IT IS IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MONGOLIAN LITERATURE BASED ON TECHNOLOGY
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On the occasion of the National Literacy Day, we spoke with Dr. T.Purevsuren, Ph.D.
-The National Mongolian Language and Writing Day is coming. What activities are planned for this day?
- First of allNews.mn Happy National Literacy Day to our readers. Mother tongue-related celebrations occur three times a year in Mongolia. One of them is the National Literacy Day, a national holiday. It is now in its 18th year that the first Sunday of May is celebrated as National Literacy Day by a presidential decree issued in 2003. As you know, this year there is a need to organize in a slightly different way than the previous anniversaries.
From the historical point of view, there were many events, such as the establishment of a central state administrative body in charge of cultural policy, and from the social point of view, the organization of the epidemic during the quarantine period. This event is organized online in cooperation with affiliated organizations and professional organizations and is celebrated under the motto “National Literacy-Mongolian Cultural Heritage”.
-How many scripts have Mongolians used in historical times?
-Our ancestors have used more than 10 scripts since their inception. Each period of literacy is associated with the establishment of a new state and the strengthening of its independence. From this, it is clear that literacy is a key link in many issues, such as a country's independence, inviolability, and national immunity. Therefore, the motto of this year's holiday is "National Literacy - Mongolian Cultural Heritage", with the aim of cultivating the idea of respecting the mother tongue and literature and culture, and promoting and disseminating literary and cultural monuments on May 2, 2021. It is being held on the 8th.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Academy of Sciences, the National Library, the Department of Culture and Arts, the Department of Culture and Arts of the capital city, nine districts, the Department of Education and Culture of 21 aimags, the National and Public Libraries, cultural organizations and all levels of educational institutions. pages and pages.
In addition to traditional activities such as awarding the “Book Trophy”, the program will include a presentation of cultural heritage, conservation training, an online discussion on the relics left by Prince Tsogt, and a history of Mongolian literacy to raise awareness of literacy. Every day a scientific-cognitive series is presented, with a simplified version of the study for each letter. All of this is to expand the knowledge of the mother tongue, historical and cultural heritage, create a positive atmosphere at home, participate in family events such as “Creative Writer” and “Electronic Poetry Reading” and spend time effectively and creatively. allows.
-We have set a goal to become a Mongolian writer in 2025. What is your policy on the development and dissemination of Mongolian script?
-In order to ensure the implementation of the Law on Mongolian Language, the National Program of Mongolian Script III and the action plan were approved. In general, the Law on the Mongolian Language and the National Program of the Mongolian Script include the tasks assigned to the Ministry of Culture. is tasked with providing.
Therefore, our main area of work is socially oriented, increasing and improving the level of basic education provided by educational institutions, providing equal access to language and literature education to every citizen and age group, and improving mother tongue education for all.
In particular, it is important to improve the knowledge of the mother tongue of all, to increase the number of Mongolians who are proud of their mother tongue and culture, and to instill in everyone a sense of respect and reverence for their mother tongue. In other words, it is primarily responsible for verifying the knowledge acquired by the educational institution and providing the necessary additional information. Because everyone has a different way of learning, everyone has a different level of mother tongue education. Therefore, we are talking about solving this problem of every citizen and improving their knowledge of the mother tongue. Since it is not possible to solve everyone's problems today, we are starting to look for ways to solve them in groups and by age.
As a new ministry, there is a lot to study, learn and do. We are trying to find a solution that is as error-free and efficient as possible. It is also important to enable the public to learn the Mongolian script using modern advanced technology. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to creating opportunities for learning Mongolian script based on TECHNOLOGY. On the other hand, most of the results of our work are in line with the goals of the program, so it will require a lot of money. In general, we have a policy to implement the work of 2021 “Learning to write in Mongolian using a dictionary”, 2022 “Learning to write electronic text in Mongolian”, and 2023-2024. As a result, the implementation of the law, which will take effect on January 1, 2025, will be ensured to a certain extent.
-Is the issue of conducting state affairs in Mongolian script fully implemented?
-In the framework of the program, it is stated that “Government organizations will start creating and experimenting with Cyrillic and Mongolian scripts starting from 2022”. Therefore, we are organizing a monthly campaign to learn Mongolian script and subscribing to the newspaper “Humun Bichig” to a certain extent. In April of this year, the National Council for Language Policy, in cooperation with the National Statistics Office, launched a nationwide survey to determine the level of knowledge of Mongolian script in civil servants.
As a professional, there is an expectation that the results of this study will be very clear. Tell your government officials to be actively involved in the research. It's a study, not an exam. Therefore, please complete your survey accurately and objectively.
