Motivation factors for schoolchildren of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation to study native languages

Abstract

The extent to which a language is used affects its level of vitality. If a language is not included in a variety of spheres of human interaction, it joins the ranks of minority languages – the endangered languages (as opposed to the majoritarian languages, which are not threatened). In this regard, of serious concern is the state of the languages of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East, the population of which does not exceed 50 thousand people. The number of speakers of these languages is decreasing rapidly every year. As part of the state assignment of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation on the topic “Development of a didactic system and methodology for creating a developing speech environment in a native language in the educational organizations located in the areas inhabited by the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation”, the author surveyed the representatives of three social groups from 12 rural settlements in six regions of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the survey was to determine the extent to which they use their native languages, the place of these languages in the ranking of languages they know, and their motivation for learning them.