Narodowo-kulturowa i językowa tożsamość uczniów polskich szkół na Ukrainie
The national, cultural, and linguistic identity of Polish school students in Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: This article seeks to explore the current language situation among the students of Polishlanguage schools in Ukraine (presently, there are five comprehensive schools with Polish as a language of instruction in Ukraine). Students are speakers of the regional versions of the Polish language which they speak at home, whereas at school they study the general Polish language. In addition, the young generation of the Poles living in Ukraine is multilingual. The sociolinguistic research demonstrates that three languages are important for Polish-language school students in everyday communication and society: Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. The young generation of Poles is tied to the Polish language. They have no negative attitude to the regional versions of the Polish language, but students are convinced that it can be used only in certain communicative situations (informal). Based on the results of the study, it can be argued that Polish youth in Ukraine identify themselves as a separate group. For them, the Polish language performs not so much a communicative function, but a manifesting one, the latter being the factor of identification. For this reason linguistic identity is perceived as a part of their ethnic/national identity. The Poles of Ukraine consider that their affiliation to the Catholic Church is an important element of their unity with the Polish people, as well as the observance and preservation of Polish folk and religious traditions.

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