LEGISLATIVE REGULATION OF LANGUAGE POLICY: THE EXPERIENCE OF POLAND FOR UKRAINE

Abstract

This article examines language policy aspects in Ukraine and other European countries, including regulatory control of language functioning in relation to the legal status: the state (official) language, the languages of national minorities, the languages of ethnic minorities, and the languages of indigenous peoples. The author analyzes laws protecting language originality of persons belonging to the national and ethnic minorities in the Republic of Poland in terms of governing Ukrainian language law provisions regulating the functioning of indigenous and non-indigenous languages. Based on concrete evidence, the author shows that the Polish approach, e.g., the language legislation aiming to integrate persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities into the Polish society’s life, can be applied to eliminate manipulations in politics in Ukraine, especially in Eastern Ukraine, Bukovyna, and the Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathian region). A clear distinction between languages of persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities made by the Polish legislators and unambiguous formulation of a regional language concept is a key to the harmonic coexistence of persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities, which Ukrainian specialists in the field of language policy should take into consideration. The author defines the impact of the Laws of Ukraine “Pro zabezpechennia funktsionuvannia ukraїns’koyi movy iak derzhavnoyi” [On the provision of the functioning of the Ukrainian language as an official language] and “Pro korinni narody Ukrayiny” [On the indigenous peoples of Ukraine] on the language situation in Ukraine and analyzes the specifics of key provision formulation of the regulatory documents. The author also examines how Polish legislators have formulated the concept of a regional language and the possible application of law-making experience by the Ukrainian language policy. The analysis shows that factoring the European experience, especially the Polish one, into the language policy basis with regard to the protection of national and ethnic minorities’ rights allows for supporting the formation of democratic bases of the Ukrainian language functioning as the official language, consolidation of the Ukrainian society, and harmonic coexistence of languages in Ukraine.