LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF ETHNIC SELF-DEFINITION AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION OF MODERN STUDENT YOUTH
OF THE MARI EL REPUBLIC

Vitaly Shabykov1, Raisia Kudryavtseva2, Tatiana Belyaeva3, Olga Orlova4, Elena Kondrashkina5, Valentina Gavrilova6

1Senior Scientific Researcher, Mari Scientific Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V. M. Vasilyev, RUSSIA, sebs9-kud@yandex.ru
2Prof. Dr., Mari State University, RUSSIA, kudsebs@rambler.ru
3Assoc. Prof., Mari State University, RUSSIA, sokolova_beljaeva@mail.ru
4Head Scientific Researcher, Mari Scientific Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V. M. Vasilyev, RUSSIA, marsoc_orlova@mail.ru
5Senior Scientific Researcher, The Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, RUSSIA, e.kondrashkina@inbox.ru
6Assoc. Prof., Mari State University, RUSSIA, valgavrilova@rambler.ru
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The article deals with the sociolinguistic situation in the Republic of Mari El in the context of ethnic self-definition and intercultural communication of modern student youth. The choice of student youth as the target of research is not accidental: the opinion of young people is very significant in studying the public consciousness of the population, in general.
One of the most topical sociolinguistic problems is the perception of the language and its position in society by youth. The research subject of this article is the language as a means of ethnic self-definition of modern student youth of the Mari El Republic and as a means of social, including intercultural, communication. Such a sociological problematique was considered previously only concerning the opinion of young people at the turn of the XXth – XXIst centuries. The state of public consciousness of student youth is analyzed for the first time.
The empirical basis of the study was the results of opinion polls of 2016s and 2018s, conducted by the Mari Scientific Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V.M. Vasilyev.

The comparison of the results made it possible to see dynamics in consciousness of student youth, which is to a certain extent related to the fact, that in the last two years positions of the state as to language policy in the education sector has changed.

The new positions contained serious recurrences: 1) narrowing of the role of languages of indigenous peoples of Russia in the field of education (including the Mari language), 2) limitation the possibilities for their preservation and development in society.

It is proved in this article that the modern student youth of the Mari El Republic approaches to the language from three positions, treating it:
1) As the ethnic value and means of ethnic self-definition;
2) As mean of intercultural communication in the modern information environment,
3) Pragmatically – as means of «advance» in further life.
The tendency of fading of the first position in favor of the other two is outlined, in connection with which the following trends are revealed in the youth consciousness and, in general, in the regional society:
– Strengthening the position of Russian and English languages,
– A slight decrease in interest in the Mari language – both as a mother tongue and as a state language (the comparison of the results of 2016s and 2018s researches well demonstrates the strengthening of these trends).

Answers of respondents to the question «Should knowledge of mother tongue be compulsive for each person?» prove, that the highest ethno-identification index of the mother tongue is marked among Mari students, but at the same time today almost one fifth of Mari students do not call the Mari language as their mother tongue, only half of Mari students support for compulsory study of the Mari language as a native language.

Keywords: The Republic of Mari El, Collective consciousness, student youth, language, ethnic self-definition, social communication, mother tongue, intercultural communication.

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CITATION: Abstracts & Proceedings of INTCESS 2019- 6th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, 4-6 February 2019- Dubai, UAE

ISBN: 978-605-82433-5-4