From motivation to investment: Changing the trend of educational language policy

UDC 81`27

https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.6s-22.033                          

Marusenko Michael A.,

Doctor of Philology,

Professor of the Romance Philology Department

St. Petersburg State University

e-mail: mamikhail@yandex.ru

The article discusses changes in the trend of educational language policy under the influence of the change in the general paradigm of language policy from ethno-cultural to national-functional. The desire to learn second or foreign languages is seen not as a result of motivation, but as a result of investment, assuming that the learner has complex, multiple identities that change in time and space and are reproduced in social interaction. Today, the concepts of identity and investment are basic in the theory of language learning and teaching. In the context of globalization, new modes of production and socialization, the compression of time and space are shaping identities, loyalty and citizenship in a new way. The digital world presents more and more opportunities for contact with the whole world and this has a strong influence on identity. Students roam freely in the digital space, and their ability to identify and analyze systemic trends determines their willingness to invest in a particular language. The modern model, which takes into account the constant change of identities, places investing in the zone of intersection of the concepts of identity, human capital and ideology. The choice, promotion and protection of languages is determined by the mechanisms of pride and profit. The study of certain languages can serve instrumental purposes and provide material advantages, provide a sense of pride in belonging to a particular nation, give legitimacy to the discourses and forms of expression supported by this imaginary community. For example, learning lingua franca allows students to think about other forms of national identity, such as global citizenship. Identity is always a battlefield in which the habitus and desires of learners are constantly at war with dominant ideologies and alternative futures. During periods of political and ideological conflict, the problem of the existence of hybrid or cosmopolitan identities is exacerbated and can have a serious impact on national unity and territorial integrity. All these factors should be taken into account when forming a nationally oriented educational language policy and be included in the new concept of education in Russia.

Keywords: educational language policy, motivation, investment, identity, nation state, cosmopolitanism.

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