learning have been introduced, electives are organized, but there are simply not enough teachers.
According to the methodologist of the State Budgetary Institution "Nenets Regional Center for Educational Development" Lyudmila Taleyeva, such specialists have not been trained on the basis of educational pedagogical institutions of the district for a long time. Mostly, children’s native language is taught by teachers of Russian language and literature, who at one time, as students, studied the Nenets language. Teaching is carried out using old grammar textbooks.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
The indigenous peoples of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug face similar problems - a shortage of teachers of native languages and teachers with the right to teach their native language for nomadic schools, a lack of methods for teaching native languages for beginners, and insufficient provision of schools with teaching aids in national languages.
The main languages of the indigenous peoples of the North in the region are Nenets, Khanty and Selkup.
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
The main languages in Chukotka are Chukchi, Eskimo and Even. The government is currently developing a Concept for the development of native languages of indigenous peoples of the region. So far, the Association of Indigenous and Minority Peoples of Chukotka has itself organized courses for studying the Chukchi and Even languages.
The Chukchi language is the language of everyday communication among the majority of Chukchi - in the family and in the process of traditional economic activities. In schools of ethnic villages, the Chukchi language is studied in primary grades as a compulsory subject, and in senior grades as an optional subject. There is no teaching in the Chukchi language in the republic.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
According to public organizations, out of 4 thousand Khanty and Mansi living in Ugra, only a few attend native language courses. Representatives of youth organizations of indigenous peoples of the North even proposed depriving those who do not know their native language of national benefits.
“Young people have different attitudes towards their native language. Some are fluent in two languages, some understand speech but do not speak it themselves, and some even consider it sufficient to know only the Russian language, which is spoken by the majority,” says the president Youth organization of Ob-Ugric peoples Nadezhda Moldanova. She is also concerned that the new generation is less and less interested in national languages. Due to low demand for the specialty, the Finno-Ugric language department was even closed at Ugra State University.
One problem
Almost all languages of Russian peoples suffer due to the fact that parents and students themselves prefer to learn Russian. This is not surprising - besides the fact that it is spoken by the majority of the country's population, it also remains the only language of interethnic communication in multinational Russia. The introduction of the Unified State Exam also played a role - students simply need to pay more attention to the Russian language in order to pass the mandatory exam. However, the native language is the basis of culture and preservation of ethnicity. Each region is trying to solve this problem in its own way.
Forcing those for whom it is not native to learn the national language, as seen in the example of Tatarstan, does not give a good result. Moreover, it leads to the appearance in the region of people who believe that they are oppressed on ethnic grounds. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, unlike all other peoples of the country, the largest people - the Russians - according to the laws existing in Russia, cannot choose their language as their native language to study at school, thus refusing to study the national language.
Voluntary teaching of the native language also does not lead to significant success due to the lack of interest among young people in it. Realizing this, the authorities of many regions began to introduce language elements into everyday life - to translate laws, famous books, and signs into national languages.
Apparently, the best tool for preserving the native languages of peoples remains communication in them in the family. And also - practicing traditional activities. Thus, the northern peoples still use their native language to denote phenomena that are simply inconvenient to translate into Russian.
With the spread of the Internet, people interested in preserving their culture undoubtedly have more opportunities to study their native language. But for the Russian language, the World Wide Web, on the contrary, turned out to be harmful. More foreign borrowings and new formations began to penetrate into it. In addition, words are often deliberately used incorrectly online, which also has a negative impact on the level of knowledge of schoolchildren.
As Olga Artemenko, head of the Center for National Problems of Education of the Federal Institute of Education and Science of the Ministry of Education and Science, notes, the Russian language in mass use is gradually turning from a literary language into an everyday language. In schools in a number of republics, hours for studying the Russian language in primary grades are being reduced. At the same time, it is studied on a communicative basis with the function of interethnic communication, and not as a language that ensures the competitiveness of the younger generation.
In her opinion, in order to relieve interethnic tension and improve the quality of language education, it is necessary to adjust the conceptual and terminological apparatus in regulatory legal acts. In particular, remove such concepts as “native non-Russian”, “non-native Russian”, “Russian as foreign”. Eliminate the opposition between native and Russian, since Russian is also a native language. Remove the Russian language from the status of the state language of the republic, removing their functional equality.
A bill clarifying complex aspects of the legal status of the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation has long been prepared by the State Duma Committee on Nationalities. However, despite positive feedback from the regions, its consideration is constantly postponed indefinitely.
More than 70 scientists, university teachers and employees of scientific organizations from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Estonia, Denmark, and Austria prepared an appeal to the State Duma of Russia demanding not to adopt a law on the voluntary study of native languages. This was reported to "" on July 24 by the initiative group of linguists.
The initiative group began collecting signatures against the bill on the voluntary study of native languages after it was adopted by the State Duma on June 19 in the first reading. Scientists believe the new law will not provide “necessary protections for indigenous languages.”
“The bill will exclude from the compulsory part of the curriculum languages that, along with Russian, have official status and other forms of legal protection in some republics and regions, and even those languages spoken by the majority of the population of the relevant regions. This bill will further lower the status of minority languages in Russia, which are already on the verge of extinction,” the appeal says.
According to the European scientists who signed the document, national languages in Russia do not receive sufficient support, and the weakening of their position in school education will be “a crushing blow to the communities of speakers of minority languages in the country.” The authors of the appeal cite the example of Finno-Ugric regions where it is impossible to receive education in any local language (languages are taught only as subjects at school, all other subjects are taught exclusively in Russian).
“Supporters of this bill base their opinion on the contradictory statement that no one (in this case, we are mainly talking about native Russian speakers) should not be forced to learn other (non-native) languages. Despite significant shortcomings and problems in school teaching of the languages of the peoples of Russia, the system of teaching native languages, which has survived to this day, was certainly one of the most important factors supporting the preservation of the language. Minority language media and other means of modern communication can only continue to exist if new generations of minority language speakers receive basic schooling in their native languages, preferably in their native languages,” the appeal says.
The linguists who signed the appeal called on State Duma deputies not to pass the law, citing the positive impact of language learning on public life.
In April 2018, a bill was introduced to the State Duma that would make the study of national languages in schools optional. According to the developers, parents have the right to choose, taking into account the child’s opinion, whether to study the national language of the region in which he lives.
A month ago, the law was adopted in the first reading, State Duma deputies were going to significantly modify it. On June 24, parliament adopted the law in the second reading. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science Vyacheslav Nikonov during the presentation of the bill, he said that native languages will be preserved in the compulsory part of the program in oral form; no electives will be introduced in the teaching of the subject, the Business ONLINE portal reported.
