English language to receive new status in Ukraine
Photo: Zelenskyy's bill on the English language was approved in the first reading (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Verkhovna Rada has approved in the first reading a draft law on the use of English in Ukraine, which was submitted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The dubbing of films will be preserved, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak reports.
According to his report, project No. 9432 was supported by 278 deputies.
t.me/yzheleznyak/
"The norm of showing English-language films in cinemas in the original language with Ukrainian subtitles was excluded by the committee's decision," Zheleznyak says.
Basic norms of the project
The project normalizes the peculiarities of the use of the English language in the work of state and local authorities, local self-government bodies, and units of emergency assistance to the population when crossing the state border, in the fields of education, culture, transport, health care, etc.
The document proposes to define the categories of positions for which candidates are required to speak English.
Persons who will be required to speak English
The requirements for the mandatory command of the English language are set for persons applying for positions:
- civil service category "A";
- civil service categories "B" and "B", the list of which is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- heads of local state administrations, their first deputies and deputies;
- military servicemen of the officer corps who are performing military service under a contract, the list of which is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- middle and senior police officers of the National Police of Ukraine, senior positions of other law enforcement agencies, senior positions of the civil protection service, the list of which is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- prosecutors;
- in tax and customs authorities, the list of which is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- heads of economic entities of the state sector of the economy, the list of which is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
- The requirement for English language proficiency may be set by the subject of appointment for candidates for positions in local self-government bodies (except for elected positions), whose main job duties involve the performance of international cooperation functions.
Justification of the bill
As noted in the explanatory note to the project, English is currently the official de jure language in 58 of the 196 countries of the world, and de facto in many other countries and territories (Bangladesh, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, UAE). It is one of the six languages of the United Nations, as well as an official language of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the European Free Trade Association, and NATO.
"English is the language of international conferences and sports competitions, the language of communication of the international scientific community, and the leader among languages on the Internet. Currently, more than 1.5 billion people study English in the world," the document says.
Ukraine's European integration aspirations determine, in particular, the recognition of European standards in the field of language policy, the explanatory note states. Currently, Ukraine has the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union but remains separated from the EU by a language barrier. Compared to other European countries, Ukraine lags in the readiness of its citizens to communicate in a foreign language, including English. According to the data for 2021 of the EF English Proficiency Index annual study on determining the level of English language proficiency in different countries of the world, Ukraine belongs to the countries with an average level of English language proficiency and occupies the 40th position in the ranking out of 112 countries in the world.
"The transformation of the status of the English language in Ukraine is a necessity and a strategic step towards the full membership of our country in the EU because knowledge of the English language is a key competence in the conditions of globalization changes," the document says.
