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Langu a Ge Situ a Tion in La Tvia

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Langu a Ge Situ a Tion in La Tvia O f L g f A A C LANGUAGE L SITUATION u IN LATVIA S LANGUAGE SITUATION IN LATVIA SITUATION LANGUAGE Improvement of Latvian language skills among the representatives of national minorities is an essential result of the language policy imple- mented in Latvia. Latvian language skills among the youth of national gB minorities testify about the success of the curriculum reform of the national minorities and provision of single education for all Latvian schools. Almost all respondents in this age group (17–25 years) know the official language (only the level of language proficiency differs). In 2009, when assessing the necessity for the official language skills, 81% of those with the native Russian language considered the skills of the official language mandatory for all Latvian citizens. Linguistic attitude a of Latvians themselves and characteristics of their linguistic behaviour O (according to 2009 data 23% of Latvians don’t use Latvian in their communication with non-Latvians) have contributed to the non-com- pliance of language skills and their usage, i.e., non-usage of the Latvian language, therefore further on great attention has to be paid to the increase of the usage frequency and amount of the official language, as well as to the strengthening of its status. “The future of Latvian language will be determined by the ability of its speakers to see its importance both for the world and ourselves, and deliberate action for language preservation and development.” (I. Druviete) LANGUAGE SITUATION IN LATVIA: 2004 2010 2012 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 1 05.12.12 13:56:44 UDK 811.174(474.3) La 517 Authors: Pauls Balodis, Māris Baltiņš, Vineta Ernstsone, Valts Ernštreits, Gunta Kļava, Dite Liepa, Kristīne Motivāne, Inese Muhka, Jānis Oga, Evija Papule, Jānis Valdmanis, Anna Vulāne Scientific editor: Dr. habil. philol. Ina Druviete Managing editors: Gunta Kļava, Inita Vītola Reviewer: Ilmārs Mežs Translated into English by Anita Grauduma English language editor: Antra Legzdiņa © Latvian Language Agency © Authors © Designe, R KVADRĀTĀ ISBN 978-9984-815-79-4 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 2 05.12.12 13:56:44 LANGUAGE SITUATION IN LATVIA: 2004 2010 “If a spiritually healthy person, being fully aware that once he will have to part with this world, is still taking care of his own health as long as it is possible, why should a nation deliberately plunge into depression, a nation whose life is as strong and indestructible as the lives of many other life forms, certainly in case this nation definitely demonstrates a healthy spirit, if it honours its own life and is not blindly and hastily selling or exchanging its real life for that of an alien shadow. The core and the kernel of a nation is its language.” Kārlis Mīlenbahs, 1881 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 3 05.12.12 13:56:44 Contents Foreword (Jānis Valdmanis) 6 Abbreviations 7 Introduction (Gunta Kļava) 8 1. LANGUAGE POLICY IN LATVIA (Gunta Kļava) 14 2. THE LATVIAN LANGUAGE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (Gunta Kļava) 22 3. LANGUAGES IN LATVIA: LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, USAGE AND LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT (Vineta Ernstsone, Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 32 3.1. Situation of the Latvian language from the ethno-demographic viewpoint (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 34 3.2. Language proficiency of the inhabitants of Latvia (Vineta Ernstsone) 38 3.3. Linguistic attitude and linguistic behaviour of the inhabitants of Latvia (Vineta Ernstsone) 51 3.4. Linguistic environment: language use and dynamics of the use of Latvian (Vineta Ernstsone) 61 4. USAGE OF THE STATE LANGUAGE IN MAJOR SOCIOLINGUISTIC AREAS (Vineta Ernstsone, Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 72 4.1. State language in state administration (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 86 4.2. Implementation of education policy for national minorities: some aspects of evaluation (Evija Papule) 89 4.3. Language in private business activities: in the service sector (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 104 4.4. Influence of mass media upon the language situation (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 109 4.5. Division of the information space in Latvia: review of the biggest daily newspapers (Dite Liepa) 115 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 4 05.12.12 13:56:44 Contents 5. COEXISTENCE PROBLEMS OF THE HIGH LATVIAN DIALECT, WRITTEN LATGALIAN AND LATVIAN LITERARY LANGUAGE (Anna Vulāne) 134 6. