World Englishes, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 242262, 2014.

0883-2919

English in contemporary Poland

ALEKSANDRA KASZTALSKA

ABSTRACT: Because of its association with the West, English became a symbol of modernization and
freedom during Polands communist chapter. Since 1989, English has achieved an even higher status, as the
language of international business, research, and media. Today, Polish advertisements are filled with English
loan words, English-language movies reign in theaters, and most young people study English in school. As
relatively little research has examined the impact of English on contemporary Poland, this paper is an effort
to begin filling this gap. I start by offering a concise history of Poland and Polish, as well as a history of
English in Poland. I then provide examples of changes in Polish that are likely motivated by Poles use of
English. In the following sections, I outline the rise to fame of English in Polish classrooms, advertisements,
and media. From this review emerges a somewhat incongruous image of English, as both an economic
asset and a corrupting agent on the Polish language and culture. To illustrate these dichotomous attitudes,
the subsequent section reports on the findings of my preliminary, Internet-based study of contemporary
Polish discourses about English. I end the paper by identifying some unanswered questions and suggesting
directions for further research.

INTRODUCTION
With an estimated 11 million speakers of English as a second or additional language
(Eurobarometer 2006), Poland has become a major English language hub in Europe. After
centuries of partitions, invasions, and political oppressions, in 1990 Polands doors opened
to the world and to the English language in particular. Due to its association with the West,
in the mid to late 20th century, English became a symbol of resistance against the Soviet
administration and of educational achievement and employability (Strefa Dobrej Pracy,
as cited in Sliwa 2010: 695). Rather than lose its momentum, Polish fascination with the
English language and with cultures of English-speaking countries grew stronger after the
fall of communism and as a result of the influx of English-language music, movies, and
new media. Poles desire to speak English has created a new need for English teachers,
teaching programs, private tutors, and immersion camps. Today, 89 per cent of the total
student population in Poland is learning English in school, with English fast becoming
the most widely spoken foreign language in the country (Reichelt 2005; Gowny Urzad
Statystyczny 2012).
The increasing influence of English is visible in many domains of public and private life
in contemporary Poland, from education to business discourse. However, surprisingly few
researchers to date have examined the role of English in contemporary Polish society, with
the notable exception of scholars like Chopicki (2005) and Reichelt (2005). Reichelts
report offers an insightful socio-historical overview of the status and functions of English
in Poland throughout the 20h century. Her article also briefly outlines English teaching

Purdue University, Linguistics Program, Beering Hall Room 1289, 100 North University, St., West Lafayette, IN,
47907, USA. E-mail: akasztal@purdue.edu


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 English in contemporary Poland 243

practices and attitudes toward English in the early 2000s. Nonetheless, despite these
efforts, a detailed portrait of Polands current sociolinguistic landscapenot to mention,
an empirical study of Polish discourses surrounding Englishhas been lacking.
This paper constitutes an effort to generate a more comprehensive and more up-to-
date sociolinguistic survey of English in Poland. A key argument underlying the present
analysis, and the focus of the first two sections, is that Polands history of partitions and
military occupations has significantly shaped contemporary Poles attitudes toward their
own language(s) and toward other languages. Moreover, these attitudes may help explain
the changes that Polish is undergoing as a result of Poles contact with English. I also
review previous research on the use and functions of English in the Polish educational
system, in advertisements, and in business as well as media discourses. A thorough ex-
amination of Polish discourses, I argue, reveals a kind of cognitive dissonance among
many Poles: Although English is almost unanimously regarded as an economic asset, it
is also blamed for (negatively) changing Polish linguistic and social norms. To further
examine these attitudes, I analyze a limited sample of Internet discourses about English,
focusing on user comments accompanying a set of online news articles. Having sum-
marized my findings, I discuss a few unresolved issues that are beyond the scope of
this paper but need to be addressed by scholars, and I offer some directions for further
research.

