The Road to Multilingualism or the Life of People and Languages: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Abstract

With rapid globalization, local languages give way to English as the only international language. Despite the principles of multilingualism and multiculturalism declared by all members of the European Union, the number of people speaking minority languages is decreasing. National languages also become affected. This applies fully to what is happening in Russia, including Udmurtia. The section of the paper “Journey to multilingualism (from the Udmurt language to multilingual education at Udmurt State University)” describes how research in network interaction associated with the promotion of multilingualism in the education system developed. Long practical experience shows that a serious problem for teaching native and foreign languages is the lack of integration, which serves as the basis for multilingual education. With integration, it takes less time to learn a new language compared to the previous one. Researchers believe linguistics to be the weakest link in the resource provision of multilingual education (co-learning of languages and related cultures). To resolve this issue, Udmurt State University conducts innovative practice-oriented typological studies of multi-system languages: local (Udmurt, Tatar and Russian) and foreign (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Hungarian, Chinese, Serbian, Polish and Czech). The research resulted in theses and monographs investigating ancient and modern languages, as well as multilingual dictionaries and textbooks focused on multilingualism, which are used to teach languages and cultures. Journey to multilingualism involves reflection about the life of people and languages in different eras. What does “mother tongue” mean? Which language to choose? Why learn languages? Should we purify languages? And so on. Many questions do not have the right answer. Nowadays, it is especially important to be aware of the rapidly changing language situation in the world. Not only the future of minority languages in Russia, but also the future of the Russian language itself, the language that unites both different ethnic groups living the country and the peoples of the neighboring states is giving serious cause for concern. One thing is definitely clear: the diversity of languages and cultures is the only way for the intellectual and emotional development of humanity.