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIV LANGUAGE SITUATION IN LATVIA (Valts Ernštreits) 150 7. THE LATVIAN LANGUAGE IN THE PRESENT-DAY GLOBALISATION CONDITIONS (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 174 7.1. The development problems of terminology (Māris Baltiņš) 180 7.2. The Latvian language in the world (Gunta Kļava, Inese Muhka) 197 7.3. Latvian literature in the world (Jānis Oga) 202 7.4. Electronic and other language resources (Pauls Balodis) 207 7.5. Influence of migration processes upon the language situation (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 216 8. FUTURE TASKS OF THE LANGUAGE POLICY IN LATVIA (Gunta Kļava, Kristīne Motivāne) 222 Literature and other sources 227 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 5 05.12.12 13:56:44 Fore Regular investigation of language situation is the only way how to evalu- wordate the results of the language policy and how to plan its forthcoming tasks. To trace the development of the language situation in Latvia, a study of the situ- ation has been carried out for the period from 2004 up to 2010. The research work not only states what has already been achieved but also gathers informa- tion about the main problems in the implementation of language policy and in strengthening the competitive capacity of Latvian as the state language. The results show that the use of the state language in everyday life, in ser- vice sector (transport, trade, etc.) is insufficient. In this regard the private entre- preneurship is a really “troublesome child”. In real life the fact that private en- trepreneurship is not the same as one’s personal life is often ignored, since the target of this type of business is mainly to provide services for the community, and they must be available in the state language. At least two questions arise in this context. What is our own Latvian linguistic behaviour, namely, how of- ten we use the Latvian language when addressing non-Latvian residents? And what is the attitude of non-Latvian residents towards everyday usage of the of- ficial language? The attitude of every single individual and every social group towards the use of a certain language directly influences the choice of commu- nication language. Undeniably, one of the main and still lasting problem situations is the division of the information space according to the language. And there is no doubt that the existence of two information spaces hinders social integration and in the long run substantially imperils the state language (and not only the language). In connection with the two information spaces the topical question is whether those public persons — politicians, heads of state institutions, state officials — who choose other than the only state language for public communi- cation, realize what a destructive effect it causes upon the prestige of the state language? This research work provides data and facts about the complicate language situation in Latvia and gives answers to the above-mentioned and many other questions. Jānis Valdmanis Director of the Latvian Language Agency Professor of the University of Latvia 6 VALODAS SITUĀCIJA LATVIJĀ ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 6 05.12.12 13:56:45 Fore word Abbreviations ATLLLCH – Association of Teachers of Latgalian Language, Literature and Cultural History BISS – Baltic Institute of Social Sciences CM – Cabinet of Ministers CEEPS – Centre for East European Policy Studies CLIL – Content and Language Integrated Learning CSB – Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia DGI – Directorate-General for Interpretation EC – European Commission EFNIL – European Federation of National Institutions of Language EU – European Union ILFS – The International Liv Friends’ Society IATE – Inter Active Terminology for Europe IE LAS – Institute of Economics, Latvian Academy of Sciences ILL UL – Institute of Latvian Language, University of Latvia IMCS UL – Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Latvia Language 2007 – BISS. Language: report, August–September 2007 Language 2008 – BISS. Language: report, March–April 2008 LCS – The Liv Culture Society LF – The Liv Foundation LLA – The Latvian Language Agency LLA Opinion poll 2009 – Data Serviss. Sociolinguistic Research of the Latvian language situation: survey of the research work. 2009 LLA interviews 2009 – Fieldex. Sociolinguistic Research of the language situation: report of the research results. Riga, 2009 LLASA – Latvian Language Acquisition State Agency (until 1 July 2009) LLC – Latvian Literature Centre LU – The Liv Union MES – Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia NCE – National Centre for Education NLL – National Library of Latvia OCMA – Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs SLA – State Language Agency (until 1 July 2009) SLA Opinion poll 2004 – Data Serviss. Problems of development and use of the Latvian language. Riga, 2004 SLC – State Language Centre SSAMSI – Secretariat of the Special Assignment Minister for Social Integration (liquidated in 2009) TC LAS – Terminology Commission, Latvian Academy of Sciences TTC – Translation and Terminology Centre (until 1 July 2009) UN – The United Nations WFFL – The World Federation of Free Latvians 7 ValodasSituacijaLatvijaa_Eng_print.indd 7 05.12.12 13:56:45 Introduction “The Latvian language is the state language in the Republic of Latvia and the language of the inte- gration of society; it is the basis for the national identity and part of the varied cultural heritage of the world. That is why the state of Latvia is both responsible to the society of Latvia and the present and future generations of the world for preservation and development of the Latvian language. This is the competence and responsibility of the state of Latvia, since Latvia is the only country in the world which can assume responsibility for the preservation of the Latvian language.” (Valsts valodas politikas pamatnostādnes 2005.–2014. gadam [Guidelines of the State Language Policy for 2005–2014].
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