THE HISTORY OF POLAND AND THE POLISH LANGUAGE

The Republic of Poland is a Baltic state that shares its western border with Germany,
southern border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and to the east is bordered by
Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave. With a total area of
almost 120,000 square miles, Poland is home to 38.5 million people. The countrys history is
long and turbulent: In 966, King Mieszko I converted to Christianity, and this dateknown
as the Baptism of Polandis generally regarded as the conception of a unified Poland.
For many centuries, Poland wielded significant influence over its neighbors, especially
during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, beginning in 1569. Between 1772 and 1792,
however, the country underwent a series of partitions. With the lands divided between
Prussia, Russia, and Austria, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for over a century.
It was not until the end of the First World War, that Poland regained its independence, only
to be invaded by Nazi Germany in 1939. After the Second World War, Poland remained
under Russian influence, becoming a de facto satellite state of the Soviet Union, under the
name of the Peoples Republic of Poland. In 1989, the independent trade union Solidarnosc
triumphed during the first free elections, and a year later the union candidate, Lech
Waesa,
won the Presidential seat. In the 1990s, the Third Polish Republic underwent a
series of drastic economic and civil reforms, joining the NATO in 1999, and in 2004
becoming a member of the newly expanded European Union (Central Intelligence Agency
2012).
Throughout its history, Polish borders were frequently redrawn, with much of Polands
eastern territories lost to the Soviet Union after the Second World War. At the same time,
Poland gained some German territories to the west. These territorial shifts led to many
forced migrations and contributed to the current ethnic make-up of the border regions. In
the 2011 census, over 96 per cent of the population claimed to be of Polish nationality,
with fewer than 2 per cent of respondents declaring another ancestry, such as Silesian or

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244 Aleksandra Kasztalska

Kashubian.1 and fewer than 1 per cent declaring non-Polish citizenship (Gowny Urzad
Statystyczny 2012). In terms of religion, Polish society is predominantly Roman Catholic
over 88 per cent of the population identified as such in 2007and the largest religious
minorities constitute the Eastern Orthodox and several Protestant denominations (Gowny
Urzad Statystyczny 2009; Central Intelligence Agency 2012).
Poland is home to some 38 million native speakers of Polish, the official language of
the land. Of the remaining 7 million native Polish speakers worldwide, many reside in
Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, as well as Germany, France, the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Canada (certyfikatpolski n.d.). Polish is a West Slavic language descended
from Proto-Slavic. With Polands Baptism in 966, Old Polish (jezyk staropolski) began
undergoing changes as a result of its increasing contact with Latin, the language of the
Roman Catholic Church and Europes lingua franca (Pogonowski n.d.). In addition to
borrowing words from Latin, in the 12th century Polish adopted the Latin alphabet, though
with time a series of diacritics was added to represent a wider range of sounds, including
the ogonek (little tail, e.g. e),
the kropka (dot, e.g. z), and the kreska (stroke, e.g. c, )
(Pimsleur n.d.). Besides Latin, Czech and German also contributed to the Polish lexicon
(cf. the Czech-originating brama gate).
The establishment of constitutional monarchy between 13701493 saw efforts to stan-
dardize Polish, with Jakub Parkoszowic of the Krakow Academy composing the first study
of the Polish orthography around 1440 (Pimsleur n.d.). The Renaissance also saw the flour-
ishing of Polish literature and the printing of dictionaries as well as grammar books written
in and about Polish. The ongoing standardization encouraged the use of Polish in contexts
that were once the sole domain of Latin, including religion (the Holy Cross Sermons, or
Kazania Swietokrzyskie,
being the oldest existing prose text written in Polish) and law
(with the first Digest of Polish Law printed in 1488). As Pogonowski (n.d.) further claims,
during this time Polish became the language of diplomacy and a language of elegance and
civility in east central Europe.
With Polands transformation into a constitutional monarchy and with the establishment
of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish continued to undergo standardization,
all the while borrowing words from other languages, like pomidor tomato from Italian
(thanks to King Sigismunds Italian wife) and dywan carpet from Turkish (due to the
Polish-Ottoman War and Polish-Turkish trade) (Pimsleur n.d.). The partitions at the end
of the 18th century also affected the Polish language, though German had a much greater
influence on the language spoken in the western parts of the country than Russian had
in the east (Pimsleur n.d.). Moreover, the growing power yielded by Napoleon during the
Enlightenment led to a number of French borrowings into Polish, such as meble furniture
and walizka suitcase. This increasingly diverse Polish lexicon was described by Samuel
Bogumi Linde, who between 1807 and 1814 published a six-volume Dictionary of the
Polish Language (Sownik jezyka polskiego) (Pogonowski n.d.).
The partitions and the subsequent Nazi and Soviet regimes have likely contributed to
the current dialectal landscape of Poland, with Silesian spoken in the formerly Austrian
southwest, Greater Polish in the west (formerly Prussian), Mazovian in central and east-
ern Poland (annexed by Russia) and Lesser Polish in the Austrian and Russian-annexed
south and southwest (Pimsleur n.d.). Today, the Polish variety regarded as the standard
reflects features of the Mazovian dialect and of dialects used in Greater and Lesser Poland
(certyfikatpolski n.d.). Moreover, the 2005 Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and


