(in Polish) Przedmiot fakultatywny: Language Policy and Language Conflict in Post-Soviet Eastern Europe and Eurasia 3200-L2-0PF13
This course provides an introduction to language policy, language planning, and language conflict in the states of the former Soviet Union. Students will examine the historical legacies of Russian imperial and Soviet language policies, post-Soviet nation-building processes, minority-language rights, multilingualism, language shift, and contemporary debates surrounding language and identity.
Through comparative case studies from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Russian Federation, students will analyze how language functions as a political resource, a marker of identity, and a site of symbolic and geopolitical conflict. Topics include language laws and language rights, Russification and de-Russification, minority languages in the Russian Federation, migration and diasporas, language and war, linguistic landscapes, digital activism, and language revitalization. Particular attention will be paid to contemporary approaches that understand language policy not only as state regulation, but also as a set of social, ideological, and everyday practices.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Knowledge
To familiarize students with major concepts and approaches in language policy and planning.
To introduce students to the sociolinguistic diversity of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
To develop students’ understanding of the historical and political dimensions of language conflict in the post-Soviet region.
To examine relationships among language, identity, nationalism, and state-building.
Skills
To develop students’ ability to analyze language-policy documents and sociolinguistic case studies.
To strengthen students’ ability to critically evaluate scholarly arguments concerning language and politics.
To develop comparative analytical skills through the examination of multiple regional contexts.
To improve students’ oral and written communication skills through discussion and presentations.
Social Competences
To foster awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
To encourage critical reflection on language rights, multilingualism, and minority-language issues.
To develop students’ capacity for informed discussion of language-related political and social conflicts.
To promote sensitivity toward multilingual and minority-language communities.
FORMS OF WORK
Lectures
Seminar discussion
Analysis of scholarly texts
Case-study discussions
Student presentations
Analysis of media and policy documents
Independent reading and research
TOPICS
Week 1. Introduction: Language Policy and Language Conflict
What is language policy?
Language planning and ideology
Language and nationalism
Linguistic diversity in the post-Soviet region
Week 2. Introduction: Language Policy and Language Conflict (cont.)
Week 3. Imperial and Soviet Language Policies
Russification
Soviet nationality policy
Language standardization
Soviet multilingualism
Week 4. Language Policy and Nation-Building after 1991
Post-Soviet transitions
Official languages
Citizenship and language
Language and statehood
Week 5. Russian Language and the “Russian World”
Russian as a post-imperial language
Language and soft power
Linguistic imperialism
Russian-speaking diasporas
Week 6. Ukraine: Language, Identity, and War
Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism
Language legislation
Euromaidan and de-Russification
Language and the Russia’s war against Ukraine
Week 7. Belarus: Language Policy, Language Shift and Language Activism
Belarusian and Russian
Trasianka
Language and authoritarianism
New speakers and language activism
Week 8. Moldova and Transnistria
Romanian/Moldovan debates
Russian-speaking minorities
Language and separatism
Linguistic landscapes
Week 9. The South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Language and post-imperial identities
Minority languages
Alphabet reforms
Language and territorial conflict
Week 10. Central Asia I: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhization
Russian and bilingualism
Script reform
Urban multilingualism
Week 11. Central Asia II: Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
Post-Soviet language reforms
Persian/Tajik identity
Uzbek language policy
Migration and multilingualism
Week 12. Language Policy in the Russian Federation (I)
Russian corpus and status planning and language legislation
Federalism and language policy
Language rights and education
Week 13. Language Policy in the Russian Federation (II)
Tatar, Bashkir, Sakha, Chechen, and other minority languages
Language endangerment and revitalization
The status of Ukrainian in the Russian Federation and occupied Ukrainian territories, post-2022.
Week 14. Migration, Diasporas, and Transnationalism
Family language policies
Language policies in diaspora communities
State language policies toward migrant communities
Week 14. Student Presentations and Course Review
Week 15. Student Presentations and Course Review
CREDIT REQUIREMENTS
Regular attendance and active participation
Completion of assigned readings
Leading in-class discussion for selected readings
Final oral presentation
Final examination
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge: the graduate knows and understands:
major concepts and approaches in language policy and planning;
the sociolinguistic diversity of Eastern Europe and Eurasia;
historical and contemporary language conflicts in the post-Soviet region;
language rights as a component of human rights
relationships among language, identity, nationalism, and political power.
