Globalization and contemporary migration flows have a significant impact on the linguistic
and cultural landscape of modern societies. Increased population migration, further fuelled in
recent years by geopolitical conflicts, contributes to the formation of a multilingual
environment where different languages meet, intertwine, and adapt to one another. Among
the more significant and numerous migration flows in Slovenia in recent times, the
immigration of citizens from Ukraine and Russia stands out, particularly following the
outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. This raises the question of how Russian-speaking
immigrants in Slovenia use their native language, how they preserve it, and what role global
media and transnational connections play in this process.
The thesis consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part presents the
processes of globalization, their impacts on languages, and the role of migration in shaping
multilingual societies. Special attention is given to the Russian language as a language with a
strong diaspora and to the issue of preserving the mother tongue in a new social environment.
The empirical part uses semi-structured interviews with Russian-speaking immigrants in
Slovenia to examine the language practices they develop in the Slovenian environment, how
they integrate into it, and which factors influence the preservation or gradual abandonment of
the Russian language.
The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the linguistic dynamics
of the Russian-speaking community in Slovenia and to shed light on the broader impact of
globalization on the spread and preservation of languages in cases where their speakers
migrate.
|