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 English in contemporary Poland 245

on Regional Language recognized the Kashubian language, spoken in the northwest, as

Polands only regional language (US English Foundation Research n.d.). Major immigrant
languages include Czech, Eastern Yiddish, Greek, Lithuanian, Russian, and Slovak (Lewis
2009).
As a result of numerous invasions that continuously threatened the survival of Polish
identity and culture, the Polish language has become synonymous with nationality, and
loyalty to the language is often considered a patriotic duty (Chopicki 2005: 108; see
also Sliwa 2010). Despiteor because ofthe suppression of Polish during occupations,
the 1800s and the 1900s saw the emergence of some of Polands most prominent artists,
poets, and scientists, many of whom lived in exile to escape political repercussions from
local governments. Thus, a 2005 public opinion poll found that about 35 per cent of Poles
regarded Polish as a national treasure that unites them and that must be protected and
respected, while almost a fifth of the respondents associated speaking correct Polish
with being cultured. Respondents also identified the use of vulgarisms as the worst
trend in contemporary Polish, with foreign loans taking second place, followed by lin-
guistic sloppiness, poor vocabulary, and the overuse of smart or intellectual words2
(Rada Jezyka
Polskiego n.d).
In order to protect the Polish language from these and other corruptions, the Polish
Parliament introduced the Polish Language Act on October 7, 1999. Put into effect in 2000,
the Act recognizes the Polish language as a fundamental element of national identity and
of national culture (Ustawa o jezyku
polskim 1999). The Acts provisions apply to the use
of Polish in public domains of life, dictating that the Polish language must be used in all
administrative and legal proceedings within the countrys borders, and that international
transactions are to be accompanied by Polish translations. The Act also identifies Polish as
the language of education and examinations in public and non-public schools, exempting
universities, bilingual schools, and the foreign-language press; science, art, and business
discourses are similarly excluded. Additionally, the Act establishes the Polish Language
Council (Rada Jezyka
Polskiego), whose 36 members are tasked with promoting the
knowledge of standardized Polish and of regional dialects, evaluating language use in
society, making decisions regarding orthographic conventions, and publishing regular
reports on the state of Polish. The Council also presides over the publication of the
Dictionary of proper Polish (Sownik poprawnej polszczyzny) and constitutes the main
advisory body on the use of Polish in business, media, technology, and even in naming
children.

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH IN POLAND

Because of the relatively low prestige of Polish in the world, knowledge of foreign lan-
guages has long been associated with high socioeconomic status and educational achieve-
ment in Poland. For centuries, Latin and French dominated foreign language teaching,
with English entering the scene after the 1706 signing of a trade treaty between Poland
and England (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002). Nonetheless, the first English language handbook
was not published until the late 18th century (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002; Reichelt 2005).
After the partitions, many Poles left the occupied territories, and as early as the 1830s the
United States enticed large numbers of Polish expatriates with the promise of freedom,
opportunity, and employment. Eventually, English replaced French as the main foreign
language of Polish aristocracy, and the first English language and literature program was

