CC BY
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УДК (UDC) 81'272
Elena Ciprianova, Associate Professor, PhD, Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia
Svetlana M. Minasyan, Associate Professor, Department of Theory and History of Pedagogy, Kh. Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University,
Yerevan, Armenia
Olga Ruda, Associate Professor, PhD., Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICIES IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE: THE CASES OF SLOVAKIA AND UKRAINE
ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНАЯ ПОЛИТИКА В ОТНОШЕНИИ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА В ЦЕНТРАЛЬНО-ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЫ: НА ПРИМЕРЕ
СЛОВАКИИ И УКРАИНЫ
Abstract
Currently English is the most widely studied foreign language in the European Union. For their part, Slovakia and Ukraine are following in the same direction as the rest of Europe, where English is typically the first foreign language learned. The paper discusses recent English language education policies in Slovakia and Ukraine in relation to the role of English in Slovak and Ukrainian societies. We consider how the English language is spread and disseminated in these countries and how English interacts with the Slovak and Ukrainian languages at different levels of education and institutional administration. The paper offers a comparative study of English language education policies in two East Central European countries whose educational systems have been undergoing significant changes aiming to promote widespread English language teaching. The paper primarily addresses problems related to English instruction resulting from the unsatisfactory results of a series of educational reforms undertaken by the Slovak and Ukrainian governments over the last few years.
Keywords: East Central Europe, Slovakia, Ukraine, English, language education policy, reforms.
Introduction
East Central Europe is in the Expanding Circle of Englishes, and as O'Reilly (1998, p.78) noted, the English language was not a recent novelty to this region. Researchers generally recognize that Europe has been a polyglot region for at least 2.5 millennia (Wilton & De Houwer, 2011, p.1). Moreover, English has been studied as a foreign language throughout mainland Europe since the nineteenth century (Kachru et al., 2006). The 'Key Data on Teaching Languages at
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School in Europe 2012' report confirms that English is the most frequently taught foreign language in almost all European countries (Eurostat, 2012). The shifts in English language education policies, including language ideologies, curriculum development, teacher training and teaching practices in various historical, cultural and sociolinguistic contexts worldwide have attracted substantial research interest in recent years (Durand, 2006; Bruen & Sheridan, 2016; Kirkpatrick, 2016). The previous literature has also discussed the role of English in European educational policies but has focused more on other regions of Europe, whereas Slovakia and Ukraine have received much less attention.
Data and Methodology
ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA AND THE NATIONAL LANGUAGES OF
SLOVAKIA AND UKRAINE
The paper aims to explore and compare the roles of the English language in Slovakia and Ukraine and to provide a more detailed account of their foreign language education policies and recent reforms. We are going to investigate the policies and practicies in the countries in question mainly through analysis of recent governmental and pedagogical documentation.
English is generally considered the lingua franca of Europeans, and the media and the Internet are often regarded as the leaders of global English. European English (or Euro-English) is English used locally by Europeans as an additional language for internal communication in the multilingual region of the European Union. Berns (2009) defines five functions of English in Europe - the innovative, interpersonal, creative, instrumental, and institutional (or administrative). Furthermore, he emphasizes that English helps modern Europeans engage more effectively in face-to-face contact with one another and that it penetrates their everyday lives through mass communication and media (Berns, 2009, p.195-196). Changing patterns of migration and language contacts have enriched the lexicons of European languages with enormous amounts of words imported from English. Anglicisms (linguistic borrowings from English) have been extensively studied in recent years (in Slovak by Bohmerova, 2006; Pauleova, 2010; Vepyova, 2011; in Polish by Manczak-Wohlfeld, 2006; 2008; 2010; Witalisz, 2006; and in Ukrainian by Olijnyk, 2002; Serhejeva, 2002; Arkhypenko, 2005; Fedorets, 2005; Popova, 2005).
Some European countries that are not in the EU, such as Ukraine, have experienced diversification of the languages spoken within their borders (Ruda, 2015). According to data from a Nordic recognition network country report (2009), 1,253 schools (6 percent of the total number of schools in Ukraine) had Russian as the language of instruction in 2009, and Russian (in addition to other minority languages) was offered at school, although Ukrainian was the language of instruction.
