TEACHING UKRAINIAN AS A NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE TO NATIONAL MINORITIES IN UKRAINE: CHALLENGES FOR EVIDENCE-BASED EDUCATIONAL POLICIES

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.164167

Keywords:

national minority students, evidence-based language policies, Ukrainian as a non-native language

Abstract

Underachievement among national minority group students in places of their compact residence in Ukraine makes them vulnerable to educational failure. This problem is noticeable in Chernivtsi Region of Ukraine where the multicultural character causes peculiar behaviour in politics, migration, economic and cultural activities as well as in educational strategies. Owing to the fact that in some districts (Hertsa and Novoselica) the Ukrainian Language is not the mother tongue for most residents who are ethnical Romanians and Moldavians, about 60 % students fail in Independent External Testing after secondary school. This issue was taken into account in Article 7 of Ukrainian Law on Education (2017) which presupposed gradual significant growth in school subjects with Ukrainian as the language of instruction. The issue raised the research question: What approaches can be applied to teaching Ukrainian as a non-native language to national minorities in sites of their compact residence (where more than 80 % of the population speak Romanian in their everyday life)? This actualised the need for formulating evidence-based language policies in Ukraine. With the purpose of answering the need, Ukrainian Educational Research Association designed and carried out a public perception survey using in-depth interviews with high-school students and their parents, school teachers, local and regional policy-makers in education, local authorities, and national cultural societies. Based on the research, the authors give recommendations on approaches which should be used in design of curriculum and syllabus of Ukrainian as a non-native language. The authors emphasise the importance of the gradual introduction of the Ukrainian language starting from learning it as a foreign language at initial stages, with further switching to second language teaching strategies, and leading to bilingual education.

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Author Biographies

Oksana Zabolotna, Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University, Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of Foreign Languages Department, Vice-President of Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Svitlana Shchudlo, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University, Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Doctor of Sociology, Professor, Chair of the Faculty of Law, Sociology and Political Studies of Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University, President of Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Tetiana Medina, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Candidat of Sociological Studies (PhD), Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Sociology and Local Administration of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, member of  Ukrainian Educational Research Association

Dmytro Kozlov, Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A.S. Makarenko

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences (PhD), Associate Professor of the Faculty of Educational Management and Higher School Pedagogy

 

Cite this article in APA style as:

Zabolotna, O., Shchudlo, S, Medina, T., Panchenko, I., & Kozlov, D. (2019). Teaching Ukrainian as a non-native language to national minorities in Ukraine: challenges for evidence-based educational policies. Advanced Education, 11, 60-67. DOI: 10.20535/2410-8286.164167

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Published

2019-04-14

How to Cite

Zabolotna, O., Shchudlo, S., Medina, T., Panchenko, I., & Kozlov, D. (2019). TEACHING UKRAINIAN AS A NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE TO NATIONAL MINORITIES IN UKRAINE: CHALLENGES FOR EVIDENCE-BASED EDUCATIONAL POLICIES. Advanced Education, 6(11), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.164167

Issue

2019: Special Issue 11

Section

ARTICLES

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Copyright (c) 2019 Oksana Zabolotna, Svitlana Shchudlo, Tetiana Medina, Ielyzaveta Panchenko, Dmytro Kozlov

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