WHY CAN'T WE PRESERVE LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY? THE MAINTENANCE OF THE LANGUAGES OF RUSSIA, LANGUAGE POLICY AND LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2024-3-137-149Keywords:
language maintenance; linguistic diversity; language revitalization; language activism; language policy; applied science; practical activityAbstract
In recent years, “preservation of linguistic diversity” has been included as one of the goals of the state nationality policy. Efforts to preserve languages are undertaken both at the level of state policy “from above” and the practical activities of language activists “from below”. However, despite the official recognition of the problem of language loss and the rise of language activism, it has not yet been possible to achieve any noticeable results in solving the practical problem of preserving languages. In this article, I analyze the reasons for the ineffectiveness of these efforts and argue that obstacles exist not only at the level of practical activity, but also in applied research. Language policy practitioners implement language policy “from above,” but so far their work remains without solid scientific and conceptual grounds. In the world science at the moment there are two relevant research programs – research on language policy and research on language revitalization. In Russian science, at the theoretical level in the study of language, society and power an adequate interdisciplinary basis has not yet appeared, therefore, at the applied level, there is no high-quality scientific expertise in the field of policy for the preservation and development of Russian languages and their revitalization.References
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