THE PHENOMENON OF MARIIA PENTYLIUK IN UKRAINIAN LINGUODIDACTICS: LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS AND THEIR SCHOLARLY INTERPRETATION

Abstract

Purpose. The study aims to identify, generalize, and provide a scholarly interpretation of unknown orlittle-known facts from the biography and professional activity of Mariia Pentyliuk, to clarify their role in herdevelopment as an educator and scholar and, on this basis, to reconsider her contribution to the developmentof Ukrainian linguodidactics. Methods. The study is based on a combination of biographical, historicalpedagogical,and source studies approaches. The empirical basis includes archival materials from KhersonState University (personnel file, official correspondence, and materials from departmental and university archives), which made it possible to clarify the chronology of her professional activity and specify herinvolvement in educational and scholarly processes; oral sources (interviews with Mariia Pentyliuk and hercontemporaries), treated as narrative testimonies with subsequent verification; as well as the researcher’spublished works and sources about her, used for contextualization. The analytical stage involved the thematicgrouping of the identified facts by main areas of activity. Results. The study establishes new biographicalfacts about Mariia Pentyliuk, revealing the early stage of her professional formation during the Soviet periodand highlighting her life and academic path in the context of contemporary wartime challenges. New archivalsources have entered scholarly circulation, including the researcher’s personnel file and interviews recordedafter February 24, 2022. The internal logic of the scholar’s professional development has been reconstructedas a unity of biographical experience, pedagogical practice, academic inquiry, and civic engagement.Conclusions. Mariia Pentyliuk is a key figure in the formation of modern Ukrainian linguodidactics, and herprofessional trajectory reflects the evolution of national language education in the second half of the 20thand early 21st centuries. The identified little-known facts significantly complement the established scholarlyimage of the researcher and demonstrate the decisive role of specific biographical circumstances in shaping heracademic concept. The results of the study emphasize the importance of pedagogical biography as a promisingarea for the development of pedagogical science.