The article include the consideration of social functions of higher education for indigenous minorities living in the Arctic. Particular emphasis was placed on reconstructing educational practices and the language policy that is implemented toward indigenous minorities in Alaska, Canadian Arctic, Greenland, northern regions of Scandinavia and Northern Russia. An attempt was made at examining the relationship between higher education, language policy, and the development of ethnic identity.

The article analyses the results of mass survey conducted in the framework of the project of the Volkswagen Foundation “Bi- and multilingualism between intensification of conflict and conflict resolution. Ethno-linguistic conflicts, language politics and contact situations in post-Soviet Ukraine and Russia”. Research’s aim was to understand to what extent the state language policy in the area of mass media and cultural sphere meet the expectations of the citizens of Ukraine. It underlines regionally marked attitude towards the strategy of language policy: the Western part of the country prefers Ukrainian language, South – Russian, and Center and North take intermediate positions.

The article contains preliminary considerations on the principles of the standardization of geographical names in Poland, in particular the names of physiographic objects. The notion of a country’s language policy has been referred to as one of its tools is the standardization of geographical names. The general objectives of the Polish language policy were listed as such: the assertion of legal status of the Polish language as the first language in Poland; the assertion of conditions for the development of national and ethnic minority languages in the country; the construction of a Polish- language national and state community. Legal acts concerning Polish language and geographical nomenclature were indicated. It was stated that the assumed effect of political and linguistic actions should be to develop a nomenclature in correct Polish, one which is pragmatically effective, rooted in tradition and, as a result of this study, one should expect to achieve an optimal course of the language communication process in each communicative community. Then, the criteria of the linguistic correctness of geographical names applied to date were discussed and similarities indicated in the standardization procedure with regards to geonyms and specialist terms. The rules of the detailed standardization procedure will be presented in the second part of the article

The article summarizes the results of sociolinguistic study of the language environment of secondary schools in Ukraine, on the basis of which the conclusion about its bilingualism was made. It is proved that the quality of the language environment does not correspond to the declared school status. Changes in the assessment of the language environment of schools from 2006 to 2017 are identified and it is concluded that it is possible to develop recommendations for improving the legal support of the use of languages in the Ukrainian education.

The article examines the language biographies of two generations of a family of German origin in the Czech Republic from the end of World War II to the present day. The content analysis of the biographies is based on the application of the narrative interview method developed in qualitative sociology. The analysis of the data obtained by this method follows the stages in the language use of the two informants in coping with the challenge of the language policies of the state.

The article deals with the problems of prevention in the preservation and development of idioms in the multilingual territory between the Dniester and the Danube rivers, based on the sociolinguistic situation of the region, the language and educational policy in the area and their dynamics, and a search for a solution. The goal involves modeling forecasts (possible development vectors) of the ethnolinguistic situation within the investigated area, in order to be able to avoid negative scenarios, but to move along the path of its harmonious development, to find tools and measures for its constructive management. It is considered that the problems preventing the preservation of this continuum’s linguistic diversity, as well as the development of idioms in a multilingual environment, are caused by both internal (problems of effective implementation of the language and educational policy of Ukraine) and external factors. In order to ensure the preservation and development of the area’s idioms, some negative, unfavorable scenarios in the development of the ethnolinguistic and political situation were modeled. In our opinion, a number of measures should be taken to prevent the ethno‑linguistic situation from developing along such destructive vectors. First of all, it is necessary to form, in some ways reanimate, a positive image of the Ukrainian Language, at least – it should not be perceived by minorities as an imposed language. If the Ukrainian authorities do not have an understanding of this necessity, the European Union could influence the resolution of many partial issues with the linguistic life of the region.