Both Slovakia and Ukraine are European countries whose national identities have been constructed on an ethnic basis (Smith, 1991). A national language has been an important unifying component of their ethnic identities. Two years after the proclamation of the independent Slovak Republic, on November 15, 1995, the National Council approved the State Language Act, which established Slovak as the national language. The introductory section of the Act states that the
Slovak language is 'the most important attribute of the Slovak nation's specificity and the most precious value of its cultural heritage' (Zâkon Nârodnej rady Slovenskej republiky o stâtnom jazyku Slovenskej republiky, 1995). Slovak is recognized as the state language for the entire Slovak Republic. Consequently, the Act requires the use of Slovak by administrative, legal, military and educational authorities in all areas of public communication. In the 1999-2011 period, the original Act was amended several times -but without changing the official status of Slovak as the state language. In case of breaches of the obligations of the Act, the Slovak Ministry of Culture has had the right to impose a fine.
In 2006 and 2007, various groups of Slovak linguists and intellectuals signed two petitions, 'An Appeal to Protection of the National Language' and 'An Appeal to Responsible State Organs, Institutes, Politicians and Slovak Public', to prevent what they perceived as the deterioration of standardized Slovak. The signatories called for stability and protection of the national language in the context of globalization and expressed concerns about Slovak absorbing English words. The petitions were opposed by other Slovak linguists, such as Ondrejovic (2010), who argued against anxious linguistic purism. Ondrejovic maintains that Slovak 'is not under the threat of any language and lives its normal sociolinguistic situation' (Ondrejovic, 2010, p.5). He attempted to resolve the dispute by accepting the inevitability of the certain impact of English on Slovak, but he also criticized the massive penetration of anglicisms into the national language for commercial purposes, citing examples of English names such as Crown Plaza, River Park, Raca Gate, and Three Towers given to buildings and building complexes in the nation's capital. Nationalist attempts to stoke the fear that the Slovak language is in danger and thus in need of protection -particularly against English influences - seem to have gained little support from the general Slovak public, despite some efforts to maintain the purity of Slovak on the part of leading scientific and governmental institutions in Slovakia. Concerned with linguistic norms, the Department of Language, Culture and Terminology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Division of the State Language and the Central Language Council of the Ministry of Culture play a custodian role similar to France's Académie française. The linguistic committees working in the above-mentioned institutions monitor adherence to the codified normsofstandardizedSlovak and compliance with the State Language Act in official language use. Among other activities, which may not be free of purist tendencies, such committees also regulate the influx of anglicisms into Slovak, particularly in borrowed terminology. The implemented policy favors domestic Slovak terms over English borrowings.
In Ukraine as well as in other European countries, such as Estonia, Italy, and Portugal (Dearden, 2014, p.17-18), English has occasionally been discarded for political reasons to protect a national identity, a mother tongue or the freedom to study in a native language. Some Ukrainian linguists point to the excessive and often unjustified use of English borrowings and emphasize the need to keep the language free from 'foreign words and elements' and to protect the Ukrainian language from an influx of foreign loanwords and anglicisms, whose expansion threatens to erode linguistic and cultural identity (Radchuk, 2002, p.40; Vyshnivskyj, 2015, p.209). Currently, Ukrainian is the only official working language in the country, and Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine declares that 'the state language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres
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of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed. The State promotes the learning of languages of international communication. The use of languages in Ukraine is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and is determined by law'.
