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The first step in acquiring a language is to extract information from the environment. The research conducted in this field mainly focuses on two aspects: the role of language input as a trigger for language acquisition processes and the corrective function of language. The paper discusses classroom language as one of the most important sources of language input in foreign language teaching, whereby special attention is given to the quality and quantity of language input provided by Polish teachers of German as a foreign language. After presenting an overview of relevant research findings, recommendations for the use of foreign language in classroom communication are given, with reference to the example of German as a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Info DaF: Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper critically analyses forms and structure of public discourse in Poland in the context of recent crises and uncertainty. By focusing on language, symbols and metaphors used by dominant media, the author draws attention to processes and trends emerging in contemporary cultural-political narratives in Poland in 2020-2022. The analysis invites for a broader and deeper study of strategies used by post-media delivering infotainment instead of objective information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings together two phenomena not commonly regarded as closely connected: linguistic patterns in ancient Biblical transmission, and Jewish-Christian relations as manifest in Polish-Israeli dynamics. After summarizing the nature of Jewish-Greek language in the Septuagint (LXX) and related texts, the discussion proceeds to an explanation of the "bifurcation of meaning" that arose between Jewish and Christian interpreters who read the same words. This exegetical and translational reality exerted a strong real-world effect on Jewish-Christian interaction throughout history. Medieval and modern Polish-Jewish and Polish-Israeli relations continue to bear the stamp of such ancient linguistic and theological reconfigurations. Today a renaissance of Jewish cultural life in Poland has energized Christians as well as Jews, opening up new possibilities for collaboration and mutual understanding. At the same time, political tensions related to conflicting versions of the past--particularly the Holocaust and its memory--have laid bare fundamental contradictions between and within Israeli and Polish self-perceptions. The paper argues that study of Biblical languages and early Judeo-Christian traditions is of great relevance for the current situation and for prospective future progress in fellow feeling and inter-national understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, starting from the methodological viewpoint of natural semantic metalanguage (NSM, see Wierzbicka 1996, 2013), we aim to describe how forms of address are used in Portuguese as a foreign language textbooks (European variety), investigate whether they comply with the real use of forms of address and with cultural norms of today's Portuguese society, and propose NSM explications of their pragmatic and lexical meaning that would facilitate their acquisition. Our corpus of data contains examples taken from the PFL textbooks used for teaching students in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the language choices among a sample of bilingual heterosexual couples in the less studied Polish context. Drawing on 24 in-depth interviews I examine the reasons for language choices in the couple, with the most engaging arguments being when the minority language is chosen. In the results section, I give the voice to the couples by inserting extracts from the interviews, illustrating the dyadic communication between the partners. The analysis is grounded in the sociolinguistic perspective bringing together linguistic and cultural aspects. Through these themes, I come to a more detailed account of communication scenarios conditioned by the L2 command of either of the partners. I report on the couples' language repertoires and the languages of their first contact that result from the individual trajectories of their L2 acquisition and impinge on the agreed language choices. My data suggest that bilingual couples do not, as it might otherwise be expected, always end up using the language of the surrounding society. The findings reveal a relative stability of linguistic choices, but also some deviations from once adopted communication patterns. The paper shows that language choice and proficiency are closely connected, but also that other factors come into play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forum Pedagogiczne / Pedagogical Forum is the property of Uniwersytet Kardynala Stefana Wyszynskiego w Warszawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Respectus Philologicus is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Certification of the command of Polish as a foreign language is a phenomenon with an international reach and groundbreaking significance for the promotion and enhancement of the prestige of the Polish language across the world. The certification system for the Polish language was created in 2004 and, in the face of new challenges, reformed in 2015. At present, it is the primary instrument of the migration policy of Poland, which gives rise to difficulties in its functioning. This paper is an attempt at a comprehensive description of the phenomenon of state certification examinations. It discusses the scientific and legal grounds for the examinations, amendments introduced over years to the legislation regulating certification and their consequences, as well as describes and diagnoses the existing situation concerned with certification of the command of Polish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the construction of race from the perspective of cognitive sociolinguistics. The focus is upon the perception of mixed-race people of black and white heritage in Poland and Germany compared to the USA, and its reflection in language use. The study clarifies in how far a socially marked perception of biracial people applies in these countries with very small population of black ancestry. Among other things, the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama is used to investigate the occurrence in both countries of mental colouring of biracial people. The paper also reflects the language debate on political correctness of the press language, sparked off by the presidential campaign and its media coverage. It presents claims and arguments by