The Vocabulary Skills of Ukrainian Pre-schoolers in Poland
The Vocabulary Skills of Ukrainian Pre-schoolers in Poland

Summary/Abstract: This article presents an interim report on a study conducted in Krakow to investigate the bi- lingual/multilingual development of Ukrainian children in the context of forced migration. This project has been supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange under the NAWA Urgency Grants and aims to assess language competence in Ukrainian and Polish among 4- and 5-year-old children who have migrated from Ukraine to Poland due to Russia’s armed aggression starting 24 February 2022. In this article, the authors present the results of a vocab- ulary test conducted with 100 children in 2022. The authors highlight the methodology of the vocabulary tests conducted with bilingual preschool children, which shed light on the complexity of learning Polish in the context of forced migration. The results showed that the majority of Ukrainian pre-schoolers had limited knowledge of spoken Polish. On the other hand, the analysis revealed a considerable ability to understand Ukrainian words but a lower mastery of their use, possibly due to the primary use of Russian as a mother tongue. The study contributes to the understanding of bilingual/multilingual development under conditions of forced migration and offers valuable insights into the linguistic competences of Ukrainian preschool children, especially in Ukrainian and Polish. These findings can inform educational strategies and facilitate the integ- ration of migrant children into the host society. Further research is needed to investigate long-term language development and its impact on the well-being and academic performance of Ukrainian children affected by forced migration to Poland.

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