Re iews o he Re iews o he Re iews o he Re iews o he Re iews
IRENA SMETONIENĖ
Vilniaus uni e si e as
Resea ch a eas include he o ic, s ylis ics, no m heo y
and p ac ice, language policy, and cul u al linguis ics.
This Regula ion shall en e in o o ce on he wen ie h day ollowing ha o i s publica ion in he O icial Jou nal o he Eu opean Union.
Au elija Tamulionienė, Nida Pode ienė,
Sona a Vaičiakauskienė, also known as Au elija Tamulionienė, was bo n in Vienna, Aus ia.
The Li huanian MOKYKL link
Russian-speaking s uden s
The use o language
Polish and Calab ian
The ollowing able is inse ed in Annex I:
Vilnius: Li huanian Language Ins i u e, 2023, 178 p. DOI
doi.o g/10.35321/e-pub.63. eaching language in Russian
ISBN 978-609-411-347-5 This ime I'm going o s a wi h he conclusion ha he
eade will immedia ely unde s and ha his is no going o be a e iew ha we' e
been looking o o a long ime. We inally ha e. Fo language policy make s, his is
a handy book, wi hou which I can' imagine u u e guidelines, alks wi h
ep esen a i es o he Minis y o Educa ion, Science and Spo s, na ional
associa ions. Fo hose o us who ha e no doub abou wha has been said he e, i
will also be he pilla o ou wo k and o ou a ious lec u es, because i is no
longe possible o emain silen and hope ha e e y hing will wo k ou on i s own.
Cong a ula ions o he au ho s who ha e done a emendous job. You ead page
a e page and eel ha i hu s hem, ha hey don' ca e as much abou wha 's happening in Li huanian educa ion and public li e as you go h ough he 34 h
The yea o independence.
This is a comple ely new and di e en s udy om wha is usually ead in he
wo ks o Vilnius Uni e si y colleagues (Lo e os Vilkienė, Lau os Vilkai ė-Lozdienė,
Jus inos B užai ės-Liseckienė and o he s). A new, di e en ques ionnai e and
analysis o he answe s is gi en o he linguis ic p o isions he e. A good o e iew
o he esea ch allows you o unde s and he heo e ical basis o he esea che s, bu he heo ies a e no ollowed blindly, he ma e ial is sough
IRENA SMETONIENĖ
342 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica XC would dic a e obse a ions and summa ies. The
same can be said o he me hodology. I is based on he clea […] heo e ical basis
o Howa d Giles' concep o e hnolinguis ic i ali y, bu app op ia e quali a i e
me hods a e also used in he p ocessing o su ey da a. A he beginning o he
s udy, he eade inds impo an s a is ics: how many and in wha yea s he e
we e pupils in he na ional communi y schools, as well as he numbe o o he s. I is
e y impo an o p o ide in o ma ion on he educa ion o pupils om e hnic
communi ies in o he Bal ic coun ies, as well as an o e iew o simila esea ch.
When we alk abou educa ion, all eyes a e on he eache s -- hey ha e his hea y
bu den on hei shoulde s, bu li le is said abou he p oblems aced by eache s
in hese schools, wha kind o help hey need. We ead abou his in he i s
chap e o his s udy. The au ho o he i s pa is pleased wi h he summa y
hough ha […] he e a e Li huanian language eache s wi h ex ensi e expe ience
in e hnic mino i y schools, who a e ac i ely in ol ed in he educa ional p ocess
bo h as c ea o s and as shape s o educa ional con en , who a e able o choose
app op ia e o ms o educa ion and c i ically e alua e educa ional con en and
ma e ials[…] (p. 23). Howe e , he p oblems aised by eache s encou age conce n
abou he g ow h o he younge gene a ion, i hei ocabula y is poo , he e is a
lack o mo i a ion o lea n Li huanian, Li huanian language s uden s hea only
h ough Li huanian language lessons. I is unlikely ha he si ua ion would imp o e
i ep esen a i es o schools and he adminis a ion, eache s o o he subjec s,
who would encou age and in ol e pupils in e en s, p ojec s, o he c ea i e
ac i i ies ca ied ou in he Li huanian language, came o he escue. O cou se,
he language o he s uden s is also in luenced by he en i onmen ( amily, iends,
online sea ches, mo ies, music, games, books). As he eache s who pa icipa ed in
he s udy claim, " he absence o a posi i e en i onmen is di ec ly co ela ed wi h
poo s uden ocabula y" (p. 25), bu no only eache s bu also poli icians a e
powe less o be a ec ed by he en i onmen . The chap e p esen s a ious
me hodologies on how o encou age pupils o lea n, how o sol e p oblems a e
discussed by he eache s hemsel es, bu in he absence o amily suppo , he
mo i a ion o he igh u o s canno be c ea ed by one eache […] […]M]o ecei e le alone[…] (p. 36).