proponents of various solutions regarding referring to biracial people, and paradoxes showing up in the relationship between language use and ideological positions when the race issue is at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides evidence for the opening of Polish culture in the last four decades, focusing on incoming translation flows, i.e., the books translated from foreign languages to Polish. It answers the question of whether the circulation of cultural goods has followed the same pattern as the economy, i.e., a shift towards Western European influences. It shows, with quantitative data completed with qualitative data, that the Polish culture has opened up to Western culture but also to an increasingly global culture. The article explains the differences between both databases used for the research. The evidence further demonstrates that the sociology of translation influences the geography of translation flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To present the emergence and transformation of Polish glottodidactics, the authors refer to the earlier works of Miodunka and Gębal. The former divides the post-war history of teaching PAFL into three periods: 1) the period of applying linguistics to teaching PAFL (1950–1992), 2) the period of the development of Polish glottodidactics (1993–2003), and 3) the period of Polish glottodidactics based on European standards (2004– ). The paper ends with reflections on the emergence and evolution of comparative glottodidactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on a study designed to examine the relationship between the thickness of ego boundaries and attainments in FL pronunciation after a clearly structured form-focused practical course of phonetics. The research involved 45 first-year students of the Institute of English Studies in Wroclaw, Poland, who had attended around thirty 90-minute classes in phonetics. To measure the thickness of their ego boundaries, the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire (HBQ) was administered. This permitted an examination of which particular types of ego boundaries are related to accuracy in foreign language (FL) pronunciation. The basis for comparing the pronunciation levels of the participants was the Pronunciation Attainment Test consisting of three parts: reading a passage and two vocabulary lists. A t test demonstrated that the differences between the pronunciation levels of the thick and thin ego boundary learners were nonsignificant. However, further statistical analysis (Pearson correlation) showed a positive weak correlation between 3 types of boundaries (represented by Categories 7, 8 and 12 of the HBQ) and attainments in pronunciation. More specifically, the less organized the direct environment (e.g., the working place) of the subjects was and the more preference the participants showed for perceiving and accepting blurred borders between constructs, the better their pronunciation was. A closer look at particular students revealed the importance of boundaries between thoughts and feelings, and boundaries related to defensive mechanisms and to sensitivity in FL pronunciation learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Respectus Philologicus is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Medical Library Forum is the property of Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of electronic media has increased dramatically in the past decade due to the general increase in digitization of global societies. This trend has been recently enhanced by the COVID-19 occurrence and following forced implementation of various forms of eLearning into university curricula, including all forms of second language (L2) acquisition. The present study focuses on the evaluation of perceived advantages and disadvantages of online L2 acquisition via electronic media by university students of the Czech Republic (n = 114) and Poland (n = 121). The research methodology was an online questionnaire asking the users of digital media for L2 acquisition about their perceived advantages and disadvantages regarding the use of print and digital media and their potential impact on their L2 acquisition. To understand their evaluation is crucial as it could lead to increased motivation or demotivation to learn a foreign language. The results clearly show that the students realize the drawbacks of digital media and this could lead to their dissatisfaction and frustration when they have to use these media excessively. The implications of the findings could be helpful and necessary for various course designers, curricula makers, and course tutors as they are responsible for the smooth implementation of various digital tools into the educational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-war era, Poland has been viewed as a homogeneous country both culturally and linguistically. It has not, however, remained immune to the developments of globalization, which has also been reflected in the linguistic developments of the present century. In recent years, the Polish public space has been inundated with numerous foreign language names, signs, slogans, elements in advertisements and on billboards, with the English language largely in the foreground, and not infrequently competing against Polish in such spheres as services and the advertising even of Polish brands. The present discussion focuses on the results of a survey distributed among Polish respondents which, with the help of indirect and direct methods, asked them to evaluate products/services advertised in visual forms by means of English and other languages, and react to the visibility of these languages both on the Polish street and in the Polish lifestyle magazines. The objective of the study was to identify the attitudes with which English and other languages are viewed by Polish respondents when used in the Polish public space, and to also assess their position in comparison with Polish. The survey results demonstrate that despite a significant number of positive judgements which the respondents offered on the topic, negative views outnumbered the positive to a considerable degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the "10th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference" in Krakow, Poland from July 15 to 20, 2007. It says that twenty theme sessions dedicated to various aspects of the proposed theme of the organizers were held. Linguist Leonard Talmy discussed introspection as the main methodology used in cognitive linguistics while Chris Sinha talked about issues of language as a biocultural niche and social institution.

