Two disciplines – Ukrainian and English – have occupied an important place in linguistic education of the
NaUKMA students, as these languages are working languages in the university and are crucial in the national
and international practice of educated professionals. However, a high status of these languages per se did not
guarantee a corresponding level of development of Ukrainian (and in broader terms – of Slavic) and English
(and in broader terms – Germanic or Romano-Germanic) linguistics, since studying the mother tongue and
one of the world languages served primarily a practical purpose; in particular, ensuring their fluent use in the
graduates’ professional activities. Considering the above, it becomes clear why the department of the English
language and the department of the Ukrainian language used to function as wholly or mainly all-university
subdivisions with practical instruction. This also explains why the NaUKMA does not have a philological
faculty that is mandatory for European classical universities of Europe and the world, and why Latin, which
was especially cultivated by Petro Mohyla and his successors and in which the significant part of heritage of
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was written, is studied only as an optional course. On the other hand, from the
beginning of the revival of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Literature Studies as a second “wing” of philological
education have been represented by a large bloc of mandatory and optional literature disciplines taught by
leading experts in Ukraine. These and other circumstances have caused a need for establishing the department
of General and Slavic Linguistics as a “locomotive” in improving the linguistic education level of future
philologists. In this regard, the concept of the department and the programme of the linguistic science
development are based on a few milestones related to the relevance of solving General and Slavic Linguistics
problems at the NaUKMA on the research and education levels, the place and objectives of the department in
the educational process, its research activities in accordance with the main areas of General and Slavic
Linguistics, cooperation of the department with other university divisions and public and foreign institutions,
its structure, staffing, and performance.
Об’єктивні обставини зумовили створення кафедри загального і слов’янського мовознавства
як «локомотива» в піднесенні рівня лінгвістичної підготовки майбутніх філологів, випуск яких
здійснюється з першого набору студентів. У зв’язку з цим концепція кафедри і програма розвитку
на ній лінгвістичної науки зводяться до кількох ключових положень, пов’язаних з актуальністю
опрацювання проблем загального і слов’янського мовознавства в НаУКМА на науково-дидактично-
му рівні, з місцем і завданнями кафедри в навчально-виховному процесі, з її науковою діяльністю
відповідно до основних напрямів загального і слов’янського мовознавства, із взаємодією кафедри
з іншими підрозділами університету й закладами держави та світу, з її структурою, кадровим
складом і результатами роботи.