Skills: the graduate is able to:
analyze language-policy documents and sociolinguistic case studies;
critically evaluate scholarly arguments concerning language and politics;
compare language-policy models across different countries and regions;
communicate sociolinguistic concepts effectively in oral and written form.
Social competences: the graduate is ready to:
appreciate linguistic and cultural diversity;
recognize the social and political implications of language policy;
engage respectfully with minority-language perspectives;
participate constructively in discussions concerning language conflict and multilingualism.
Assessment criteria
Assessment methods and assessment criteria
Component
Weight
Attendance and participation
30%
Leading class discussion of selected readings
15%
Final oral presentation
25%
Final examination
30%
Grading criteria
quality and consistency of participation in discussions;
demonstrated engagement with assigned readings and course materials;
analytical rigor and effectiveness of oral presentations;
understanding of key theoretical concepts and empirical issues, as demonstrated in class discussion and final examination.
Attendance policy: Two absences per semester are permitted.
Practical placement
no
Bibliography
Selected Bibliography
Abasilov, Aman and Bijomart Kapalbek. Linguistic dynamics and language policy in Kazakhstan: Challenges and future prospects. European Journal of Language Policy
Volume 16, Number 2, 2024.
Alpatov, Vladimir M. Scripts and Politics in the USSR. Studi Slavistici, Nov. 2017
Baranova, Vlada. The Linguistic Landscape of the war. Minority languages, language activism, and contesting identities in Russia. Linguistic Landscape, Vol 10, 1, Jan., 2024.
Bilaniuk, Laada. Contested Tongues: Language Politics and Cultural Correction in Ukraine. Cornell University Press, 2005. (selected chapters)
Carlà, Andrea and Sergiu Constantin. Language Policies and Insecurities in Ukraine. Nationalities Papers, 2025.
Ciscel, Matthew H. The Language of the Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and Identity in an Ex-Soviet Republic. Lexington Books, 2008. (selected chapters)
Dyer, D., and V. Iepuri. Languages on the move: The linguistic landscape of Moldova in the second decade of the 21st century. Slavia Meridionalis, 25, 2025.
Grenoble, Lenore. Language Policy in the Soviet Union. Springer, 2003.
Kraeva, Irina and Natalia Guermanova. Language policy of the Russian Federation: searching for balance among 150 languages. European Journal of Language Policy
Volume 12, Number 2. 2020.
Kulyk, Volodymyr. Shedding Russianness, recasting Ukrainianness: the post-Euromaidan dynamics of ethnonational identifications in Ukraine. Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 38, 2018.
Kulyk, Volodymyr and Laada Bilaniuk, Introduction: Wartime Changes in Language Patterns of Ukrainians in Ukraine and Abroad, Sociolinguistic Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3-4, 2025.
Language Problems and Language Planning (journal; selected articles)
Pavlenko, Aneta (ed.). Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries. Multilingual Matters, 2008.
Prina, Federica. National Minorities in Putin’s Russia: Diversity and Assimilation. Routledge, 2016. (selected chapters)
Shavel, Raman. Language incommunicado. Why the state fears the Belarusian word. Belsat, 23.02.2026.
Spolsky, Bernard. Language Policy. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Spolsky, Bernard. Rethinking Language Policy. Edinburgh University Press, 2021 (selected chapters)
Smagulova, Juldyz. Language Policies of Kazakhization and Their Influence on Language Attitudes and Use. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 11(3–4), 2008.
Tabatadze, S. Language Policy and Planning in Georgia. From Soviet Shadows to Sovereign Words. Journal Of Global Sociolinguistics, 1(1).
Woolhiser, Curt. Language ideology and language conflict in Post-Soviet Belarus. In Language, ethnicity and the state: Minority languages in Eastern Europe post-1989. Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.