Mothers’ Perceptions of the Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Minority Language Maintenance in Their Bilingual Children (Speaking English and Polish) Living in the United Kingdom Cover Image

Postrzeganie przez matki roli pandemii COVID-19 w utrzymywaniu języka dziedziczonego u ich dwujęzycznych dzieci (mówiących po angielsku i po polsku) mieszkających w Wielkiej Brytanii
Mothers’ Perceptions of the Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Minority Language Maintenance in Their Bilingual Children (Speaking English and Polish) Living in the United Kingdom

Author(s): Natalia Banasik-Jemielniak, Aleksandra Lazar, Aleksandra Siemieniuk, Julia Kondratowicz, Olga Szczepankowska
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Education, Sociology, Family and social welfare, Sociology of Education
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: heritage language; bilingualism; language development during the pandemic; Polish language in the UK

Summary/Abstract: To answer the question of various forms that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected family language practices in HL families, we qualitatively analyzed 27 interviews with Polish mothers living in the UK and raising their children bilingually. We found that the world health crisis had both negative and positive impacts on each of the language acquired by the children, and we identified themes that recurred throughout the material. The factors included: limited possibilities of traveling – either to Poland or back to the UK, school closures resulting in shift in childcare constellations, new language and social practices.

  • Issue Year: 6/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 155-170
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English