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246 Aleksandra Kasztalska

established in 1908 in Krakow (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002). As Polish-US relations grew

between the two World Wars, English continued to be studied by growing numbers of
Poles.
The teaching of English and of most other languages came to a halt in Polish schools
in 1948, when Russian became the only foreign language in primary schools and the
only required foreign language in secondary schools (Reichelt 2005: 217). The sanctions
against English weakened in 1956, although Russian remained the only compulsory foreign
language until the 1960s, when secondary and higher-level schools added a compulsory
Western language to the curriculum (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002; Reichelt 2005). English
was initially popular among good families and for a while was studied for snobbish
rather than practical reasons (Ehrenhalt, as cited in Reichelt 2005: 219).
Even though access to native speakers and authentic teaching materials was limited
under the communist regime, interest in English grew in the latter decades of the 20th
century, especially among the younger generation. Growing numbers of Polish students
were now taking up English in schools, while English language professionals benefited
from the newly established English for Specific Purposes courses. English terms were
also being popularized in the discourses of young Poles. According to the British Council
(1986), English was the most important Western language in Poland in the late 1980s
(Reichelt 2005: 221), with British English generally serving as the target variety (Muchisky
1985). Finally, after 1989, Russian was abolished as a required foreign language, and the
English teaching industry experienced an unprecedented boom: English was introduced
in primary schools and taught at newly-established private institutions as well as teacher
training colleges (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002).
Despite continuing teacher shortages and often adversarial relationships (Muchisky
1985: 10) between students and teachers of English during the Soviet era, English man-
aged to become the most studied foreign language in Poland. The language derived
its social prestige from the association that many Poles made between English and
the West. As noted by Muchisky (1985) and Reichelt (2005), English was studied for
reasons that were both instrumental and integrative. On the one hand, the knowledge
of English allowed Poles to seek prestigious (if low-paying) jobs at English language
departments in Poland, publish in foreign journals, and collaborate with profession-
als from abroad. Moreover, a Western language like English, adds Krajewska (1995:
48), fit the needs of young Poles, who began to attach greater importance to mate-
rial values, which could be better satisfied by going to the West. As this (idealized)
English-speaking West became virtually synonymous with modernization and innova-
tion, it has come to be regarded as the reference point and a source of social, eco-
nomic, and linguistic standards, which non-Western countries are expected to follow
(Krzyzanowski & Wodak 2009). English has also been regarded as the vehicle of Western
popular culture andas opposed to Russian, closely associated with the hated communist
administrationit has allowed Poles to show their solidarity with the modern and free
world.
A 2006 publication of the Eurobarometer, Europeans and Their Languages, further
attests to the increasing prestige of English in Poland. When asked: Which two languages,
apart from your mother tongue, do you think are the most useful to know for your personal
development and career? the vast majority of Polish respondents (72%) chose English.
The second most popular language, German, trailed behind at 46 per cent, with Russian
taking a distant third spot at 9 per cent. French, Spanish, and Italian were each identified

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 English in contemporary Poland 247

as most useful by 5 per cent or fewer Poles. Moreover, 90 per cent of respondents chose
English as the foreign language that their children should learn, with German selected
by 69 per cent of respondents. It is worth noting, however, that compared with other
Europeans, Poles seem to attach less importance to foreign languages: 79 per cent of Poles
consider knowing other languages as useful to them on a personal level, which places
Poland at twenty-third place and far behind countries like Sweden (99%) or Cyprus (98%)
(Eurobarometer 2006). The 2006 report also found that 29 per cent of Poles believed
they spoke English well enough to be able to have a conversation; similar proficiency in
Russian was declared by 26 per cent of respondents and in German by 19 per cent. Although
English is not a compulsory subject in schools, the number of English speakers in Poland
doubled between 1997 and 2006, suggesting that interest in the language is far from waning
(Sliwa 2010). Most likely, positive attitudes toward English speakers are further reinforcing
attitudes toward the language. Furthermore, according to a public opinion survey, 76
per cent of Polish respondents expressed eagerness to visit Great Britain (Kaduczka
2011).

THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH ON POLISH

According to Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002) and Zabawa (2008), English has left the greatest
imprint on Polish in the area of vocabulary and has mainly influenced standardized Polish.
The earliest English lexical borrowings into Polish (e.g. cutter, yacht, rum) can be traced
back to the 1700s (Chopicki 2005). In fact, Lindes Dictionary of the Polish Language
contained fourteen clearly English loans, such as flanela flannel, galon gallon, and
pancz punch (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002). The borrowing of English lexis persisted during
subsequent centuries and intensified with the strengthening of relations between Poland
and English-speaking countries, especially Great Britain and the United States. Although
the use of English-origin words in Polish was rare in the early 1900s, Manczak-Wohlfelds
1985 dictionary listed some 1,600 borrowings. As of 2002, 2,000 of loans in Polish were
of English origin, but only about 400 of them were used regularly by Poles (Chopicki
2005). In fact, Serejska Olszer argued in 2001 that the total number of common English
borrowings remains relatively low and that the impression created of their importance is
due to their frequency of use [italics added], especially in the media (as cited in Chopicki
2005: 110). Moreover, Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002: 215) claims that the frequency of (all)
foreign loans in Polish varies by text type: while borrowings may consist as much as 50 per
cent of lexical items in journalism, in other contexts there are three Polish lexical items
for each loanword.
As Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002) further explains, English loans may be used and perceived
differently, depending on when they entered the Polish language. Older loans have adapted
to the Polish spelling and pronunciation and are indistinguishable from native Polish
words, while recent loans have a more varied pronunciation and spelling. For example,
the author lists four possible spellings of business woman: businesswoman, business
woman, busineswoman, and bizneswoman. Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002) also delineates the
specific phonological changes that occur when words are borrowed from English into
Polish, concluding that English vowel phonemes tend to be simplified (e.g. /ej/ > //)
and consonant phonemes are made more complex (e.g. // > /k/) by Polish speakers.
In terms of spelling, of the 1,700 Anglicisms examined by Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002),
550 preserved the English spelling and the spelling of the rest either varied or reflected

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some common changes, such as the replacement of ch with cz (e.g. czartyzm) and the
reduction of double consonants (with offside becoming ofsajd and bootlegger spelled
as butleger). At the same time that English words are undergoing changes to conform to
the Polish spelling rules, some Polish words are also spelled to resemble English (often
through homophony), as when qmpel replaces kumpel (buddy) in Internet blogs (Zabawa
2008).
To adapt to the Polish morphological system, nouns borrowed from English are assigned
gender and number (though some are treated as uncountable) and most of them decline,
which according to Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002: 223) shows that English borrowings are
relatively easily integrated into Polish grammar. Similarly, most verbs are inflected when
they enter Polish. Adjectival loans seem to be inflected much less frequently, while adverbs
and interjections tend to be unassimilated in all but pronunciation. Derivationally, Manczak-
Wohlfeld (2002) found that the vast majority of English loans in her data sample are treated
as morphemically simple, though they can take on common Polish affixes, for example the
diminutive ik in koksik (originally from coke), or the perfective wy- on wytrenowac to
train. English-originating compounds and calques are infrequent, with some of the most
common calques including pranie mozgu brain washing and drapacz chmur skyscraper.
Finally, in terms of meaning, Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002) cites her.. own 1992 study, in which
more than half of loans retained their original meaning (e.g. dzinsy jeans), 15 per cent
changed their meaning in some way, 13 per cent changed their meaning completely (e.g.
the English term dress becoming dres tracksuit), 9 per cent transferred some of the
original English senses but not others, and the rest of loans underwent other semantic
shifts.
In her examination of prior research on this topic, Sztencel (2009) gives more examples
of semantic changes that English loans undergo when introduced into Polishsuch as
the semantic narrowing of drink to denote an alcoholic beverageand of changes that
English has on already-existing Polish lexemes. Thus, under the presumed influence of
English, the adjective wyrafinowany sophisticated, which once denoted artistic taste,
has undergone semantic extension and can now refer to good quality and complexity.
Another case of semantic extension is found in the noun przyjaciel friend, which seems
to have developed a more neutral meaning, in addition to denoting a very close friend.
Citing Otwinowska-Kasztelanic, Sztencel (2009) also discusses the influence of English
on expressions of Polish approval and agreement, including absolutnie, which once used to
mean completely but now also functions as an exclamation of approval (cf. absolutely!),
and dokadnie, which used to mean carefully but can now stand for exactly. As Chopicki
(2005) adds, dokadnie has practically replaced its predecessor wasciwie. Finally, Zabawa
(2008) provides some examples of semantic restriction or narrowing that are likely the
result of English influence, like the verb molestowac: The words original meaning of
nagging someone seems to have been restricted to sexual contexts (cf. the English verb
to molest).
In addition to the abovementioned changes, the English language has also influenced
Polish syntax. Sztencel (2009) again provides a detailed overview of previous litera-
ture on the topic, identifying three types of grammatical influence. The first is the
increasing tendency for adjectives to pre-modify, rather than post-modify nouns, even
though in certain constructions the adjective has typically followed the noun. This re-
sults in phrases like wirtualna rzeczywistosc, which reflects the word order of the English
term virtual reality; similarly, Zabawa (2008) gives the example of komediowy serial