-How widely do Mongolians use Mongolian script now? Is there any research on this?
-If the results of the above research are available, it can be said that a comprehensive study has been conducted. However, this is not a public-private survey. Depending on the goals and objectives of the research, there are other studies. To highlight a recent study, B.Bayartuya and Ts.Batdorj of the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences conducted a sample study of “Attitudes of members of the public towards Mongolian script”. 92.6 percent of students and 93 percent of staff surveyed said they did not use Mongolian script in their daily communication.
This shows that the Mongolian script is not necessarily used in public life. In other words, we do not need to use Mongolian script in our daily lives. The reality of today's society is that no one is interested in it when it is not needed and does not waste time. Therefore, the main incentive to create the need is the legal environment for the transition to dual script in 2025.
This is only a provision of the law, and in order to bring it down to real life, it is necessary to create an incentive in society and create demand. We plan to work with professional and other relevant organizations to find out what such incentives are, to provide policy support to public and private organizations that conduct Mongolian script training and research, and to create a legal environment that reflects this policy. working together.
-Due to the globalization of the world, a lot of foreign words are coming into the Mongolian language. What should be considered to improve the immunity of the Mongolian language?
-Mongolian is a very immune language. In other words, it has existed for so many years, and according to some researchers, it is possible that it is almost one of the cradles of human origin. In the case of Mongolia, language immunity is relatively good. This is because there are UNESCO criteria for determining whether a language's immunity is weakened or whether it is becoming extinct. There are many indicators.
According to them, the custodians of language immunity are the people who speak the language. On the other hand, local dialects are one of the factors influencing the protection of language immunity. Therefore, the Ministry's four-year strategic plan includes the creation of a unified “Database” to identify local dialects, literary relics, and children's vocabulary.
This year, as part of the above-mentioned work, we are paying more attention to the research to determine the “Mongolian children's vocabulary”. In particular, a vocabulary appropriate to the age and mental characteristics of children will be created, and a list of words that Mongolian school-age children will need to know will be compiled. In the future, there will be a series of stages for elementary, middle, and high school. This is to create a unified national resource for all activities for children, to create conditions for preschool teachers to educate children within the vocabulary, and to increase the wealth of children's vocabulary by explaining additional words that are not included. that is.
On the occasion of the National Literacy Day, we spoke with Dr. T.Purevsuren, Ph.D.
-The National Mongolian Language and Writing Day is coming. What activities are planned for this day?
- First of allNews.mn Happy National Literacy Day to our readers. Mother tongue-related celebrations occur three times a year in Mongolia. One of them is the National Literacy Day, a national holiday. It is now in its 18th year that the first Sunday of May is celebrated as National Literacy Day by a presidential decree issued in 2003. As you know, this year there is a need to organize in a slightly different way than the previous anniversaries.
From the historical point of view, there were many events, such as the establishment of a central state administrative body in charge of cultural policy, and from the social point of view, the organization of the epidemic during the quarantine period. This event is organized online in cooperation with affiliated organizations and professional organizations and is celebrated under the motto “National Literacy-Mongolian Cultural Heritage”.
-How many scripts have Mongolians used in historical times?
-Our ancestors have used more than 10 scripts since their inception. Each period of literacy is associated with the establishment of a new state and the strengthening of its independence. From this, it is clear that literacy is a key link in many issues, such as a country's independence, inviolability, and national immunity. Therefore, the motto of this year's holiday is "National Literacy - Mongolian Cultural Heritage", with the aim of cultivating the idea of respecting the mother tongue and literature and culture, and promoting and disseminating literary and cultural monuments on May 2, 2021. It is being held on the 8th.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Academy of Sciences, the National Library, the Department of Culture and Arts, the Department of Culture and Arts of the capital city, nine districts, the Department of Education and Culture of 21 aimags, the National and Public Libraries, cultural organizations and all levels of educational institutions. pages and pages.
In addition to traditional activities such as awarding the “Book Trophy”, the program will include a presentation of cultural heritage, conservation training, an online discussion on the relics left by Prince Tsogt, and a history of Mongolian literacy to raise awareness of literacy. Every day a scientific-cognitive series is presented, with a simplified version of the study for each letter. All of this is to expand the knowledge of the mother tongue, historical and cultural heritage, create a positive atmosphere at home, participate in family events such as “Creative Writer” and “Electronic Poetry Reading” and spend time effectively and creatively. allows.
-We have set a goal to become a Mongolian writer in 2025. What is your policy on the development and dissemination of Mongolian script?
