Sociolinguistic aspects of the language conflict research in Ukraine

Abstract

Terminological trends towards a concept of “language conflict” are to some extent underexplored in Ukrainian sociolinguistics and sociology. This article looks into modern approaches to the language conflict research and ways of terminologization of the “language conflict” concept. The data collected from a recent sociological survey show that there are no grounds for the analysis of the phenomenon of social interaction regarding the use of languages in Ukraine, as seen through the prism of “social conflict”. However, by confirming that in the collective consciousness, the language is treated as an annoying issue associated with a certain social tension, the findings show that social practices related to the language use in Ukraine are appropriate to be investigated with respect to the concept of “social tension”, that is, frequent domestic disputes about languages and examples of manipulation of the language issue in mass media. In this paper, language conflict is described as one of the parameters of language situations, out of which the defining features are as: 1) redistribution of functional spheres of languages in a certain territory and in various socio-political formations or spheres of language use; 2) a change in the demographic power of languages accompanied by changes in the legislative support of the language functioning or in the deliberate delay of relevant laws adoption. Yet with a destructive language policy, language conflict can acquire the features of a social conflict. The features of language conflict in Ukraine are deformations of language situations leading to the discrepancy between the real state of Ukrainian and its status as the official language. This prevents balanced interaction between Ukrainian and other languages used in Ukraine needed for ensuring the language rights of all citizens. Keywords: language conflict, language situation, language policy, official language, minority languages, language rights.