LANGUAGE SITUATION AND POLICY IN UKRAINIAN SCHOOL EDUCATION ACCORDING TO THE ASSESSMENTS OF THE SPEAKERS OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

Abstract

Introduction. The paper focuses on the study of the assessments of language situation in Ukrainian school education got after the interviewing the speakers of different ages. Perception and evaluation the language situation by the speakers of different age groups is influenced
by the functioning of languages in the society.
Purpose. The paper aims to analyse the differences in assessing language situation in school education among the speakers of different age groups, to characterize the peculiarities of the young people opinion about the languages functioning in Ukraine in order to develop recommendations for overcoming post-totalitarian deformations of linguistic environments
at schools.
Methods. To study the language situation and policy in Ukrainian school education according to the assessments of the speakers of different ages the following methods are applied: the method of statistical analysis, empirical analysis, the method of calculations and comparison the experimental data.
Results. The assessments differ in the groups of language speakers of different ages, however, in quantitative terms, these differences are much smaller than those in region or “city-village” data, which indicates an increasing prestige of the Ukrainian language as the main language of education in Ukraine and the gradual harmonization of the language situation in the outlined sphere. The preference of using Ukrainian in schools testifies the changes of the Ukrainian youth’s point of view as for the language situation and reflects their willing of spreading Ukrainian language throughout Ukraine. The biggest difference between the young and older generations of respondents is a characteristic feature in assessing the prospects of the Russian language as the language of education in Ukraine.
Conclusion. In Ukraine, a flexible model of the use of languages in the school system should be considered as potentially productive, which provides, on the one hand, the clarity and consistency of the widest possible use of the state language, and on the other hand, the creation of opportunities for learning different languages, including Russian, as educational subjects.