QATAG‘ON QURBONLARI: TARIXIY XOTIRA, MILLIY O‘ZLIK VA MA’NAVIY MEROS
TEACHING HISTORICAL MEMORY THROUGH ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION: BRINGING THE STORIES OF REPRESSION VICTIMS INTO EFL CLASSROOMS IN UZBEKISTAN FOR CULTURAL IDENTITY AND CIVIC LEARNING
PhD, Associate Professor, Fergana State University, Uzbekistan
Annotatsiya
This paper looks at how English language teaching in Uzbekistan can help young people learn about historical memory and the victims of repression. It is a conceptual study. It brings together theory from social psychology on collective memory and social representations, a recent interview study on how Uzbekistan's Independence Generation reinterprets Soviet-era memories, and research on dynamic memory organisation in AI systems. The review shows three main things. First, memory is not fixed. It is rebuilt again and again inside social groups, and schools, museums, and textbooks shape it. Second, older Uzbeks mostly share positive and nostalgic stories about Soviet everyday life. Stories about political repression rarely reach young people through the family. Third, young people don't simply accept this nostalgia. They read it as a longing for lost youth, and this shows an early form of critical historical awareness. Based on these points, the paper argues that EFL classrooms can be a useful space for memory work. Reading, discussion, storytelling, and project tasks in English can support language skills, civic learning, national identity, critical thinking, and intercultural competence at the same time. The paper also discusses practical challenges, such as emotional sensitivity, limited materials, and the risk of one-sided narratives.
Kalit so'zlar: historical memory, repression victims, English language teaching, EFL, Uzbekistan, cultural identity, intergenerational memory, critical thinking.