Motivações do Bilinguismo em Descendentes de Imigrantes Ucranianos no Município de Prudentópolis/PR

Abstract

The research sought to investigate and reflect on the motivations that lead to preserving the Ukrainian language among bilingual Portuguese/Ukrainian speakers, as well as the challenges of bilingualism and its maintenance. The research methodology used was qualitative in nature and an interview guide was used to collect data. The research technique was permeated by the carrying out of focus groups, optimized in the month of April 2024, in which the participants were men and women aged between eighteen and seventy-nine years old, residing in the city of Prudentópolis, State of Paraná and part of the community of Ukrainian descendants in the municipality. The studies revealed that the speeches taken from the focus groups contextualize the experiences of Ukrainian descendants in using the Ukrainian language, their concerns for future generations, as they interact with the societal, cultural and historical space. The results show that the biggest concerns regarding the Ukrainian language are the preservation of its roots and so that the Ukrainian language can be perpetuated for future generations. It was possible to find out that the older generations speak more Ukrainian than the younger generation. Thirty-two respondents consider the Ukrainian language to be their mother tongue. And they reported that they have already suffered and still suffer some type of prejudice for using the Ukrainian language. Religiosity was highlighted from learning to speak to maintaining the language today, which is why most religious practices still take place in the Ukrainian rite. New research in the area can support the development of strategies and possibilities for linguistic maintenance not only in Ukrainian, but also in other languages. Considering that Brazil displays a wealth of cultures, languages and traditions of immigrant peoples.