Przełamywanie barier komunikacyjnych (na przykładzie wieloetnicznej i wielojęzycznej sytuacji społecznej Zaolzia)
Breaking Communication Barriers (on the Example of the Multiethnic and Multilingual Situation of the Society in the Zaolzie Region)

Summary/Abstract: The present paper describes the language situation in several parts of Cieszyn Silesia (the Zaolzie region) in the Czech Republic. The research is based on authentic language material from two music (art) schools in Český Těšín and Třinec. The Třinec school has the official status of a bilingual Czech-Polish educational institution. These two establishments share several common features: both students and teachers come from either majority Czech or minority ethnic Polish communities; Polish children study in both institutions, although a larger group of these "foreign" students attends the school in Český Těšín. The authors analyze not only the spoken language itself but also the competence and language awareness of the respondents. They have come to the conclusion that interactions between the users of two (different) languages can be successful regardless of the fact whether each participant uses their own native tongue or that of their interlocutor, although they speak this language only at a basic level.

• Details
• Contents