FREQUENCY OF USE OF CYRILLIC AND LATIN SCRIPTS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NOVI SAD

Abstract

The use of the Cyrillic and Latin scripts is a very common topic of discussion these days, usually accompanied by comments about the Cyrillic script being endangered and appeals to use it as much as possible. This paper represents an analysis of the responses from a survey conducted among students in Jovan Jovanović Zmaj grammar school in Novi Sad.

The survey consisted of 27 questions related to writing in a specific script. The initial hypothesis was that the Latin script is used more often than Cyrillic among young people, and the analysis of the responses was supposed to confirm or refute this hypothesis. The aim of the paper was to determine which scripts were preferred among young people from Novi Sad and on which occasion, what the main factors which influence their choice are and if there is any reason to be worried about the survival of the Cyrillic script. The research showed that the students of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj grammar school in Novi Sad use the Cyrillic script more often than Latin when writing by hand and that it is their personal choice, i.e. that the teachers rarely require them to write in a specific script. The students don’t think that the Latin script poses a threat for the existence of the Cyrillic script, but they are aware of the fact that the Cyrillic script is the one which needs to be nurtured.