Languages in the “Light Field” of Bilingual Consciousness (Based on the Metatexts of Shor-Russian Bilinguals in the RuTuBiC Oral Speech Corpus)

The article presents the results of the analysis of meta-linguistic reflexions of bilinguals; the direct sources of observations are the recordings of interviews and free conversations with Shor-Russian bilinguals. The research is based on the theoretical statements about the presence of a complex structure of language consciousness, in which the deep, controlling level and the surface level of metalanguage consciousness are distinguished (A.A. Leontiev and others), about the expression of metalanguage consciousness in the system of metatexts, in text fragments that objectify the introspection of native speakers (O. Blinova, A. Rostova, N. Golev, and others). A direct source of observations is recordings of spontaneous speech of Shor-Russian bilinguals presented in the database of the bimodal corpus of oral speech of Turkic-Russian bilinguals, made during expeditions of members of the Laboratory of Linguistic Anthropology of Tomsk State University in 2017-2019 in Sheregesh and Tashtagol, Kemerovo Oblast, and the adjacent villages. Recordings of conversations with 19 respondents were analyzed, the total volume of audios is more than 26 hours of sound. Our data confirm A.A. Zalewska’s statements that only a small part of language consciousness, providing for language proficiency and oral activity is deduced to the level of consciousness. The fact of bilingual existence determines the inclusion of not only the native language, its variability and normativity of separate units, but also various aspects of the inclusion of the native language in the broader unity of related languages and in the field of comparisons with the second, acquired, Russian language into the sphere of reflections. The lexicon, and phonetics with its reflection in the script are first to get involved in the “light field of consciousness” for Turkic-Russian bilinguals. In this case, there is a general tendency noted by almost all researchers of metalinguistic consciousness. The actualization of phonetic and graphic aspects of the native language in the metatexts of our respondents is determined by the specifics of the type of bilingual situation our respondents represented. They were a significant variation of phonetic systems of the main Shor dialects, the presence of differences in the alphabet of the Shor language built on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet with the introduction of additional elements. At the same time, our respondents’ awareness of grammar issues, including the general topic of comparing the systems of the native and the second Russian languages are practically nonexistent. Our materials confirm the researchers’ observations that meta-linguistic activity is determined by one’s internal, personal predisposition to language analysis. This disposition does not directly depend on the level of education, which affects rather the character of reasoning, which may bear traces of philological education, the practice of teaching the native language, but not the presence of a predisposition to this type of reflexive activity. However, in the presence of such disposition, the specificity of language experience has a significant influence on the character of reflexions.

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