Language attitudes and orientations of Sakha children and youth aged 13-18 in conditions of balanced bilingualism (on the example of schoolchildren in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Despite the numerical dominance of the Sakha people, there is a linguistic shift of the Yakut language in favor of Russian in the city of Yakutsk, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). According to a foresight study until 2050 conducted by M.K. Ammosov NEFU, 37% of young people under 20 years of age switch to bilingualism, and 24% of this category of respondents find it convenient to think in Russian; It is assumed that among those born in the 2030s, 60% will be fluent and speak their native language, 40% will use their native language in family and everyday communication, and 25% of the population who know the Yakut language will think in their native language. The authors determine that one of the main reasons for this phenomenon is that children and youth began to speak less in the Yakut language, considering it less prestigious and functional in the circle of everyday communication and in the socio-cultural sphere. Respondents also prefer the Russian language as a marker of an urban resident in conditions of internal migration of the population to the capital of the region. The purpose of the study is to identify the language attitudes and orientations of Sakha children and youth from 13 to 18 years old in the context of balanced bilingualism. The objectives of the work are: to develop research tools; to conduct a sociolinguistic survey among school students in grades 8-11 in the city of Yakutsk by means of an electronic questionnaire; to describe the language attitudes and orientations of school students in grades 8-11 formed in the conditions of balanced bilingualism; to identify general trends in the development of language situation in the city of Yakutsk on the basis of sociolinguistic data obtained. The study identified the following attitudes and preferences of children and youth from 13 to 18 years of age: the roles of the Russian and Yakut state languages ​​in the region were assessed by young people as equal; the majority of respondents noted the prestigiousness o f knowing the Yakut language; in the capital of the Republic there is a shift of the Yakut language in favor of the Russian language. The respondents' answers were evaluated by the authors as indicators of a language shift. The survey also revealed the attitude of students to English, a compulsory subject in schools, which the informants defined as quite prestigious, but not relevant in the context of the existing language situation in the city of Yakutsk.

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