On July 3, 2012, the Ukrainian parliament passed The Law of Ukraine No. 5029-VI On Fundamentals of State Language Policy (2012), which allowed the country's regions to adopt more official languages in addition to Ukrainian if they were spoken by more than 10 percent of the locals. Such languages included Russian, Hungarian, Polish, and some other languages that did not reach the 10 percent requirement. According to the earlier Law of Ukraine No. 802-IV (2003) on Ratification of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages other possible official languages in Ukraine could be (listed partially alphabetically) Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Crimean Tatar, Moldovan, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian. Following the abolition of The Law of Ukraine No. 5029-VI On Fundamentals of State Language Policy in 2014, the new Ukrainian government began to promote English in the administrative, educational, scientific, and news media. In accordance with these changes, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education has increased the time allocated for English teaching at all levels of state education. Ukrainian educational authorities and institutions, including the Ministry of Education, universities, cultural centers, language schools, think tanks, and civic organizations, view the increased impact of English as a serious and appropriate geopolitical decision. In Ukraine, 2016 was designated the Year of Learning English, and the government announced its intention to launch a program popularizing English among Ukrainians and making knowledge of English a mandatory requirement for certain categories of civil servants and officials.The language learning promotion campaign included plans for the introduction of The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR, 2001) at the legislative level in Ukraine. In addition, the Ministry of Education of Ukraine intended to implement an advanced training program for English language teachers and develop a program to attract English 'native speakers' (Go Global, 2015).
Results and Discussion
ENGLISH IN THE SLOVAK AND UKRAINIAN EDUCATION SYSTEMS
English instruction in Slovakia
English has been an integral part of all levels of national education in Slovakia for more than twenty years. English instruction begins in pre-school, and the first English classes are taken on an optional basis by children in crèches and kindergartens at the age of three or under. Learning English subsequently becomes part of primary, secondary and tertiary education.
The interest in and demand for English has been growing since the early 1990s, when a series of steps was taken to improve communicative competences in foreign languages. In 2001, the Slovak government adopted 'The National Programme of Education and Training in the Slovak Republic for the Next 15-20 Years' (also known as 'The Millennium Project'), which proposed that students in primary schools study two compulsory foreign languages while lowering the
starting age for the first language to the 3rd grade (the age of eight). Following the European Commission'sAction Plan 2004-2006 on Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity, the National Institute for Education, in cooperation with the Slovak Ministry of Education, drafted 'The Conceptionof Teaching Foreign LanguagesinPrimaryandSecondary Schools' (The National Institute for Education, 2007). The new model for the implementation of language-learning education supported the policy of plurilingualism proclaimed by the Council of Europe. The chief requirements of the reform were achieving B1/B2 level competence in a first foreign language and A2/B1 level competence in a second foreign language by the end of secondary education. The language proficiency levels were defined according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The 2007 reform mandated learning a first foreign language in the 3rd grade and a second foreign language in the 6th grade of elementary school. English did not originally have priority over other languages. Primary education students could choose from six languages: English, German, Russian, French, Spanish, and Italian. This situation changed in February 2011, when the Slovak parliament passed the Education Act Amendment on Compulsory English. Beginning with the 2011/2012 school year, English became mandatory for the first time in all primary schools, but the Act did not specify the grade in which pupils should start learning the language, and they were allowed to decide which second language to study. A heated discussion preceded the formal agreement to the new law. Opponents of compulsory English argued against giving a privileged status to one foreign language. Assuming that the number of teaching hours will increase after approval of the amendment, critics of the legislation also emphasized pragmatic issues, such as the severe lack of qualified English teachers in primary schools. The initiative of the Ministry of Education finally received support because of the growing demand for English among the Slovak population that had become aware of the advantages of learning the world's most influential language.
Through the present day, English has maintained its special status in Slovakia's foreign language education. The most recent 'Innovative State Educational Programme for Primary Schools' was approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (2015a) and came into force on September 1, 2015. This policy states that in primary schools, English should remain a compulsory subject for all 3rd grade pupils, while a second foreign language (German, Russian, French, Italian, or Spanish) is optional for pupils beginning in the 7th grade. The time allocated for English instruction is three hours per week in third through ninth grades. The choice of a second language, with a minimum of two hours of instruction per week, is determined by parents' interest and the availability of teachers in a particular school.
