Dvikalbystės problemų tyrimas Estijos TSR

LITHUANIAN KALBOTYROS QUESTIONS, XXVIII (1989) LANGUAGES COMMUNICATIONS IR DALIA BARAUSKAITĖ STUDY OF BILINGUALITY PROBLEMS IN ESTONIAN SSR Currently, the problems of bilingualism are being intensively studied and discussed in Soviet Estonia. The echoes of the discussions reached the union press (see ITpasaa 04.01.1988, 09.02.1988 and others). The problems were caused by contradictions in the economic and social spheres, the specific historical, cultural (Savisaar 1987, 50, 54) and demographic circumstances of the Estonian SSR (Vahemetsa 1987, 47). In the Estonian SSR, in addition to the unilateral forms of bilingualism that represent the national minorities of the Estonian SSR (Ukrainians, Finns, Belarusians, Latvians, Germans, etc.), the following most important forms of mutual bilingualism are distinguished — Estonian—Russian and Russian—Estonian (see Ilsunis 1985, 13). For many years, the development and practical measures of Estonian-Russian and, more modestly, Russian-Estonian bilingualism have been particularly important issues in national relations. Some measures have now been taken to promote Russian-Estonia bilingualism: the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute has established a specialty of Estonian language and literature teachers for Russian schools, Estonian language courses are organized in large cities; In the period 1980—1987, two textbooks of Estonian language were published (Bammer A., Vycnsuų 3., Typy D. VueGuur sctonckoro s3s1ixKa. Banrye, 1981; Leberecht H. Rūūgime eesti keelt ||Msr roBopuM mno-3croxcxu. Tallinn:Valgus, rusy—esty conversational vocabulary 1983), (Peiinax: A. K. Pyccko-3cTOHCKHH pa3roBOpHHK. 6-0e Hcnp. m3a. Tamm: Banryc, 1985). Estonian-Russian and Russian-Estonian dictionaries are also published: in 1986 the 6th edition of J. Tamm’s Estonian-Russian dictionary (Tamm J. Eesti—vene sdnaraamat. Tallinn: Valgus, 1986) and the 4th edition of V. Muhel’s Russian-Estonian dictionary (Muhel V. Vene—eesti sdnaraamat. Tallinn: In order 1982). to study the language contacts of Estonians and other inhabitants of the republic, a language contact sector was established in the Institute of Language and Literature of the Estonian SSR MA, publishing dictionaries and collections of articles!. At the moment, the staff of the sector are finishing the elaboration of a large (over 80,000 words) Russian-- Estonia dictionary, and the preparation of a third Estonian-Russian dictionary is planned for 1990. Estonian—Russian ir Russian—Estonian bilingualism is ir developed by terminologists, who publish bilingual and multilingual dictionaries of terms in various sciences. In 1980—1987 alone, a dictionary of medical terms in two languages, Latin—Estonian—Russian, was published (Valdes A., 1 Boripocki CONOCTABHTEJILHOTO H3Y4CHHA JIEKCHKRA H TDAMMATHKH Ha MATepHaJIe 3CTOHCKOTO He's a stupid guy. Tamu, 1982; TIpoGjieM6i 3CTOHCKO-pyCCKOTO H |pyCCKO-- 3CTOHCKOTO /ĮBYseus (Ha hapumane Ooronckoit CCP). Tamms, 1985, et al. 14. 678 201 Wallet J. V. Latin—Estonian—Russian medical dictionary. Tallinn, 1982—1983 T. 1—2.), Dictionary of chemistry terms ir Russian Estonian (Vene —eesti keemiasdnaraamat | Koost. J. Come on, H. Karik. Tallinn, 1982), maritime dictionary in English, Estonian ir Russian (Olev K. English-Estonian-- Russian maritime syntax. Tallinn, bilingual 1981), multilingual livestock dictionary (Animal husbandry terms in Estonian, German, English and Russian. ja T. 1: Pig farming, T. 2: Physiology of farm animals. Tallinn, 1983—1984). Russian—Eir stonian military dictionary prepared (Veskimigi E., Ernits H. Russian-Estonian sdjanduse sdnaraamat. Tallinn: Valgus, 1986), histology (Histology Estonian-Russian-English ja explanatory terminology | Koost. J. Tehver. Tallinn, 1985) ir explanatory instruments for communication terms (Vene—eesti sidesdnavara | Koost. E. Water. However, 1984). these measures, as the scientists note, in themselves do not guarantee sufficient Russian —esty level of bilingualism the most ir important — Estonian language rights in the republic. Su great concern is expressed about the fact that Estonia There is no law iš in the TSR that clearly defines the role of the Estonian language in the public life of the republic (Hint 1987,, 49; Ruutsoo 1987, 722), who would defend the Estonian language as "the ir natural and indisputable right of the Estonian people" (Hint 1987,)%. In recent years, which mark only the beginning of radical ne restructuring of the economy and social spheres, but also of qualitatively new ir reflection on the existence of society, bilingualism has been looked at more deeply, such problems have ir į been raised, which for a long time have been softened or ignored altogether due to the economic situation. ir Further impetus for discussion Estonia In the TSR press, in public ir talks organized by