Learning a foreign language is more difficult for some students than others, and particularly speaking out loud in class may be a challenge. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of a systematic approach to facilitate mastery, motivation and a supportive language learning environment, to limit foreign language anxiety. An intervention was carried out in different language learning contexts, including English classes in Norway and Poland and Spanish classes in Norway. The research material collected consists of student logs, student evaluations and self-reported data from a validated questionnaire on foreign language anxiety. The findings show that many students reported becoming more motivated and comfortable in class and that the method helped them work with strategies to overcome problems. Selfreported questionnaire data suggest that in two of three contexts, the foreign language anxiety level of the students decreased significantly during the intervention period. It may be difficult to generalise based on the findings presented here as the sample from each context is limited, the data is self-reported, the intervention period was limited and there is no control group. To strengthen the study’s findings, triangulation of multiple data sources was used. To conclude, the five-step method presented in this study may be a useful strategy to facilitate developing motivation and creating a supportive learning environment in the language classroom. However, more longitudinal and extensive studies are needed to investigate the potential of the approach presented here further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive psychology has recently seen unprecedented rise and has reached vast achievements in the area of quality of life (QoL) improvement. The purpose of this study is to show that there are different aspects of well-being that make healthy older people motivated to learn a foreign language at a later age. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic and Poland in two groups of learners aged 55 years and more. The experimental group consisted of 105 Czech respondents who were targeted with an online questionnaire with the aim to determine the level of FLL outcomes connected to QoL in healthy older adults in their L2 acquisition. The second experimental group (n = 100) was established of Polish seniors who attended similar language courses. The findings of the research clearly show that FLL has an irreplaceable role as one of several non-pharmacological strategies utilized to improve the aging process and reduce drawbacks of aging. The results indicate that seniors' overall satisfaction and subjective feelings of well-being are enormously high when attending foreign language classes at older age. FLL, therefore, creates an environment that can enhance QoL of older adults that can be supplemented by other means such as well-balanced diet, other social activities, sport and physical activity, music, or computer games. All these intervention methods can significantly improve QoL of older adults and the parties engaged and/or responsible for taking care of older generation should take it into serious consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Info DaF: Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: The first aim of the study reported in this article was to test the factorial structure of job-related affect in a Polish sample. The second aim was to develop the Polish adaptation of the Warr's job-related affective well-being measure published in 1990, which is designed to assess 4 types of affect at work: anxiety, comfort, depression, enthusiasm.Material and Methods: A longitudinal study design with 2 measurement times was used for verifying the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the measure. The final sample consisted of 254 Polish employees from different professions. Participants were asked to fill in a set of questionnaires consisting of measures capturing job-related affective well-being, mood, and turnover intention.Results: The first step of analysis was to test the theoretically-based structure of the job-related affective well-being measure in a Polish sample. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a 4-factor model best describes the structure of the measure in comparison to 5 alternative models. Next, reliability of this measure was assessed. All scales achieved good internal consistency and acceptable test-retest reliability after 2 weeks. Finally, the convergent and discriminant validity as well as the criterion and predictive validity of all job-related affective well-being scales was confirmed, based on correlations between job-related affect and mood as well as turnover intention.Conclusions: The results suggest that the Polish adaptation of Warr's job-related affective well-being measure can be used by scientists as well as by practitioners who aim at assessing 4 types of affective well-being at a work context. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(4):429-443. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antony Polonsky has just completed a three-volume history The Jews in Poland and Russia Volume 1, 1350-1881; Volume 2, 1881-1914 (Oxford, 2010); Volume 3, 1914-2008 (Oxford, 2012). In 2011, the book was awarded the Kulczycki Prize of the American Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies for the best book in any discipline on any aspect of Polish affairs, and in 2012, it won the Pro historia Polonorum prize by the Senate of the Republic of Poland for the best book on Polish history in a foreign language published in the last five years. This article describes how the book came to be written, describing the influence of the author's youth in apartheid South Africa, his decision to study the history of twentieth century Poland and his involvement with the Solidarity Movement. As one of the organisers of the conferences in the 1980s and as principal editor of Polin: Studies in Polish-Jewry, he has been at the centre of the developments which have transformed our understanding of the Polish-Jewish past and Polish-Jewish relations. The article describes how he came to write his three-volume history and what he hoped to achieve in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses upon the names of streets within the city of Grodno (Belarus)--specifically, the author focuses upon the similarities and differences in the names of those streets that arose between 1937 and 1993, when the city underwent the change from pre-World War II Polish to contemporary Russian street names. The author's analysis reveals that many of the the city's street names reflected the geography and/or lay of the land (e.g., used the names of nearby towns, villages, or rivers, or derived from objects located along that street). The author finds that street names which had their roots/genesis in the name of a particular church or monastery, however, underwent change since 1937.

In this study, we focused on the formulation of relative clauses with preposition and genitive pied-piping. Thirty child (5;9 to 8;4) and 30 adult Polish speakers were given an elicited production task and a grammatically judgment task. Almost all of the children accepted preposition pied-piping, but only half of them produced it. We suggest that the difficulty for the sentence formulator has to do with properties of the structure. We also consider why the structure seems easier to produce in Polish than in some other languages and suggest that a second type of difficulty, which does not occur in Polish, stems from the use of the complementizer as a relative marker. The children did not correctly produce any relativized genitives and accepted them only around half of the time. We claim that case marking complicates the formulation of the genitive construction and that the marginal possibility of genitive stranding delays the acquisition of genitive pied-piping for reasons relating to economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]