At the secondary school level, English is not mandatory; Slovak students can choose two foreign languages to study. The languages offered are English, German, Russian, Spanish, French, and Italian. According to statistics, English is the most learned foreign language and German is the second (Eurostat, 2012, p.77). Students choose the foreign language in which they take the Maturita (a school leaving exam), but one foreign language is compulsory. Grammar school students are required by law to pass the exam at the CEFR B2 level, whereas students in vocational schools may opt for the B1 or B2 level. In the 2014/2015 school year, out of the 46,489 students completing their secondary education in Slovakia, 14,908 students took the B2 level English exam in 400 schools, and 21,792 took the B1 level in 480 schools. The average passing test rates were
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68.2 percent for the B2 level and 51.4 percent for the B1 level (The National Institute for Certified Educational Measurements, 2015).
Apart from the ordinary primary and secondary schools, some schools specialize in providing English language education. Some state schools offer extra English instruction hours beginning in the 1st grade of elementary school. Bilingual English-Slovak primary and secondary schools also exist. Pupils at bilingual grammar schools learn two world languages for five years. The first year is devoted to intensive language training, typically 15 or more hours per week. From the 2nd grade onward, the core subjects are taught in English only. This type of education is statistically insignificant in Slovakia, and bilingual schools are found almost exclusively in the private sector.
In Slovakia, the British English model is preferred in English instruction, although state language education policy is not prescriptive with regard to the particular language variety. The list of English language textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education for primary and secondary schools includes primarily British publishes, along with some Slovak publishers. Notably, Slovak primary schools receive state subsidies for buying only the textbooks included in the list.
Observers have noted a general tendency in English language teaching to question and gradually move away from models centered on the 'native speaker' (Kirkpatrick, 2006; Ciprianová & Vaneo, 2010; Kohn, 2011). Although the concept of a lingua franca does not explicitly appear in the Slovak Innovative State Educational Program, it defines the objectives of language education in terms of general and communicative competencies developed in various communicative situations and contexts. With reference to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the curricular document requires pupils to adopt communicative behavior that is 'appropriate to the situation and common in the countries where English is spoken'. The learning objectives are rather vague in determining the potential interlocutors and cultural conventions according to which the pupils are expected to behave. The document implies a shift from a monochrome 'native-speaker' standard to that of a more pluralistic intercultural speaker who is able to communicate with people who 'speak the given language' and understand 'the way of life and mentality of other nations' (The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, 2015b). Adherence to the normative 'native-speaker' model is, however, implicitly evoked in formulations about correct uses of lexical, grammatical, syntactic and stylistic means in writing as well as in students' ability to react 'correctly' and 'appropriately' in ordinary social situations. Fulfilling these linguistic and sociolinguistic aims of English instruction assumes the presence of an arbiter who judges based on the notions of 'correctness' and 'appropriateness'.
In addition to primary and secondary schools, English is taught extensively at Slovak universities. At the end of 2014, twenty-two universities and fourteen institutions of higher education were operating in Slovakia (The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, 2014). Currently, students can major in English at nine universities located throughout Slovakia. The study programs focus on the preparation of English language teachers, translators and interpreters. Except in teacher and translator training programs, English is studied as a single subject only for business and professional communication. Students at universities that provide education for future specialists, for example, in the fields of medicine, natural sciences, 54
business and economy, take regular English language courses at language centers that typically administer not only instruction but also language exams. These centers also organize resources to prepare students for international language certificates. Although the number of applicants for university study has been declining in the past few years, English continues to attract a large student body in Slovakia.
In contrast to other European countries, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) does not seem to be important in Slovak primary, secondary or tertiary education, and Slovakia does not follow the EMI trend. The country did not even appear on the research list of 55 countries in which English is established as the language of education (Dearden 2014). Few Slovak universities offer study programs taught in English, apart from certain medical schools, which are popular and continue to attract students from inside and outside Europe. The overall number of foreign students studying at Slovak universities is negligible. According to the annual report, foreign students constituted only 5.97 percent of the total student enrollment (The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, 2014).
Finally, English remains the language most in demand at private language schools. English classes are taken by Slovak pupils and those who want to improve their language skills in order to pass exams, including university entrance exams, or increase their chances of finding a job. Another group of clients includes employees who need English for their work or who take English courses as a leisure time activity for personal reasons.