-In order to ensure the implementation of the Law on Mongolian Language, the National Program of Mongolian Script III and the action plan were approved. In general, the Law on the Mongolian Language and the National Program of the Mongolian Script include the tasks assigned to the Ministry of Culture. is tasked with providing.
Therefore, our main area of work is socially oriented, increasing and improving the level of basic education provided by educational institutions, providing equal access to language and literature education to every citizen and age group, and improving mother tongue education for all.
In particular, it is important to improve the knowledge of the mother tongue of all, to increase the number of Mongolians who are proud of their mother tongue and culture, and to instill in everyone a sense of respect and reverence for their mother tongue. In other words, it is primarily responsible for verifying the knowledge acquired by the educational institution and providing the necessary additional information. Because everyone has a different way of learning, everyone has a different level of mother tongue education. Therefore, we are talking about solving this problem of every citizen and improving their knowledge of the mother tongue. Since it is not possible to solve everyone's problems today, we are starting to look for ways to solve them in groups and by age.
As a new ministry, there is a lot to study, learn and do. We are trying to find a solution that is as error-free and efficient as possible. It is also important to enable the public to learn the Mongolian script using modern advanced technology. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to creating opportunities for learning Mongolian script based on TECHNOLOGY. On the other hand, most of the results of our work are in line with the goals of the program, so it will require a lot of money. In general, we have a policy to implement the work of 2021 “Learning to write in Mongolian using a dictionary”, 2022 “Learning to write electronic text in Mongolian”, and 2023-2024. As a result, the implementation of the law, which will take effect on January 1, 2025, will be ensured to a certain extent.
-Is the issue of conducting state affairs in Mongolian script fully implemented?
-In the framework of the program, it is stated that “Government organizations will start creating and experimenting with Cyrillic and Mongolian scripts starting from 2022”. Therefore, we are organizing a monthly campaign to learn Mongolian script and subscribing to the newspaper “Humun Bichig” to a certain extent. In April of this year, the National Council for Language Policy, in cooperation with the National Statistics Office, launched a nationwide survey to determine the level of knowledge of Mongolian script in civil servants.
As a professional, there is an expectation that the results of this study will be very clear. Tell your government officials to be actively involved in the research. It's a study, not an exam. Therefore, please complete your survey accurately and objectively.
-How widely do Mongolians use Mongolian script now? Is there any research on this?
-If the results of the above research are available, it can be said that a comprehensive study has been conducted. However, this is not a public-private survey. Depending on the goals and objectives of the research, there are other studies. To highlight a recent study, B.Bayartuya and Ts.Batdorj of the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences conducted a sample study of “Attitudes of members of the public towards Mongolian script”. 92.6 percent of students and 93 percent of staff surveyed said they did not use Mongolian script in their daily communication.
This shows that the Mongolian script is not necessarily used in public life. In other words, we do not need to use Mongolian script in our daily lives. The reality of today's society is that no one is interested in it when it is not needed and does not waste time. Therefore, the main incentive to create the need is the legal environment for the transition to dual script in 2025.
This is only a provision of the law, and in order to bring it down to real life, it is necessary to create an incentive in society and create demand. We plan to work with professional and other relevant organizations to find out what such incentives are, to provide policy support to public and private organizations that conduct Mongolian script training and research, and to create a legal environment that reflects this policy. working together.
-Due to the globalization of the world, a lot of foreign words are coming into the Mongolian language. What should be considered to improve the immunity of the Mongolian language?
-Mongolian is a very immune language. In other words, it has existed for so many years, and according to some researchers, it is possible that it is almost one of the cradles of human origin. In the case of Mongolia, language immunity is relatively good. This is because there are UNESCO criteria for determining whether a language's immunity is weakened or whether it is becoming extinct. There are many indicators.
According to them, the custodians of language immunity are the people who speak the language. On the other hand, local dialects are one of the factors influencing the protection of language immunity. Therefore, the Ministry's four-year strategic plan includes the creation of a unified “Database” to identify local dialects, literary relics, and children's vocabulary.
This year, as part of the above-mentioned work, we are paying more attention to the research to determine the “Mongolian children's vocabulary”. In particular, a vocabulary appropriate to the age and mental characteristics of children will be created, and a list of words that Mongolian school-age children will need to know will be compiled. In the future, there will be a series of stages for elementary, middle, and high school. This is to create a unified national resource for all activities for children, to create conditions for preschool teachers to educate children within the vocabulary, and to increase the wealth of children's vocabulary by explaining additional words that are not included. that is.