On the Issue of the Social Functions of Foreign-Language Educational Inequality in Russian Schools

The purpose of the article is to substantiate, define and describe the social functions of a social phenomenon as foreign-language educational inequality. On the one hand, the objective orientation of the article is determined by the insufficient relevance of a widespread typical set of social functions of inequality in education in terms of the specific phenomenon research. On the other hand, the justification of the social functions of any social phenomenon is predetermined by the theoretical and methodological framework on which the researcher relies. At the same time, undeniably, understanding of the social functions role as external manifestations of the objects’ properties and their purpose in the entire social system functioning has always been and remains an urgent scientific task. The author used the AGIL paradigmatic functional scheme developed by T. Parsons as a methodological basis for determining the main social functions of foreign-language educational inequality. The article substantiates the usage of this methodological scheme for the observation of social functions, considered in compliance with the basic principles of structural and functional analysis. By implementing this methodological model and relying on the deductive logic of theoretical analysis, the main functions of foreign-language educational inequality in modern Russian society have been identified: selective, regulatory, stimulating and stratifying. The article describes and characterizes the revealed functions of the analyzed phenomenon. The conclusions are confirmed by numerous statistical data and analysis of the results of empirical sociological research. The explored functions verify the inference about the objective existence and functional assignment of the foreign-language educational inequality in modern Russian society. The implementation of these functions contributes to the preservation of the social stability of society and the reproduction of its social structure.