The Characteristics of Societal Bilingualism in Russia: Why do Tatarstan and Yakutia Stand out?

Abstract

Since Russia has always been a multicultural and multilingual country, there are many regions where several official languages (apart from the Russian language) coexist. Needless to say, bilingualism has its own peculiarities in each region. What would be the difference between the linguistic situation in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Republic of Tatarstan? In the present article, we are aiming to investigate the peculiarities of bilingualism in the two above-mentioned republics. Based on the analysis of the historical background of minority languages and current language policies, the article provides an overview of the linguistic situation in terms of language status and language use of minority languages in the educational system. It has shown that despite similar language policies, the actual situation in Tatarstan and Yakutia is different, especially in terms of preference for learning the minority language at school. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop bilingualism in the regions and organize the necessary methodological support for parents and teachers.

Keywords

• multilingualism
• bilingualism
• minority languages
• regional languages
• yakut (sakha) language
• tatar language
• heritage languages