<div dir="ltr"><h1 itemprop="name" class=""><span>Students</span> <span>From</span> <span>Western</span> <span>Ukraine</span> <span>Failing</span> <span>Ukrainian</span> <span>Language</span> <span>Exams</span></h1><div class=""><span><span>
©
Sputnik/ Evgeny Kotenko</span></span></div><div class=""><a class="" href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/" itemprop="articleSection">Europe</a><div class=""><time class="" itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2016-08-23T18:03">18:03 23.08.2016</time><time itemprop="dateModified" datetime="2016-08-23T18:12" class="">(updated 18:12 23.08.2016) </time><span id="getShortUrl" class="">Get short URL</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160823/1044559730/ukrainian-language-instruction-problems-analysis.html#comments" class="">10</a><span class="">1293</span><span class="">13</span><span class="">2</span></div></div><h2 itemprop="description" class="">Ukrainian
media recently reported that students from western Ukrainian regions
have scored the lowest in countrywide external independent testing of
students' knowledge of the Ukrainian language and literature, as well as
Ukrainian history. Independent journalist Sviatoslav Knyazev comments
on the troubling results, and their wider implications.</h2><div itemprop="articleBody" class=""><p>Last
week, the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, an
agency responsible for examinations for admission to Ukrainian
universities, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rian.com.ua/society/20160816/1014799231.html" target="_blank">publicized</a> the results of testing of Ukrainian students' knowledge of Ukrainian language & literature and history.</p>
<p class="">The center discovered that the highest
percentage of students who failed exams in these areas were from the
Zakarpattia region (where 27.3% failed language and literature, and
29.2% history), Chernivtsi (20.9% and 29.1%, respectively) and Rivne
(14.9% and 18.3%). All three of the regions are situated in the
country's west. Kiev, Ukraine's capital, and Lviv, in the far west,
scored the best results, according to the center's director. </p>
<div class=""><div class=""><img src="https://cdn3.img.sputniknews.com/images/104421/33/1044213369.jpg" alt="Deputies of opposition factions block the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada demanding that the parliament not discuss a bill that would give the Russian language official status in Ukraine" title="Deputies of opposition factions block the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada demanding that the parliament not discuss a bill that would give the Russian language official status in Ukraine" class="" height="375" width="705"></div><div class=""><span>
©
Sputnik/ Grigoriy Vasilenko</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160812/1044213462/ukraine-language-law-cerd.html">UN Finds Controversial Ukrainian Minority Language Law Socially Divisive</a></div></div>Traditionally,
Western sociologists studying Ukraine's language dynamics have
superficially divided the country between a 'Ukrainian-speaking' west
and a predominantly 'Russian-speaking' east. However, the results appear
to demonstrate that something strange is going on. Commenting on the
testing results, and on the state of Ukraine's education and language
policy in general, independent journalist and blogger Sviatoslav Knyazev
suggested that the testing was indicative of several major problems.
<p>In his analysis, published by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://politrussia.com/world/yazykovoy-absurd-na-371/" target="_blank">PolitRussia</a>,
the journalist suggested the Western regions' poor results were an
indication, first and foremost, "that education has ceased,
in principle, to be a priority area" for the Ukrainian government.</p>
<p class="">"In recent years," Knyazev recalled, "the
number of educational institutions and teachers in the country has
declined dramatically. In the near future, the education system will
lose another 4,000 teachers, close 5% of its schools and nearly
two-thirds of institutions of higher education. Educational programs
themselves are also <a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160812/1044209120/ukraine-education-reform-analysis.html" target="_blank">being trimmed</a>.
For example, students in younger grades will no long have to know their
times tables, to read quickly and write essays; in the upper grades, a
comprehensive study of history will be replaced with a
'national-patriotic' substitute."</p>
<div class=""><div class=""><img src="https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/images/102952/32/1029523247.jpg" alt="Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during the opening ceremony of an exhibition showcasing new Ukrainian military equipment in Kiev, Ukraine, October 14, 2015" title="Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during the opening ceremony of an exhibition showcasing new Ukrainian military equipment in Kiev, Ukraine, October 14, 2015" class="" height="375" width="705"></div><div class=""><span>
©
REUTERS/ Gleb Garanich</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160820/1044471293/ukraine-martial-law-comments-analysis.html">If Kiev Invokes Martial Law, It Won't Be Because of Any 'Russian Threat'</a></div></div>Another
problem, the journalist wrote, has to do with the fact that many
Ukrainian children are beginning to feel a sense of despair over the
depressed economic situation in the country. "Many of their parents are
working in Russia (over four million), in Poland (about one million),
in Italy (400,000) and the Czech Republic (over 100,000). Moreover, the
kinds of workers demanded there for the most part do not require higher
education. Meanwhile, Ukraine itself is facing the rapid degradation
of its industry, and the demand for skilled labor is falling with the
closure of industrial enterprises."