the editorial offices of newspapers ir and magazines, various cultural M. The Hint Article “Looking at į bilingualism be through pink glasses”, published by ‘Rainbow’ (The Rainbow) 1987 m. 6—7 in numbers (see section 4.4). Hint slightly 1987,, abbreviated ir “edited” article appeared in the Russian version of the magazine ir itself to 'Pajryra')*. Although one other opponent of the author did not understand ir the essence of the most important ideas raised in the article or interpreted them in their own way (zr. Carotom 1987; Muxambuenko, Illaxnaposuu 1987) most of the linguists, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and scientists from other ir fields who participated in the discussion supported the author's position based on their research ir observations, raised new aspects of bilingualism. Currently it is stated that bilingualism both Estonia The TSR and other union ir republics are not sufficiently scientifically studied (Hint 1987,, 68; Last 1987, 70). “Very many Soviet sociolinguists, according to R. Rūtso draws conclusions based on real research, but ne speculates on abstract schemes, the basis of which is typical of the period of stagnation. — the concept ir of ‘uniformity of unity’. Therefore, questions about the possible negative consequences of bilingualism for the individual, the destabilization of the mother tongue by the second language, how the second language, Russian, actually functions in a bilingual environment are not sufficiently illuminated. ir iš t. y. (Hint 1987,, 52; 1987,, 68, 70). 2 Po long work deliberatiir ons Estonia TSR The language law was passed 1989 m. of January 20 d. (see section 4.4). : That's right. 1989. January 24). 3 Article published in a collection "Thoughts on mother tongue" (V., 1989). 202 As a particularly dangerous action, scholars point to the metaphorical use of the most important concepts and terms of sociolinguistics (Ruutsoo 1987, 723), which gives rise to unfounded statements and conclusions (for more on this see ITanne 1985, 10—11) and unconsidered practical measures. The term “second mother tongue” is considered absurd (Vahemetsa 1987, 49; Laast 1987, 70)*. It is doubtful how linguistically justified the division of languages into native, Russian, USSR nations and foreign, since from a linguistic point of view, "foreign" (vdorkeel "foreign language") is any non-native language (Hint 1987,, 51; 1987,, 69). When concepts are “rearranged”, the methodology of teaching Russian and other, so-called foreign languages is artificially separated. Nevertheless, “the fact that there are no political borders between the nations of the USSR does not facilitate the learning of the languages of those nations, and therefore Russian is essentially a foreign language for almost a hundred million Soviet people” (Hint 1987,, 51; see also Laast 1987, 70). The unstable and metaphorical use of the concept of “bilingualism” in Soviet sociolinguistic literature (ITsuis 1985, 31) forces us to look more critically at the existing statistical data. According to the 1970 and 1979 censuses of the USSR, the number of Estonians in the Estonian SSR who spoke Russian decreased by 4.5% in 10 years (in 1970, 27.9% of the Estonians living in the republic spoke Russian, and in 1979 they accounted for 23.3% of the total), although the number of Estonians who spoke Estonian as their mother tongue increased only slightly during this time (see Ilazus 1985, 14—16). However, these statistics do not reflect the real level of Estonian-- Russian bilingualism®, because “the problem of fluent command of any language, especially the second, is not seriously examined anywhere” (ITsunb 1985, 31; diluted by me —D. B.). The results of the census depend mainly on the subjective opinion of the person interviewed about their language abilities. As a result, “there are many bizarre cases where people, especially older pupils of general education schools, who have a good command of Russian do not consider themselves fluent in the language. Formally, they are right, because they do not speak Russian perfectly. In fact, they think wrongly, because their Russian language basically performs the most important function —being a means of communication between nations” (ITsuure 1985, 32). It is understood and undisputed that in the modern world the knowledge of a second (third, fourth, etc.) language is necessary and especially relevant for representatives of small nations (Ruutsoo 1987, 724). However, practical reasons alone (housing, working conditions, kindergartens and general education, sources of information, etc.) are not sufficient for learning any second language. No less important is cultural motivation, which “gives language learning a truly voluntary stimulus” (Hint 1987,, 51). Ignoring this factor and overestimating administrative measures is worrying, because “bilingualism imposed by administrative means is an experiment with entire nations, which may have unintended consequences. Even small mistakes in this case can turn into a tragedy that would affect even several generations” (Hint 1987,, 51). After the publication of the thesis on the massive and necessary bilingualism of the inhabitants of the union republics, concern began to be raised about the unilaterality of bilingualism in the Estonian SSR (Vahe4 As a sociological term, it is defended by N. Karotom (1987). 