The o he wo sec ions o he s udy, which analyze pupils' su eys, hei pe sonal
ela ionship wi h hei mo he ongue and he Li huanian language, a e
pa icula ly in e es ing and aluable. When i comes o pupils lea ning Polish, i is
expec ed ha hey speak only Polish a home, bu he s udy showed ha less
han hal o he pupils speak Polish a home, a hi d a e bilingual o mul ilingual, and
a i h speak Russian a home (p. 79). Language, as we know, shapes cul u e, shapes
alues, shapes hinking, so his kind o da a has o make e e yone submissi e:
poli icians, shape s o language policy, he unques ioned pa o socie y, by he
way, and he Polish communi y. The in luence o he pa en s, a leas in he
younge age, is g ea : […][T]he pa en s adop an open o ole an iew o people, pass on and main ain adi ions, cul i a e mo ali y
Au elija Tamulionienė, Nida Pode ienė, Sona a Vaičiakauskienė.
She is also known o he wo k in he ilm "The Gi l wi h he
D agon Ta oo". Language endencies and language p o isions o Li huanian schools in Polish and Russian
Re iews o 343 p ope ies, o mula es p o isions on he need o lea ning,
de elops li es yle habi s, de e mines he quali y o daily li e, housing. pupils base
hei no ms, e hical alues on he alues o med by hei pa en s […] (p. 47),
[…][Š]heimos kalba p e ails in mos a eas o daily pupil li e […] in communica ion wi h
pa en s, siblings and g andpa en s, in wa ching ele ision p og ammes, in playing
games, in a ending se ices and in many o he con ex s o amily language
consump ion[…] ( en pa el). A en ion should be paid o ables 6 and 7, which
languages a e used o communica e wi h iends, social ne wo ks, w i e
messages, and ables 10 and 11, which languages a e used o wa ch mo ies and
b owse he In e ne . And mos impo an ly, in his medium ( om he amily o he
In e ne ) he e a e so many Russian-speaking Polish amilies? Wha a joy and wha
oppo uni ies open up o un iendly neighbo s! And when i comes o he use o he
Li huanian language, he esea che s see ha […][I]sky us eading, in all o he
a eas o linguis ic ac i i y, he scope o use o he Li huanian language is e y
na ow[…] (p. 61), al hough he s uden s hemsel es emphasize ha i is impo an
o speak Li huanian well, so ha you can communica e e e ywhe e, ge a good job,
so he language has a high social alue. Howe e , in hese schools oo, English is
becoming mo e and mo e aluable, and he olde he pupils, he mo e English
occupies a pa o hei daily li e and he mo e hey use i .
S uden s s udying in Russian in Ugandan schools answe ed he same ques ions o
he esea che s somewha di e en ly: […][ ]aikai mos o en indica ed ha
hey speak Russian a home e e y day (90 pe cen ), e y a ely […] Li huanian (1
pe cen ), ha hey use se e al languages […] Russian and Li huanian, indica es
only 5 pe cen o s uden s, ha hey speak Polish, ma ked 0.6 pe cen o
s uden s[…] (p. 83). Essen ially, Russian is he only language used o communica e
wi h iends, on social ne wo ks, o ead books, i domina es he selec ion o
ilms, and his […][I]n o ma ion on he In e ne is almos always sea ched in h ee
languages: he majo i y (69%) in Russian, 15% in Li huanian, 14% in English and in
some cases (2%) in Polish [...] […] (p. 98). 70% o s uden s unde s and ha li ing in
Li huania equi es lea ning he Li huanian language, bu i is mo e impo an o lea n English, because i is ashionable.
I is also necessa y o commend he au ho s o he e y clea and logical
s uc u e o he s udy, he indi idual pa s o which a e linked by he same au ho s'
goal and idea. Indi idual pa s o he s udy a e based on scien i ic esea ch, hus
gi ing he s udy weigh and eliabili y. Wha is a ac i e is ha all he answe s a e
discussed in de ail, conclusions a e d awn and, e y impo an ly, ecommenda ions
a e made on how o sol e he p oblems ha ha e a isen. e y aluable summa ies o
chap e s, hey gi e ise o a lo o hough s, e lec ions. The au ho modes ly
w i es who migh bene i om such an in es iga ion. I hink i 's in aluable, and as I
said, i 's a mus - ead o e e yone. F om wha pupils and eache s say, i is easy o
see wha he s a egies o educa ion and language policy should be, wha o do so
ha he Li huanian language occupies a p ope place in he schools o na ional communi ies. I hink o all o us (and he Polish communi y)
IRENA SMETONIENĖ
344 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica XC i is necessa y o pay a en ion o he
domina ion o he Russian language, because ou goal om he e y
es o a ion o independence […] in hese a eas o li e he e should be a lo o
Li huanian language, no any o he .
So, he s udy o science causes a lo o hough s and his is i s good quali y. I
would ask he au ho s o con inue he wo k hey ha e s a ed so well, and I hink
such a s udy would be impo an in Li huanian schools, so ha we could see he
eal language si ua ion he e as well. The s udy is he au ho 's wo k. The ideas i
con ains can be discussed, some nuances can be cla i ied, bu his has o be
ans e ed o con e ences, semina s, discussion e en s, and now we ha e o
say ha we ha e a g ea job, I would sugges ha e e yone ead i and hink abou i ...
Deli e ed on 6 May 2024
IRENA SMETONIENĖ
Vilniaus uni e si e as
Facul y o Philology
Ins i u e o Peace ul Languages
Depa men o Li huanian Language
Uni e si y g. 5, LT-01131 Vilnius, Li huania
i ena.sme [email p o ec ed] This is a lis o uni e si ies in Li huania.