“…Turkish residents claim a higher level of Tajik knowledge than Russians and English-speaking UK and US emigrants do. About 29% of residents from UK and USA claim Tajik ability, despite arriving in Tajikistan relatively recently in contrast to the 33 percent of Russians claiming Tajik ability, with much longer residence in the country, confirming reports of asymmetrical local-Russian bilingualism in Central Asia during the Soviet era (Bahry et al, 2017; Guboglo, 1984, 1986; Khasanov, 1987; Korth, 2005). Figure 3 still shows some reduced hierarchization and asymmetry in plurilingualism, along with a roughly equal distribution of multilingual knowledge among nationalities.Figure 3.Multilingual space for non-FSU nationalities in Tajikistan in 2010.…”
Section: Post-independence Language Ecologymentioning
confidence: 63%
“…The study in international research of language in actual use has developed rapidly, considering variability over geographic and social space (Britain, 2013;Chambers & Trudgill, 1980), multilingualism and plurilingualism (Cenoz & Gorter, 2013;Piccardo, 2013), diglossia and bilingualism (Ferguson, 1959;Fishman, 1967), 2 linguistic hybridity and linguistic interanimation (Bahry, 2021;Bakhtin 1934Bakhtin /81, 1940Bakhtin /81, 1941, and language ecology (Calvet, 1999;Haugen, 1972;Hornberger, 2002;Mühlhäusler, 2002). These phenomena are further complicated by widespread movement via trade, conquest and migration, which have accelerated in recent years and acted together on an even wider scale leading to globalisation, which is also mediated by multilingualism (Bahry, 2020a;Held et al, 1999).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As poor Russian proficiency was blamed on language-heavy curriculum, in 1958, the central government allowed the enrolment of non-Russian students in Russian-medium schools thus prioritizing Russian and foreign languages (German, French, and English) over Tajik and other languages. Some of the Tajik elite wished to raise the status of Tajik, which in part contributed during Perestroika to a language law raising Tajik’s status in 1989, and suggestions to use minority Pamiri languages in education (Bahry et al, 2017; Bergne, 2007; Bilinsky, 1964; Dagiev & Faucher, 2019; Fierman, 1991; Foltz, 2019; Hammer, 1998; Jamshedov, 1991; Khasanov, 1987; Kirkwood, 1991; Korth, 2005; Landau & Kellner-Heinkele, 2012; Lewis, 1972; Nourzhanov & Bleuer, 2013; Rakowska-Harmstone, 1970; Schlyter, 2013; Sengupta, 2002; Shorish, 1976, 1988).…”
Tajikistan, at the heart of Central Eurasia, had a population of 7,563,687 in 2010, estimated recently to be almost 10,084,935. Named for its majority nationality, Tajikistan has many other nationalities, most with their own language. This article explores what is known about the historical, development and current status of multiple languages in Tajikistan’s linguistic tapestry. We provide a tentative overview of Tajikistan’s evolving language ecology from earliest times when a range of Eastern Iranian languages were dominant, to the reduced use of Eastern Iranian languages following the entry of Arabic and New Persian (a western Iranian language) into the ecology with the Arab conquest, and the subsequent entry of Turkic languages, and more recently the entry of Russian under the late Russian empire and its spread under the Soviet Union. Following independence in 1991, a shift in balance among domains of use of Tajik and Russian has been ongoing at the same time as international languages, especially English, have entered Tajikistan’s language ecology. We review the current state of knowledge about contemporary sociolinguistic dynamics, monolingualism and plurilingualism in society, where the titular language, Tajik/Persian, is in interaction with local, regional and global languages. Against the background of changing post-independence language and language-in-education policies, we discuss the prospects for monolingual, multilingual and plurilingual education in Tajikistan among efforts to promote the official language, Tajik, and to provide minority language education, while also developing proficiency in foreign languages in Tajikistan, through initiatives such as English-medium instruction.