Despite a series of measures taken to promote and enhance the quality of English language teaching in Slovakia, the recent statistical data on learning English and proficiency of Slovaks are indicative of serious problems with the country's foreign language education. In a 2012 survey, the percentage of Slovak pupils learning English in primary schools remained substantially lower (58.4 percent) than average (73 percent) in the EU (Eurostat, 2012, p. 60-61). According to Eurobarometer, most Slovak respondents (63 percent) believed that English was the most useful language for their personal development (Eurobarometer, 2012, p.69), but only 26 percent claimed that they were able to converse in English. This figure was lower than the percentage in the majority of EU member states (Eurobarometer, 2012, p.21). Additionally, Slovakia belongs to the group of countries with the lowest rate of passive knowledge of English. Only 14 percent of Slovak respondents claimed to understand English on radio and television (Eurobarometer, 2012,p.31). In 2014, out of 1,300 secondary school students who failed in one subject on the school exit exam, 650 did not pass a test in English. This number was higher than the number of students failing in any other subjects on the final exam (Tvnoviny.sk, 2014). In December of the same year, the British Council conducted a survey among 428 primary and secondary school Slovak teachers of English. The report shows that 95 percent of the teachers with an average English teaching experience of nine years miss systematic in-service training, and 96 percent indicate that they need education in student engagement methods. More than 90 percent of the teachers demand didactic support for using the textbooks. What is most disappointing is that fewer than 21percent of these teachers feel fully confident in English. These results are in sharp contrast with teachers' perception of English as the most important world language and their recognition of its importance for pupils (British Council, 2015a).
In addition to the problems that teachers noted in the survey, achieving a higher quality of English instruction in Slovak schools has been hindered by the lack of qualified teachers. In 2007, according to the above-cited document ('The Conceptionof Teaching Foreign LanguagesatPrimaryandSecondary Schools'), the lowest proportion of qualified teachers of English was found at primary schools and, in particular, at the first stage of primary education (grades 1-4) (The National Institute for Education, 2007). Concurrent with the approval of the new language teaching model in September 2007, the Slovak government proclaimed that it was taking measures to ensure an adequate number of qualified foreign language teachers at all public schools. Three years later, however, a study from the National Institute for Education revealed that 57.76 percent of all English language teachers in the first stage of primary education still did not possess the required qualifications. This number was high relative to the percentages of unqualified teachers of other languages: 42.36 percent for German, 33.33 percent for Spanish, 15.00 percent for Russian, 12.50 percent for French, and 6.67 percent for Italian (The National Institute for Education, 2010). Establishing an effective strategic plan for increasing teacher quality became even more urgent with the introduction of compulsory English beginning in the 3rd grade in the 2011/2012 school year. In 2015, the number of qualified teachers at the first stage of primary education, with the most striking shortage, reached only 65 percent.
To improve the professional competences of English language teachers, the Ministry of Education launched a national project referred to as 'New Trends of Training English Language Teachers at Primary Schools', which included 3,000 teachers throughout the whole territory of Slovakia (The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, 2015c). By developing teachers' competencies, the project also aimed to help implement modern methods and techniques for teaching English and to improve the overall quality of the teaching process.Numerous other projects, often with generous EU funding support, have been launched as part of the government's effort to enhance the quality of English language teaching in Slovakia.
