The strategy of the Russian language development in the CIS countries except Russia implies its promotion as a second language in the conditions of competition with the English and Chinese languages. CIS Deputy Secretary-General Dauren Abaev said Thursday opening the international scientific conference "Russian Language in Modern Bilingual Space".
"The strategy for the development of the Russian language in the Commonwealth primarily involves its promotion as a second language. In this context, considering the globalization processes, it will have to compete with other foreign languages, especially English and Chinese," he said.
The CIS deputy secretary-general said that the Russian language serves as a link allowing the CIS residents better understand each other and strengthen informal ties and cultures. However, according to him, the language policy issue is ambiguous and complicated in some CIS countries. Abaev explained that many citizens of former Soviet republics "do not know their native language and have not had the opportunity to learn it for a long time."
"Losing native language means losing identity, losing identity, losing connection with the centuries-old heritage of ancestors," he said, explaining why Russian is supposed to be developed as a second language in CIS countries.
Abaev stressed that at the same time the Russian language is the only reliable resource for humanitarian support of various integration institutions in the CIS. "Thanks to the common history of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Russian language has retained its position as the main means of international communication in the CIS countries. Its use and dissemination contributes to exchanging ideas, cultural products, philosophical concepts, developing trade and economic cooperation, student mobility and employment," he added.
The deputy CIS secretary noted that Russian is one of the top seven languages in the world in terms of the number of its speakers as a second language. "In terms of content distribution on the Internet, the Russian language ranks third," Abayv added.
In the CIS countries, 2023 has been declared the Year of the Russian language as a language of international communication. This decision was made by the leaders of the Commonwealth in December 2020. At the CIS summit held in the middle of October, 2022, the heads of the states supported the initiative of President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to establish under the CIS aegis an international organization to support and promote the Russian language, as well as approved its concept.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Based on materials from TASS