Mediated receptive multilingualism: factors of success in facilitation of language learning

This PhD thesis examines how people can understand each other even when they speak languages that are different and not related to one another. It focuses on mediated Receptive Multilingualism (RM), a situation where understanding is supported by a related third language. In this study, native speakers of Estonian were asked to understand Ukrainian texts, using their knowledge of Russian, a language closely related to Ukrainian and familiar to many Estonians. In addition, they engaged in communication with speakers of Ukrainian, each using their native language. The study explores how understanding works in reading and communication, and which factors support or hinder it.

The experiments were carried out before and after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This made it possible to observe sociolinguistic changes within the Ukrainian community in Estonia. The study combines several research methods, including questionnaires, Russian language proficiency tests, tasks measuring understanding of Ukrainian words and texts, participants’ self-reports, language attitude tests, and communication tasks. These methods provide a clear picture of how mediated RM works in real-life situations.

The results show that mediated RM can successfully support understanding and interaction between speakers of very different languages. Understanding is influenced by a combination of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Knowledge of Russian and perceived or actual similarities between Russian and Ukrainian, together with extra-linguistic factors such as exposure to Russian, context, learnability, language attitudes, multilingual experience, metalinguistic awareness, and general knowledge, played an important role. The findings suggest that mediated RM supports learning over time and contributes to the development of multilingual competence.