“…Turkish residents claim a higher level of Tajik knowledge than Russians and English-speaking UK and US emigrants do. About 29% of residents from UK and USA claim Tajik ability, despite arriving in Tajikistan relatively recently in contrast to the 33 percent of Russians claiming Tajik ability, with much longer residence in the country, confirming reports of asymmetrical local-Russian bilingualism in Central Asia during the Soviet era (Bahry et al, 2017; Guboglo, 1984, 1986; Khasanov, 1987; Korth, 2005). Figure 3 still shows some reduced hierarchization and asymmetry in plurilingualism, along with a roughly equal distribution of multilingual knowledge among nationalities.Figure 3.Multilingual space for non-FSU nationalities in Tajikistan in 2010.…”
Section: Post-independence Language Ecologymentioning
confidence: 63%
“…The study in international research of language in actual use has developed rapidly, considering variability over geographic and social space (Britain, 2013;Chambers & Trudgill, 1980), multilingualism and plurilingualism (Cenoz & Gorter, 2013;Piccardo, 2013), diglossia and bilingualism (Ferguson, 1959;Fishman, 1967), 2 linguistic hybridity and linguistic interanimation (Bahry, 2021;Bakhtin 1934Bakhtin /81, 1940Bakhtin /81, 1941, and language ecology (Calvet, 1999;Haugen, 1972;Hornberger, 2002;Mühlhäusler, 2002). These phenomena are further complicated by widespread movement via trade, conquest and migration, which have accelerated in recent years and acted together on an even wider scale leading to globalisation, which is also mediated by multilingualism (Bahry, 2020a;Held et al, 1999).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As poor Russian proficiency was blamed on language-heavy curriculum, in 1958, the central government allowed the enrolment of non-Russian students in Russian-medium schools thus prioritizing Russian and foreign languages (German, French, and English) over Tajik and other languages. Some of the Tajik elite wished to raise the status of Tajik, which in part contributed during Perestroika to a language law raising Tajik’s status in 1989, and suggestions to use minority Pamiri languages in education (Bahry et al, 2017; Bergne, 2007; Bilinsky, 1964; Dagiev & Faucher, 2019; Fierman, 1991; Foltz, 2019; Hammer, 1998; Jamshedov, 1991; Khasanov, 1987; Kirkwood, 1991; Korth, 2005; Landau & Kellner-Heinkele, 2012; Lewis, 1972; Nourzhanov & Bleuer, 2013; Rakowska-Harmstone, 1970; Schlyter, 2013; Sengupta, 2002; Shorish, 1976, 1988).…”
Tajikistan, at the heart of Central Eurasia, had a population of 7,563,687 in 2010, estimated recently to be almost 10,084,935. Named for its majority nationality, Tajikistan has many other nationalities, most with their own language. This article explores what is known about the historical, development and current status of multiple languages in Tajikistan’s linguistic tapestry. We provide a tentative overview of Tajikistan’s evolving language ecology from earliest times when a range of Eastern Iranian languages were dominant, to the reduced use of Eastern Iranian languages following the entry of Arabic and New Persian (a western Iranian language) into the ecology with the Arab conquest, and the subsequent entry of Turkic languages, and more recently the entry of Russian under the late Russian empire and its spread under the Soviet Union. Following independence in 1991, a shift in balance among domains of use of Tajik and Russian has been ongoing at the same time as international languages, especially English, have entered Tajikistan’s language ecology. We review the current state of knowledge about contemporary sociolinguistic dynamics, monolingualism and plurilingualism in society, where the titular language, Tajik/Persian, is in interaction with local, regional and global languages. Against the background of changing post-independence language and language-in-education policies, we discuss the prospects for monolingual, multilingual and plurilingual education in Tajikistan among efforts to promote the official language, Tajik, and to provide minority language education, while also developing proficiency in foreign languages in Tajikistan, through initiatives such as English-medium instruction.
“…They also consider the intimate relationship between language and culture. While multicultural education may present minority content in mainstream language (Banks, 1994), and standardized curriculum content may be presented in minority languages (Bahry, Niyozov, & Shamatov, 2008), for linguistic minorities, their language and language practices are an inseparable part of their culture, and so their ideal for multicultural education will likely include a strong form of bilingual education (Nieto, 2001).…”
Section: Theoretical and Policy Implicationsmentioning
While quality in education has long been a significant issue, definitions of quality are often taken for granted rather than argued for, allowing the possibility that the criteria used by researchers and planners to judge quality may differ from local stakeholders' perspectives, particularly regarding the place within quality education of the knowledge, culture and language of non-dominant groups. However, there is an accumulating convergence of research that calls for assessments of quality in education of non-dominant linguistic and cultural groups that engage local stakeholders' understandings. This paper presents a recent study that attempts to do this, investigating the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, and administrators in Sunan Yughur Autonomous County, a multiethnic, multilingual district in rural Gansu, inhabited by several nationalities. Over one hundred participants in three schools were asked what was important for children to learn in school; including what aspects of local (minority) knowledge, culture and language should be taught as part of school-based curriculum. The study found three educational visions in local schools: regular urban education; Chinese-medium, multicultural education; and bilingual, multicultural education. The study also found that stakeholders support the latter vision, which reflects society's actual cultural and linguistic pluralism, as well as much research on quality education for non-dominant groups. The paper concludes with a call for a comparative approach, both domestic and international, towards the investigation of quality education of non-dominant groups in China.
“…This is because language policy and planning research regarding Central Asia broadly – or what Pavlenko (2013) referred to as first and second wave post‐Soviet sociolinguistics and sociology of language research – has largely fallen into two main categories. The first category of research focuses on macro‐level language policy, politics, and planning efforts (Bahry et al., 2008, 2017; Landau & Kellner‐Heinkele, 2001). The second category focuses on language revitalisation processes which emerged following the dissolution of the Soviet Union (Smagulova, 2016a, 2017).…”
This article examines English language choice amidst dynamic social and linguistic change contexts in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan has formally committed to an official trilingual language policy – Kazakh, Russian, and English. In comparison, Kyrgyzstan has a dual language policy – Kyrgyz and Russian. However, its Ministry of Education and Science has demonstrated an informal commitment to developing English competency in‐country through various English language teaching/learning initiatives. Using data collected between 2014 and 2017 in both countries, this article explores how English language teaching/learning is positioned differently in these two Central Asian Republics, while also aiming to understand how participants’ language choices were informed both by the particularities of their contexts and the intersectional nature of language choice.
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