This book provides a linguistic and cultural profile of the Polish diasporic communities in three different European countries: Ireland, France and Austria. The eight contributing chapters present original research on the acquisition and use of the languages of the respective host communities and also explore related elements of cultural acquisition. A number of aspects of second language acquisition are considered, notably the acquisition of phonology, lexicon and discourse, as well as aspects of sociolinguistic competence. In addition, varying approaches and research methods are reported on, each of which was chosen in consideration of the particular research issue addressed and the particular circumstances under which the research was carried out. These range from psycholinguistic approaches to second language acquisition to variationist approaches, and include both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
David Singleton is Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, Professor Emeritus, University of Pannonia, Hungary and Professor, University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland. He is the author of numerous monographs and textbooks, including Key Topics in Second Language Acquisition (2014, with Vivian Cook, Multilingual Matters) and Beyond Age Effects in Instructional L2 Learning (2017, with Simone Pfenninger, Multilingual Matters).
Vera Regan is Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics at University College Dublin. She is Chevalier de l’ordre des Palmes Académiques and has served as President of the European Second Language Association, President of the Association for French Language Association, and President of the Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland.
Ewelina Debaene holds a PhD in English Applied Linguistics from Warsaw University (2005). She has worked as a Lecturer in Polish Language and Culture at Trinity College Dublin and is currently delivering a series of lectures at Marii Curie-Skłodowska University and the Medical University of Lublin.