5 In 1965 and 1973 sociologists of the MA Institute of History of the Estonian SSR studied the bilingualism of Estonians — Russians and Russians — among the inhabitants of the Estonian SSR, differentiating three degrees of proficiency in the second language, and therefore obtained different results (IT 171 5 1985, 33). be 203 metsa 1987, 47). During the last decade, many practical measures of Estonian-- Russian bilingualism have been implemented in the republic: the teaching of Russian in schools has been improved, a magazine, Pycckuii s3bIK B 3cTOHCKOI mkojie, has been published for the purpose of teaching Russian. Even the relative weight of Russian-language publications has increased, and Russian operas are being performed exclusively in Russian. In 1977, the Estonian Academy of Sciences established the Council for the Coordination of Scientific Work on Russian Language Problems in the Estonian SSR. In addition, the Estonian language functions in the Estonian SSR narrowed (Kallas 1987, Ruutsoo 1987, 718). Some educational institutions, e.g. all special secondary schools in Narva, Sillamäe, Kohtla-Järve, the Tallinn Militia School, the Railway Transport Technical College, teach only in Russian; mixed kindergartens are established; The press in the mother tongue is decreasing, especially translations of foreign authors, popular science literature, publications on the history of the nation, culture issues; the scope of mother tongue television broadcasts is being reduced (Ruutsoo 1987, 720—721). The Estonian language is also being pushed out of science, and therefore it is doubted whether it is appropriate to write dissertations in the humanities only in Russian (Ruutsoo 1987, 719—720). In public institutions, work collectives, especially in cities, Estonian is gradually being replaced by Russian (Ruutsoo 1987, 718). There is also a slight decline in the prestige of the mother tongue in the Estonian SSR (Savisaar 1987, 54, Ruutsoo 1987, 717). According to official statistics, the percentage of native Russians who speak Estonian has decreased over the past 10 years from 12.89% in 1970 to 11.5945 in 1979, while the number of Russians has increased over the same period. Bilingualism between Ukrainians and Estonians and Latvians and Estonians is also disappearing (ITsuure 1985, 15). This situation was caused by a lax attitude towards Estonian as the most important language of communication in the republic. “In many Russian schools Estonian lessons have become a formal subject, it is not necessary to hire even a teacher with special education” (Vahemetsa 1987, 48). The insufficient level of rusy—esty bilingualism is also conditioned by the low cultural orientation of migrants, the lack of cultural motivation to learn the language of the native inhabitants, to be interested in the culture of the republic (Hint 1987,, 49). Linguists, psychologists, and educators have great doubts about the early beginning of second language teaching — at preschool age, in the first class (Hint 1987,, 68—69)*. According to studies of children’s language development, the basics of mother tongue grammar are learned by the child in the fifth or sixth year of life. Language stylistics are only learned in the tenth year. Language style and language etiquette skills are the most difficult to achieve (Kuresoo, 1984). “When one starts communicating in another language before understanding the nuances of the style of the native language, the native language may remain stylistically uneducated. In this case, when speaking in two languages, the characteristics of style and language nuances are leveled. As early as 1938, Professor A. Kortas, the rector of the University of Tartu, wrote about this: “The opinion that early bilingualism promotes the intellectual and spiritual development of the child is unfounded. Early bilingualism does not double the child’s intellectual and spiritual development, but on the contrary, reduces it by half” (Koort A. Kakskeelsus ja viikelaps. P. 36 //Akadeemia. 1938. Nr. I P. 33—43). But plg. Jacikevičius A. Psychology of multilingualism. V., 1970. 