The reasons for the shortage of qualified English language teachers tend to be similar to those reported by Reichelt (2005) and Kasztalska (2014) in Poland. Slovak teachers frequently decide to leave the profession because of the low salaries and inadequate social status in the eyes of the public. Those who remain in teaching positions tend to take additional jobs in private langua ge schools or translation companies to augment their income. Even worse, many young graduates with English teaching degrees do not even intend to obtain a teaching job; instead, they envision their futures in other, more profitable employment areas (Korenova, 2011). The average salary of Slovak schoolteachers for 2015 was 952 € (1,009 USD) (Aktualne.sk, 2015). This amount of money may not seem particularly low in comparison to the average monhly wage 955€ (1,013 USD) (Istp.sk, 2015). However, the problem seems to lie in regional income inequalities (the highest wages are traditionally in the western part of the country around the capital, while remaining very low in Eastern Slovakia), and the differences in the amount of extra benefits that teachers receive in addition to their statutory salaries. In reality, many Slovak teachers get paid much less than 952 euros per month. What makes the situation even worse is that Slovak teachers' salaries are the lowest among all OECD countries and the ratio of their salaries relative to earnings for tertiary-educated workers is also the lowest in the OECD (Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators, 2014). 56
English instruction in Ukraine
Ukrainians had historically limited contact with English-speaking foreigners during the Soviet era in the 20th century. Broad and interdisciplinary connections with English language speakers were established only after the fall of the Soviet bloc. Since the late 1990s, the language education system in Ukraine has been undergoing dramatic changes. For instance, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, compulsory foreign language instruction in general schools began in the 4th or 5th grade. Ukraine signed the Bologna Declaration in 2005 and then introduced the ECTS (The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) in 2008. A 12-year secondary education reform was introduced in 2001 and revised in 2010 to 11-year secondary education, and such reform will be reintroduced in 2017 (Sovsun, 2015). The next pivotal moment occurred in July 2014, when the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a new law on higher education, which had remained essentially unchanged since the Soviet era. This law is believed to be capable of providing financial, academic and administrative autonomy for educational and research institutions; introducing a framework for national qualifications; and improving the quality of education (Tatsenko, 2014).
Ukraine is a multilingual country. The first compulsory foreign language instruction in general schools begins in the 1st grade, and this language does not need to be English. German, French and Spanish are taught as first foreign languages in Ukrainian kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and universities; in these cases, the second foreign language is English. In Ukraine, the most frequently studied foreign language in secondary schools is English, followed by German, French and Spanish as options for the second foreign language. General secondary education consists of 11 grades and includes both primary and secondary levels of education. Students who have completed basic secondary education (9 grades) receive a certificate of basic secondary education, and those graduates who have completed full secondary education (11th or 12th grade) receive a certificate confirming their complete/full general education in secondary schools at the I-II level of accreditation. Ukrainian general schools do not correspond to Slovak types of schools, in that 1st through 4th grades are considered primary level, while grades 5-11 (12) constitute secondary education. General secondary education begins in the 1st grade, and pupils are 6 to 8 years old. In primary and secondary schools, the foreign language is chosen by the parents or educational establishment and is taught 1 hour per week in the 1st grade, 2 hours per week in grades 2-4, 3 hours per week in grades 5-8, 2 hours per week in the 9th grade, and 3.5 hours per week in grades 10-11 (for more details, see 'Typical primary school curriculum No. 572', approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine) (osvita.ua, 2011). These processes and changes stimulated the strengthening and penetration of English into all spheres of education and science in Ukraine.
In specialized schools (secondary schools that specialize in certain subjects, such as foreign languages), the first foreign language is taught 2 hours per week in the 1st grade, 3 hours per week in grades 2-3, and 4 hours per week in the 4th grade, while the second foreign language may be introduced in the 5th grade. The second foreign language is optional and may be determined by the educational establishments themselves (Kukla, 2014). In grades 5-11, the time devoted to a first
foreign language amounts to 5 hours per week, and such instruction includes subjects such as foreign literature, business language, technical translation, and regional studies.
No particular variety of English is propagated in Ukrainian schools, which show no preference for or adherence to a British rather than American variant of English. Obligatory ELT textbooks for elementary and secondary schools are listed by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine and are written only by Ukrainian authors. However, for additional textbooks and teaching manuals at the elementary level or higher, the Ministry recommends the products of six mainly British publishing houses. The Ministry also supports the ELF model of language learning aimed at international communication.
Increasingly being used in primary, secondary and higher education, EMI has a great impact on the whole educational system in East Central European countries. According to Dearden, EMI is allowed in Ukrainian private primary, public secondary and private secondary schools but not in public primary schools (Dearden, 2014, p.11). However, in present-day Europe and Ukraine, the number of courses taught in English is increasing rapidly because of the Bologna process and various European and international organizations in Europe (e.g., the European Commission, the UN, NATO) (Seidlhofer, 2011, p.137). EMI attracts international students from around the world and offers new, lucrative opportunities (Dearden, 2014, p. 29). Ukrainian technical and medical educational institutions are the most popular among foreigners, and foreign students add $504 million annually to the economy of Ukraine (osvita.ua, 2015a). Each of the 63,000 foreign students pays approximately $ 2,000 in tuition. In Ukraine, knowing English is considered a means of attaining financial security and contemporaneity. We can witness a strong tendency to popularize English and to increase the number of hours taught in English compared to that seen in past decades.
