Abstract:
The article explores the linguistic situation in Ukraine, where a key sociolinguistic peculiarity is
the large-scale spread of various types of Ukrainian–Russian bilingualism. A special focus is put
on bilingualism among children speaking two closely related languages, which represents a current
language situation beyond any historical or political context. The article describes the peculiarities
of the formation of child bilingualism, which are a result of the changing priorities of the primary
and secondary tools of communication. The article presents the findings of a survey covering the
family environment, undertaken in order to identify key trends in children’s speech in Ukraine.
This knowledge subsequently allows for the tracing of the correlation between a mother tongue
/ parents’ second language, the language of family communication, and the national language in
Ukraine. Moreover, it helps when it comes to the decision of whether or not to introduce bilin-
gual practices in the early stages of the linguistic personality formation of a child. The concept
of a ‘bilingual linguistic personality’ is covered, and certain aspects pertaining to how bilingual
children perceive the world are listed. The article takes into consideration the issues and criteria
of the ‘mother tongue’ concept in bilingual settings. The notion of ‘linguistic code switching’
is characterized, as well as its impact on the formation of bilingual communicative competence
in children. A focus is laid on the use of mixed forms of Ukrainian–Russian bilingualism in the
context of the communicative practices of bilingual children. The article also examines a peculiar
type of bilingualism, typical of a certain category of bilingual pre-schoolers and primary school
children, in which each party of a communicative act tends to preserve their dominant language
in an informal setting.
