UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT CHALLENGES

Abstract

Abstract. The relevance of the topic of studying the Ukrainian language is evidenced by numerous facts of the opposition between countries, the ultimatum demands of enemies, the antagonism of political forces, and discussions at the level of decisions of the Constitutional Court, which ultimately defined language as an inseparable attribute of statehood and justified its legal status at the level of national security. Meanwhile, we are witnessing the paradoxical phenomenon where normative documents precede the content of textbooks. This phenomenon became particularly evident after the approval of the State Standard of Basic Secondary School. The authors prioritized requirements for "cross-cutting skills in all key competencies." Of the eleven main skills, most have a "philological focus": perception, awareness, understanding of the read text, choosing arguments and counterarguments; the ability to express thoughts by choosing speech strategies according to the communication participants’ level; recognizing attempts at manipulation; logically justifying judgments and conclusions; acting creatively; adequately reacting to conflict situations; checking and substantiating hypotheses; analysing causes and consequences. Studying the content of textbooks allows for the conclusion that there is a certain lag behind the systemic tasks. This is especially noticeable in the context of the proposals made by the experts of the Club of Rome in their anniversary report (December 2017) regarding the importance of integrative thinking. This topic is not even mentioned in the textbooks, and the discussion among didactics has not yet begun. Given the influence on different age groups, the content of textbooks is particularly important. Depending on the level of information, they can help to raise confident winners or create failures with feelings of inferiority, hopelessness, and "learned intellectual helplessness." It is important to consider the level of didactic culture among the participants in the learning process, their ability to teach and to learn. The purposeful organization of the "success situation" requires a systematic resolution of problems that have arisen over decades. In the basic curriculum for secondary school, 1820 hours are allocated for the study of language and literature subjects (with a minimum of 1575 hours and a maximum of 2170 hours). This requires a proper assessment of all factors that will contribute to solving the set tasks.