English language competence is viewed as a key asset for university students. Ukrainian students with majors other than English may choose to take courses in this language or in another foreign language. Students of English philology, translation studies and teacher training programs, whose English language proficiency is typically higher, participate in more advanced courses. Furthermore, these students have course work in linguistics, methodology, or literature. English majors take seminars enabling the development of practical skills in reading, writing, grammar, phonetics, speaking, listening, and translation.
Today, Ukrainians have personal, professional, political and economic reasons for learning English. Secondary school and university students are inspired by interest in English-language new media, technologies, and international exchange programs. Educators and scholars need English to follow and read recent innovations in the field and to publish studies in international journals with high impact. Laypeople are especially motivated to learn English because the language dominates many fields in economics and trade, technology and tourism. Ukrainian educators agree that the popularization of English is an appealing idea for many reasons, including globalization, better job prospects and financial benefits for students, higher-quality research papers in English and an increase in international rankings.
Despite much interest and enthusiasm on the part of Ukraine, the reality of foreign language education in Ukraine differs from the expectations. In the rankings of the Education First English Proficiency Index 2014 (EF EPI, 2014), Ukraine was ranked 44th out of 63 countries, placing it among countries with low proficiency. In 2013, Ukraine was among the countries with moderate proficiency, with a score of 53.08. Today, Ukraine is 34th out of 70 countries and is again among countries with moderate proficiency. In comparison, between 2011 and 2014, Slovakia belonged to the group of countries with moderate proficiency but reached a higher place in the ranking (22 out of 63). Slovakia is currently 25 out of 70 among countries with moderate proficiency, similar to Ukraine's ranking (EF EPI, 2016).
To complete their secondary school education, all Ukrainian graduates must take External Independent Testing in a foreign language, equivalent to the Slovak Maturita. This exam tests two basic skills: writing and reading. The writing part tests students' ability to write personal and business letters and their adequate use of vocabulary, grammar and appropriate style. The reading part tests graduates' abilities to understand and summarize the content of authentic texts from different genres and to find and analyze important information in diverse texts. Students typically choose English as their foreign language. In 2014, 69,405 school graduates (92.2 percent) opted for English (zno.osvita.net, 2013; pedpresa.com.ua 2014). Statistics show that Ukrainian school graduates exhibited low levels of English proficiency in 2014. Only 0.11 percent of students earned the maximum score on the test. (Ukrajinska Pravda, 2014). In 2015, the results were even more disappointing: only 0.02 percent of the 72,000 school graduates achieved the maximum score on English tests (osvita.ua, 2015b). Thus, the language competence of most graduates tends to be low and their knowledge of English passive.
One of the reasons for these results is that schools and universities have experienced a shortage of qualified English teachers. Vacant English teaching positions are often filled by retired or unqualified teachers. Compared to other professionals, Ukrainian teachers are significantly underpaid. The average salary of schoolteachers in 2015 was 1,994 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) (per month) (less than $1 an hour). University teaching staff earned 3,806 UAH on average, but the wage of industrial workers was 5,096 UAH (for more details, see osvita.ua, 2015c). Thus, it is not surprising that most graduates from English philology departments and teacher training colleges seek more lucrative careers outside of teaching English at schools and universities. In-service English language teachers commonly augment their low salaries by working as private English tutors or instructors in private language schools or as translators and interpreters in private companies. This trend causes great difficulties in finding qualified English teachers for educational establishments.
In addition, English language teachers and students have limited opportunities to communicate with English 'native speakers'. English language learning occurs almost exclusively in classrooms. Because of economic barriers, visits and courses in English-speaking countries are generally not affordable. The number of English 'native speakers' working in Ukraine provided by councils and language schools does not cover the current demand for their teaching services. The problems that ELT professionals face in Ukraine are similar to those in Slovakia and other post-communist countries in the Expanding Circle of Englishes.
