Implicit language policy

Implicit policies are the not so obvious language policies of a nation: for example the U.S.A. where we have no stated official language, but everyone knows you have to know English to fill out any government form, usually even to get a job, certainly to get an education. It works to keep some immigrants out of the country—to immigrate you usually need to know English. And, it allows a legal form for discrimination, if you don’t speak English why should we listen to you? This is a major issue right now with the millions of Mexican, Spanish speaking immigrants who live and work in the U.S. illegally. Part of the reason they can be forced to work for so little money is that they cannot speak enough English to use the U.S. systems of law and immigration to their own advantage.

There is another good example of the U.S.’s implicit language policies and there effect on Native American culture in the book. I urge you to read it. It is very interesting.

PAUSE

If the language policies of a group—whether implicit or explicit—are strong enough it may result in a whole scale language shift from the minority language or languages to the majority language.

Language planning in ukraine

With all this in mind I want to talk very briefly about language planning in Ukraine. Now, I am certainly no expert in Ukrainian history. I have tried to compile a short history on language planning in Ukraine in the 20^th century. I’m sure many of you already know this history, I only mean for this to be a brief review and I thought you might find it interesting to hear it in English. You may hear a mistake. Go ahead and correct me if my history is completely wrong. Otherwise, listen and think about how what we have just talked about affects your own country.

Ukrainian language (1917-1932) Ukrainianization and tolerance

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Empire was broken up. In different parts of the former empire, several nations, including Ukrainians, developed a renewed sense of national identity. In the chaotic post-revolutionary years, Ukraine went through several short-lived independent and quasi-independent states, and the Ukrainian language, for the first time in modern history, gained usage in most government affairs. Initially, this trend continued under the Bolshevik government of the Soviet Union.

The widening use of Ukrainian further developed in the first years of Bolshevik rule into a policy called Korenization. The government pursued a policy of Ukrainianization (Ukrayinizatsiya, actively promoting the Ukrainian language), both in the government and among party personnel, and an impressive education program which raised the literacy of the Ukrainian speaking rural areas.

Newly-generated academic efforts from the period of independence were taken over by the Bolshevik government. The party and government was mostly Russian-speaking but were encouraged to learn the Ukrainian language. Simultaneously, the newly-literate ethnic Ukrainians migrated to the cities, which became rapidly largely Ukrainian speaking—in both population and in education.

A string of local Ukrainian-language publications were started and departments of Ukrainian studies were opened in colleges.