Abstract:

Does English work as a lingua franca in the process of higher education of Ukrainian students after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022? This is the research question that the research presented in this paper is going to answer using the format of ´life story´. Nine university students aged 20 to 22 years from Ukraine who left for another country wrote their life stories. The life story is structured into three parts. In Part 1, the respondents described the process of learning English and/or other foreign languages since their early childhood. In Part 2, the ways, methods, and tools to organize the process of teaching after the invasion were described, if there were any. In Part 3, the process of current studies in a new country they settled at the time of data collection is described. The main objective of the study is to discover how the English language helped the respondents to continue their university studies, alternatively, if there was an impact of English knowledge in other fields of life. We expect that respondents will be willing to make effort, study, and work more than before the invasion to achieve their goals and graduate from university successfully. The research sample was formed by the snowball method, starting with a few participants of the Czech language course for the Ukrainians at the university; then; they contacted their friends in other places (countries) who joined and wrote their life stories. Data are presented according to the structure of the life story. The most interesting opinions are cited. As the respondents stated that they did not feel limited when expressing themselves in English, the life stories were written in English. The results show that the respondents expressed a high rate of flexibility, had enough motivation and will to organize (administer) the study in a new country and meet the requirements to pass the exams successfully. Since the very beginning of this process, they were aware of the importance of higher education; either they graduate from their home or new university, they were supported by the family and devoted time to the learning of a new, local language. English had the role of a lingua franca in this process.

Keywords:

English as a Lingua Franca, Ukraine, life story, Russian invasion, higher education, university.