Language Attitudes of Schoolchildren in Multilingual Kyiv: Results of a Sociolinguistic Study
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Date
2025
Authors
Shevchuk-Kliuzheva, Olha
Levchuk, Pawel
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Abstract
Background. This paper examines the dynamics of language attitudes and informal language practices among primary schoolchildren in Kyiv – a city marked by complex post-Soviet bilingualism and emerging postcolonial ideologies. In Ukraine’s transforming sociolinguistic landscape, children’s language preferences and usage reflect how linguistic legitimacy and symbolic hierarchies are being reconfigured under the pressures of war, migration, and state-driven language policy. Contribution to the research field. The study contributes to the development of postcolonial sociolinguistics by foregrounding children’s voices as indicators of symbolic realignment in societies undergoing decolonial transitions. It demonstrates how bilingual children in Eastern Europe engage with shifting linguistic hierarchies, offering new insights into the interplay between language policy, affective positioning, and intergenerational agency. Purpose. The research aims to investigate how children aged 6 to 10 in Kyiv perceive and use Ukrainian, Russian, and English in informal, educational, and media-related domains, and how sociopolitical changes influence their language attitudes and aspirations. Methods. The study is based on an anonymous sociolinguistic survey conducted in February 2025 with 104 children from various Kyiv primary schools. The questionnaire explored domains such as family language use, peer communication, language learning motivation, language preferences, media exposure, and self-assessed linguistic competence. A descriptive and interpretive approach was applied within a child – family – society analytical framework rooted in postcolonial sociolinguistics and family language policy theory. Results. The findings reveal a bilingual environment in which Ukrainian is gaining functional and symbolic dominance, while Russian is increasingly restricted to private and emotional domains. Over half of the respondents come from mixed-language families, and 62.4 % report changed attitudes toward Russian due to the war. Ukrainian is primarily viewed as a tool for education and integration, while English emerges as the most preferred language for future development. Russian shows a decline in perceived value and literacy investment. Discussion. The results indicate a generational reordering of language legitimacy in Kyiv’s child population, where Ukrainian consolidates institutional prestige, Russian undergoes symbolic marginalization, and English rises as a marker of global aspiration. These patterns reflect deeper sociopolitical transformations in postcolonial Ukraine and point to the importance of including children’s perspectives in shaping inclusive, future-oriented language policies.
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Keywords
language attitudes, child bilingualism, Ukrainian language, Russian language, language policy, symbolic legitimacy, postcolonial sociolinguistics, article
Citation
Shevchuk-Kliuzheva O. Language Attitudes of Schoolchildren in Multilingual Kyiv: Results of a Sociolinguistic Study / Olha Shevchuk-Kliuzheva, Pawel Levchuk // Мова: класичне - модерне - постмодерне. - 2025. - Вип. 11 (спеціальний випуск). - С. 104-119. - https://doi.org/10.18523/lcmp2522-9281.2025.11.208-226