<p>At the same time, the analyst noted, despite the efforts of Ukraine's
government, virtually since the country's independence, but especially
after the coming to power of Western-oriented governments in 2004 and
again in 2014, many Ukrainians, by some estimates even a majority,
continue to prefer the Russian language for their daily communication.</p>
<div class=""><div class=""><img src="https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/images/104455/96/1044559687.jpg" alt="Ukrainian high school graduates playing in a fountain on the traditional 'Last Bell ceremony' in Kiev, 2013." title="Ukrainian high school graduates playing in a fountain on the traditional 'Last Bell ceremony' in Kiev, 2013." class="" height="2046" width="2893"></div><div class=""><span>
©
Sputnik/ Grigoriy Vasilenko</span></div><div class="">Ukrainian high school graduates playing in a fountain on the traditional 'Last Bell ceremony' in Kiev, 2013.</div></div>
<p>For instance, while Ukrainian sociologists recently released <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.newsru.com/world/18aug2016/ruslanginukraine.html" target="_blank">polls</a>
showing that 42% of Ukrainians use only the Ukrainian language
to communicate with family (with 32% using Russian and 25% both
languages), these figures may be hiding underlying realities,
since Russian has become highly politicized following the 2014 Maidan
coup d'état and the ensuing political conflict with Russia.</p>
<p class="">Knyazev recalled that as recently as 2008, polling conducted by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/109228/russian-language-enjoying-boost-postsoviet-states.aspx" target="_blank">Gallup</a>
had discovered that nearly 83% of respondents nationally preferred the
Russian language over Ukrainian. Ukrainians' preference for the use
of Russian language has also been confirmed in their language of choice
on the internet, including searches using the popular search engines
Google and Yandex, with only two of the top ten queries on Google asked
in Ukrainian.</p>
<div class=""><div class=""><img src="https://cdn3.img.sputniknews.com/images/104420/67/1044206794.jpg" alt="School year begins in Ukraine" title="School year begins in Ukraine" class="" height="375" width="705"></div><div class=""><span>
©
Sputnik/ Alexandr Maksimenko</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160812/1044209120/ukraine-education-reform-analysis.html">Ukraine's Soros'-Inspired Education Reform 'Will Create Generation of Mentally Debilitated Citizens'</a></div></div>"For
fairness' sake," the journalist noted, "it's necessary to note that
rural areas in central and southern Ukraine are dominated not by the
Russian or Ukrainian, but by a mixture of the two known as 'Surzhyk'.
Moreover, the Ukrainian used by the country's television presenters
today is radically different from that which was taught at schools
during the Soviet era. Furthermore, differences in regional dialects are
quite serious. A resident of Poltava [closer to the country's east],
will likely have a hard time understanding someone from a Carpathian
hamlet [in the country's west]. The dialects are perhaps as different
from each other as 'standard' Ukrainian is from Russian."
<p>Last week, commenting on the language testing results for <a rel="nofollow" href="https://lenta.ru/articles/2016/08/19/mova/" target="_blank">Lenta.ru</a>, Ukrainian historian Viktor Pirozhenko explained the problem as he sees it.</p>
<p>"Russian language is dominant everywhere – in everyday life, in the
media, on the internet, in personal communication. In written form it is
at a very low level, due to systematic teaching," he said.</p>
<p class="">"At the same time," Pirozhenko noted," a
majority of students are failing to master Ukrainian, with the language
remaining unfamiliar to them. They know it at the everyday level,
but are not eager to learn the written language." As for Western
Ukraine, the area "is the most depressed part of the country, with the
highest levels of unemployment. Accordingly, students are focusing
on going abroad to work at construction sites, as unskilled workers, and
as service personnel. More than Ukrainian, they need Polish, Czech,
Slovak and maybe Italian."</p>
<div class=""><div class=""><img src="https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/images/101702/59/1017025982.jpg" alt="President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko inspects a service center for issuance of biometric passports in Kyiv on January 12, 2015" title="President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko inspects a service center for issuance of biometric passports in Kyiv on January 12, 2015" class="" height="375" width="705"></div><div class=""><span>
©
East News/ Ukrafoto</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160821/1044488986/poroshenko-visa-free-promises.html">Ukraine's President Says EU Will Give Kiev Visa-Free Travel, Lots of Money 'Soon'</a></div></div>"Against
this background," Knyazev wrote, "the fact that a quarter of even a
third of the graduates from Western Ukrainian schools do not consider it
necessary to study Ukrainian language and history is lamentable,
but also logical. Working abroad at greenhouses, meat processing plants
or plumbing companies, the language is an absolutely useless burden
for them."
<p class="">Even worse, the journalist added, is the fact
that "against the background of aggressive attempts at Ukrainianization
by authorities, the country's Russian and Surzhyk speakers are not being
taught the Russian language correctly. Not knowing Russian grammar
rules, but communicating in Russian or in a mixture of Ukrainian and
Russian at the everyday level, they try to write using elements
of Ukrainian orthography. The picture becomes very grim, with students
failing to achieve full competency in either language."</p><p class=""><a href="http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160823/1044559730/ukrainian-language-instruction-problems-analysis.html">http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160823/1044559730/ukrainian-language-instruction-problems-analysis.html</a><br></p></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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