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Polish Britain: Multilingualism and Diaspora Community

Friday, 9 February 2018, 9:15am – 6:30pm

William Mong Hall, Sidney Sussex College, º£½ÇÉçÇø.

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A one-day international conference on the subject of multilingualism among Polish communitiesÌýin the United Kingdom and in broader contexts. The conference tookÌýplace as part of º£½ÇÉçÇøâ€™s ‘Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies’ () research project under the AHRC Open World Research Initiative.

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Polish is now the second most commonly spoken language, after English, in England and Wales. Over a million Poles live in the United Kingdom, and the vast majority of them are multilingual and live in multilingual environments. In this conference, we aim to present a broad view of multilingualism in a range of different contexts connected with Poles, Polish communities, and the Polish language in Britain. We will put a diverse set of different approaches into dialogue, including perspectives from applied and theoretical linguistics, psychology, literary studies, language teaching, education, and community activism.

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The conference connected the question of multilingualism with broader issues of migration and multicultural society. Papers examined multilingualism among Poles, but also the phenomena of non-Poles learning Polish and of multilingualism among Ukrainian migrants in Poland.

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The conference wasÌýconvened by Stanley Bill, Lecturer in Polish Studies at º£½ÇÉçÇø, and Edyta Nowosielska, Lector in Polish at º£½ÇÉçÇø.

Speakers included distinguished specialists from a wide variety of fields and institutional backgrounds:

Thomas Bak, University of Edinburgh

Jan Fellerer, University of Oxford

Elwira Grossman, University of Glasgow

Myroslava Keryk, Fundacja ‘Nasz Wybór’, Warsaw

Kinga Kozminska, Birkbeck, University of London

Jakub Krupa, Polish Press Agency, London

·¡±ôż²ú¾±±ð³Ù²¹ Kwiatkowska, Cardinal Stefan WyszyÅ„ski University in Warsaw

Anna Martowicz, Association for the Promotion of Polish Language Abroad

Yaron Matras, University of Manchester

Lisa-Maria Müller, º£½ÇÉçÇø

KrystynaÌýOlliffe, Polish Educational Society

Anna Seretny, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Anne White, University College London

Zofia Wodniecka, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Katarzyna Zechenter, University College London

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PROGRAMME

8:45am – 9:15am:Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýCoffee and Registration

9:15am – 9:30am:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý ÌýIntroduction: Stanley Bill and Edyta Nowosielska

9:30am – 11:00am: ÌýÌýÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Session 1 (Chair: Wendy Ayres-Bennett)

Elwira GrossmanÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýThe Art of Trans/languaging: Teaching and Learning Polish in Multilingual Settings.

Anna SeretnyÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýPolish as a heritage language - an ‘in between’ phenomenon.Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌý

Yaron MatrasÌý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýPolish in the context of Manchester's language diversity: Data accessibility, provisions, and public engagement.

11:00am – 11:30am:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýCoffee

11:30am – 1:00pm:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýSession 2 (Chair: Aleksandra GocÅ‚awska)

Thomas BakÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýCognitive effects of bilingualism: a new dimension in the old debate, whether to teach your language to your children.

Zofia WodnieckaÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýLanguage and neurocognitive processes in bilingual speakers of Polish – a psycholinguistic perspective. ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

Lisa-Maria MüllerÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýInvestigating typical English-Polish Bilingual Development and Developmental Language Disorder in a Longitudinal Twin Case Study. ÌýÌý

1:00pm – 2:00pm:Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýLunch Break

2:00pm – 3:30pm:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýSession 3 (Chair: Rory Finnin)

Katarzyna Zechenter Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýBilingualism in UK and US: A Comparison.Ìý

Myroslava KerykÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýLanguage practices of Ukrainian migrants in Poland. ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

·¡±ôż²ú¾±±ð³Ù²¹ KwiatkowskaÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ukrainians and Byelorussians in Poland - communication, social and professional contexts.Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

3:30pm – 4:00pm:Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýCoffee

4:00pm – 5:30pm:ÌýÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Session 4 (Chair: Edyta Nowosielska)

Kinga KozminskaÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌý New speaking styles?: demystifying homogeneity of Polish-speaking migrants.

Anna MartowiczÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýSelf-reflection on language and identity in children in Polish diaspora – some findings and their implications.

Jan FellererÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Language Mixing: Notes on ‘Ponglish’.

5:30pm – 6:30pm:Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Final Discussion (Chair: Stanley Bill):

Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Jakub Krupa, Krystyna Olliffe, Anne White.

6:30pm:Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýFinish and Wine Reception

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Ìýis a major interdisciplinary research project funded under theÌýAHRCÌýOpen World Research Initiative. Linguistic competence in more than one language –Ìýbeing multilingualÌý– sits at the heart of the study of modern languages and literatures, distinguishing it from cognate disciplines. Through six interlocking research strands we investigate how the insights gained from stepping outside a single language, culture and mode of thought are vital to individuals and societies.​

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