Czas dojrzewania jako „okres krytyczny” w praktykowaniu języka odziedziczonego. Polski w Niemczech
Polish in Germany: Adolescence as a “Critical Period” in the Use of an Inherited Language

Summary/Abstract: The subject matter of Hanna Pułaczewska’s article is the impact of adolescence on the use of the Polish language by young people of Polish origin growing up from early childhood in the German city of Regensburg. She presents the results of a study conducted among 30 respondents aged 12–18, which consisted of interviews, surveys, and a language test. The results show how adolescence leads to a decrease in the Polish language’s participation in the lives of teenagers. Pułaczewska examines the difference between the younger and older age groups in the use of Polish language media and the use of Polish in direct contacts with peers in Germany, the relationship between these two aspects, and the impact of other social and linguistic factors on them. Both age and peer relations in Polish have been shown to influence the use of media in the same language. At the same time, peer interactions in Polish were more frequent if parents used it more often in communication with the child. The qualitative part of the study is devoted to the contexts of the use of Polish in a peer group and the motivation to use it. The results have been interpreted from the perspective of the theory of linguistic socialization, i.e., by taking into account developmental psychology’s findings on the period of adolescence. The relative decline in the role of the Polish language in media use in older adolescents has been interpreted as the result of the decreasing influence of parents and the increasing role of peers as role models in personal development during this period of life.

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