Resumen de Changing Levels of Bilingualism across the Baltic

Gabrielle Hogan-Brun, Meilutė Ramonienė

• Since the cessation of Soviet hegemony the Baltic Republics have endured drastic changes in their political, economic, social and linguistic situation. The official reinstatement of the respective state languages has been a key feature in the establishment of their newly regained national independence. Consequently, large sections of the population need to undergo language instruction in order to be able to function in the changed linguistic environment. For many members of the ethnic communities, this has involved a shift from either monolingualism (predominantly Russian) or bilingualism (e.g. of Belarusian or Ukrainian) with Russian to a bilingualism of their ethnic language, or in some cases of Russian, with Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian. This contribution will report on language-related developments across the Baltic and on ensuing educational challenges in Lithuania set against a diachronic perspective of local bilingual settings.