Shifting Language Policies and Practices in the Shadow of the War in Ukraine (II)

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

The ongoing war in Ukraine affects the language situation in the Baltic states and international communication about it. The panel combines six individual presentations to discuss the changes in language policy, language use, and linguistic attitudes caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. More specifically it will focus on the changes in linguistic makeup of public information, linguistic behaviors of the local population, language choices and linguistic experiences of new migrants, and the local population’s attitudes towards Ukrainian and Russian.

1. Patriotic and Nationalist Orientations in the Civic Education: The Case of Latvia
2. Language Dynamics in the Diaspora: Shifting Language Attitudes among Ukrainian War Refugees in Lithuania
3. Leveraging Mediated Receptive Multilingualism: A Case Study of Estonian-Ukrainian Communication
4. Derussification Strategies in the Management of Public Information: The Case of Latvia and Ukraine
5. Latvian Protests against the Russian War in Ukraine: Changing Semiotics and Language Policies Throughout a Year of Terror
6. Discourses of National Security about Migrant Crisis at the Latvia-Belarus Border

Short Bio

Dr. Solvita Burr is a Senior Researcher at the Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA). Her research includes comprehensive studies of linguistic, semiotic, and cultural landscapes in terms of multilingualism, language policy, language management, multimodality, and language pedagogy. In 2020, she published a methodology book and a textbook (both in Latvian), both concerning how to include public texts in the language-learning process. She is editor in chief of the journal “Linguistica Lettica” (indexed in Scopus).

Dr. Svitlana Melnyk is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at Indiana University. She received her PhD equivalent degree from the Department of Philology at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University. At IU, she teaches Ukrainian, Introduction to Ukrainian Culture and content-based Russian courses. Svitlana specializes in sociolinguistics and bilingualism. She has co-authored the book Linguistic and Ethnic Diversity of Ukraine (2010, in Ukrainian) as well as a number of articles examining language policy in Ukraine.

Dr. Sanita Martena. I am a professor of Applied Linguistics at Rēzekne Academy of Technologies in Latvia, specializing in languages in education, multilingualism, languages in public space, curriculum development, and minority languages.Currently my research interests are related with heritage languages, their role in diaspora (family language policies and language education at schools). I am also working on the development of language corpora, exploring the possibilities of using corpora in language acquisition. Among my publications are “Multilingualism in the Baltic States” (2019) and main editor of the book “Lingvodidaktika” (2020; in Latvian) for language teachers and students, providing theoretical backgrounds. I am also the co-editor of the Special Issue of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development on Literacy (Development) in Collateral Regional Languages of Europe (planned to be published in 2024).

Dr. Anna E. Grike is an anthropologist, lecturer, and researcher. Grike teaches at the department of anthropology (University of Latvia), assists the course of Economic anthropology at SSE Riga, carries out research at the Latvian Language Institute (UL) and chairs the board of the Latvian Association of Anthropologists. In October 2023, Grike defended her thesis “Popular piety in Roman Catholic parishes of Latgalian borderland” (UL), and her research interest is still tightly linked with Latvia-Belarus border.

Sub Unit

• Literature and Linguistics

Chair

• Solvita Burr, University of Latvia

Discussant

• Anna Brodsky, Washington and Lee University

Individual Presentations

• Derussification Strategies in the Management of Public Information: The Case of Latvia and Ukraine - Solvita Burr, University of Latvia

• Latvian Protests against the Russian War in Ukraine: Changing Semiotics and Language Policies Throughout a Year of Terror - Sanita Martena, Rēzekne Academy of Technologies

• Discourses of National Security about Migrant Crisis at the Latvia-Belarus Border - Anna Elizabete Grike, Latvian Language Institute (University of Latvia); Solvita Burr, University of Latvia