204 Languages (worse case — ir native) culture does not reach the highest ir level” (Hint 1987,, 53). Scientists draw attention ir į the fact that too early initiation of two languages impairs the development of coordination of speech apparatuses, stuttering may occur, dysgraphia may occur. Be of which, it is indicated that a bilingual child, without a solid foundation in the grammar of the mother tongue, applies the grammatical mode of one language to lį the other (Kuresoo 1984; Hint 1987,, 53). As the most dangerous of iš possible disorders of the child's language development psycholinguists point out insufficient formation of concepts, vagueness of abstract concepts, uncertainty of ir operating with them. Scientists do not deny that the vocabulary reserves of a bilingual child are much larger than those of a peer who grew up in a monolingual environment, but the bilingual child has fewer fully formed concepts and operates with them unsteadily. The overall psycholinguistic proficiency of a bilingual child is much lower than that of a monolingual child ir (Hint 1987,, 54). Without denying the positive aspects of ir bilingualism, the fact that in some cases children can speak several languages ir fluently and perfectly (Hint 1987,, 49), stating that: “negative phenomena of bilingualism are much more dangerous for children with weak mental constitution of small and ir medium talents. Looking at such children, the rhetorical į question of some scholars is quite justified: is bilingualism semi-lingualism?” ar (Hint 1987,, 54). į, Half-talk, or child (and an adult person), exposed to two languages, inability to express thoughts clearly in one language, signs are insufficiently nė formed concepts, low level of abstract ir thinking, lack of 1) understanding of grammatical relationships, inability to form regular sentences, insufficient 2) coordination of language devices ir 3) (Hint 1987,, 53). Šį phenomenon is caused by too early coercive teaching of a ir second language, regardless of the child's level of maturity and gifts (Ruutsoo į 1987, 650). Foreign experience in ir establishing mixed kindergartens is especially warning. In kindergarten, where the mother tongue is spoken, by the end of preschool age, the ne child can lag behind psycholinguisticalį ly even a year. 1—2 Ne in native-language schools, the lag accelerates (according to studies, a child who has grown up in such conditions 12 can remain tų at the level of a year old child in terms of language skills) 8—9 (see section 4.4). Hint 1987,, 49). Therefore, in multilingual countries (Sweden, Finland, Canada) the second language is taught only in grades 2-3. Linguists studying language contacts point to the possible destabilization of the native language, which is affected by the language of another, larger nation. “When cultures are different or equivalent, there is no reason to fear rapid assimilation. However, there is reason to be afraid of destabilization of the language structure. First of all, the highest elements of language usage become uncertain – the peculiarities of style, the sense of language reliability in one situation and the ar language etiquette. Gradually, the interrelationships of words of the same meaning ir become confused. Po As a result, sentence patterns change, the frequency ir of grammatical forms changes, word management becomes inaccurate, parasitic words and translational phraseologies from another language spread, and finally even pronunciation may change” (Hint 1987,, 55). 205 These briefly highlighted problems are of many Estonia The fruit of the thought of the linguists, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, writers of the USSR. First raised mainly in a publicistic form, they should be studied by scholars from various fields (Hint 1987,, 69). The scientific basis of ir bilingualism and loyalty to the truth would help avoid many hasty, unconsidered steps. LITTERACY Hint M. The language ja of democracy // Next, 29. May, Hint 1987,. M. Views on bilingualism without pink glasses // Rainbow. 1987». No. 6. P. 51—56; No. 7. P. 46-50. Hint M. Bilingualism ja Bilingualism // Rainbow. 1987,. No. 9. P. 67—70. "These Complex Language Relationships" // Sirp ja vasar, 6. märts, 1987; 13. märts, 1987. "Speech, Language, and Culture", 12 November 2001. Kuresoo U. Problems of mother tongue teaching and language organization //Language and Literature. 1984. No. 12. P. 713-725. Laast A. More about bilingualism //Vikerkaar. 1987. No. 9. P. 70-71. Ruutsoo R. Language, Culture and Linguistics // Language and Literature. 1987. No. 10. P. 587598; no. 11. P. 646-654; No. 12. P. 716-724. "Ethnic Relations in Estonia: 1970—1980- ". years. I. //Vikerkaar., 1987. No. 9. P.5056. A. Bilingualism as it actually exists in society //Vikerkaar. 1987. No. 8. 47–49, Vilo A. Kas me ikka oleme tdisvddrtuslikud //Edasi, 13 October 1987. Muxammuenko B. PO., Illaxusaposuu A. M. He creaver pnpaMarmauposBars //Panyra. 1987. No 11. Naam D. H. Pa3BuTue KHanHOHaJILHLIX A35IKOB B CCCP x cospemennsie NpOG/IEMEI JIBYsap [[TIpoOjieMbI 3CTOHCKO-PYCCKOTO H PYCCKO-3CTOHCKOro asysssivms (Ha Marepuajie Ocronckoit CCP). Tammmu, 1985. C. 5-39.