To improve the quality of English language education in the country, the British Council (BC) cooperates with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and conducts training for teachers from different educational institutions. By 2015, the BC had conducted English courses for 37,000 teachers. In 2014, more than 60,000 Ukrainians joined programs and activities organized by the BC in Ukraine, and 800,000 took advantage of the available digital resources, particularly resources for learning English (British Council, 2015b). Each year, BC Kyiv English School teaches approximately 3,000 students and organizes 11,000 exams and tests. To further their employment prospects and find opportunities to study and work abroad, a large number of Ukrainians master English in private language schools. Officials also support English use, and together with NATO, the BC provides free English language courses for retired servicemen to enhance their career opportunities and improve their level of English competence (British Council, 2015c).
Conclusions
The focus of our study was to investigate the English language education policies in Slovakia and Ukraine in relation to the status and roles of English in these two countries.As the most widespread foreign language in Slovakia and Ukraine, English serves similar - but not identical -functions. Slovak students learn English to communicate with 'native' and 'non-native' English speakers. English is perceived as a communication tool in international encounters, and English instruction has a clearly defined intercultural dimension in Slovak pedagogical documents. In Ukraine, in addition to English's function as a lingua franca, the English language has been viewed as a means of resolving problems between the Ukrainian and Russian languages. The Ukrainian government has supported the use of English for utilitarian and instrumental purposes. Nevertheless, English seems unlikely to assume the role of 'a language for identification' in Ukraine (House, 2003, p.560). English shows no signs of influencing the status of Ukrainian as the national language and as an emotive identity marker.
The differences in the functional range of English in Slovakia and Ukraine are partly historical in origin. Both the Slovak and Ukrainian national identities have centered on language and culture, and the nations' formative years have been accompanied by long-lasting struggles with neighboring nations. The common concern with the purity of the national languages could be attributed to the same historical grounds. Regardless of the existing parallels in the ethnic conception of a nation, English did not seem to play the same role in the post-communist identity building of Ukrainians and Slovaks. In Slovakia, English has been used almost solely as a transactional language and has never been adopted to counterbalance any minority language in intrastate communication.
English is considered a prestigious foreign language of business, commerce, science and education in both countries. It is the top language taught in Slovak and Ukrainian schools. English has the status of a mandatory foreign language in Slovakia. Although it is not a prescribed foreign language to learn in Ukraine, the majority of students also opt for English. In addition, English as a medium of instruction occupies an important position in the Ukrainian educational system, while in Slovak institutions of higher education EMI plays a marginal role.
Regardless of the spread of English, its pragmatic value and status in the eyes of Slovak and Ukrainian students, their proficiency in English does not meet expectations, according to the cited statistical data. This finding is not surprising because at the time of growing demand for English, the educational authorities in both countries faced the similar type of problems related to the lack of qualified, dedicated English teachers. In Ukraine, the low pay of English teachers and the lack of students' adequate exposure to native English speakers appears to have had a more negative impact on the situation. The salaries of Slovak teachers are relatively high comparedto their Ukrainian colleagues. Given the opportunities to travel to English speaking countries and the size of investment in various teacher training programmes, the low self-perception of English language skills and dissatisfaction with the quality of in-service training on the part of Slovak teachers raises serious concerns.In sum, our research has shown that improving teaching and learning conditions at all levels of Slovak and Ukrainian foreign language education has become a long-term challenge, not an easy goal to be achieved in the coming years.
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Information about the authors:
Associate Professor Elena Ciprianova, PhD., e-mail: eciprianova@Mkf.sk
Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra,
Slovakia.
Associate Professor Svetlana M. Minasyan, e-mail: s.minasyanpmesi@gmail.com Department of Theory and History of Pedagogy, Kh. Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, Yerevan, Armenia
Associate Professor Olga Ruda, PhD., e-mail: oruda@ukf.sk
Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, Slovakia
• Visegrod Fund
This work was supported by the International Visegrad Fund under V4EaP Scholarship [number 51400606].