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comedy series, instead of serial komediowy. Another example of English grammatical

influence is the attributive placement of nouns, which used to be restricted to poetry
(Otwinocka-Kasztelanic, as cited in Sztencel 2009) and which can now be found in other
contexts, as illustrated by biznesplan business plan replacing plan biznesowy. Further-
more, Sztencel (2009) describes the novel use of the adverb generalnie generally as
a discourse marker. The author points out that this particular use of generalnie may
be an innovation in the sense that typically the sentence adverbial function is repre-
sented in Polish by phrases (Sztencel 2009: 8), such as ogolnie rzecz biorac generally
speaking.
Among other syntactic changes that Polish seems to have undergone or to be under-
going as a result of its contact with English are prepositional calques, as in the con-
struction jestesmy zainteresowani w czyms (we are interested in something), which
in standardized Polish would be rendered without the preposition w (in) (Markowski
n.d.). Another change can be found in the use of possessive pronouns. As Sztencel
(2009) explains, Polish contains two pronouns that can be translated into English as
your: twoj and swoj, both of which have gender, number, and case variants. The lat-
ter is typically used when the subject of the sentence refers to the owner of the ob-
ject being possessed (even if the subject is elliptical) as in (You) do your homework!
(Sztencel 2009: 9). However, in some advertising slogans swoj is being replaced by twoj
most likely as a result of the more ubiquitous English youand has resulted in sen-
tences like Kup twoj bank or Buy your bank (Manczak-Wohlfeld, as cited in Sztencel
2009).
Moreover, some new Polish collocations seem to have been coined in a way that reflects
the constituents placement in English, for example, pielegnacja
samochodu car mainte-
nance (lit. car nursing) (Chopicki 2005: 115). Chopicki (2005: 113) asserts that under
the influence of English Poles can not only express new concepts but also expand their
expressive vocabulary, as illustrated by the borrowing of English emotive words (e.g. wow,
hi, sorry) and even the use of more formal phrases in informal discourses, as when the
informal phone conversation opener mowi speaking is replaced with z tej strony at this
end. Pragmatically, English also appears to have increased the frequency of thanking as a
response to a compliment and to have contributed to the replacement of the formal pronouns
Pan, Pani, etc. with the informal pronoun ty (Zabawa 2008; also cf. the subsection English
in Business Discourse). Zabawa (2008) further notes changes in standardized Polish punc-
tuation, for example when the Polish quotation marks ,, are replaced with the English-
derived or when the comma traditionally used in decimal fractions is changed to a
period.
Wieluniecka (2010: 271) explains that Anglicisms help describe the new, fast-changing
reality, the new phenomena, products, and technologies, but at the same time these loans
can become purely persuasive and can be used to fashion the world constructed in ad-
vertisements. Chopicki (2005) extends the domain of English influence to the discourse
of electronics, cosmetics, economy, trade, and tourism. In addition to these technical do-
mains, Anglicisms have entered colloquial Polish registers (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002), and
the relative status of a loan can vary across registers and contexts. As notes Dr. Andrzej
Markowski, the word coolpopular among Polish teenagersmay be frowned upon when
used among a more educated crowd (as cited in Staszewski 2007). The data discussed in
this section therefore suggest that English has a significant impact on many domains and
features of the Polish language.

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DOMAINS OF ENGLISH USE

English in the classroom
After Poland opened politically, economically, and culturally to the West, the Russian
languageonce a compulsory subject in schoolsbecame virtually obsolete. As a result
of this change, many of the 18,000 Russian teachers in Poland faced unemployment: By
the 20022003 academic year, their numbers fell below 7,000. In contrast, the number
of English teachers during the same period rose from 1,200 to over 36,000 (Council of
Europe, Language Policy Division & Polands Ministry of National Education n.d.). Faced
with the changing educational climate, large numbers of Russian teachers re-trained to
teach English (or German). Many were trained in the communicative approach, which
was used at the newly-created teacher training colleges. However, not even these emerging
professionals could satisfy the appetite for foreign languages in Poland. In response to
the growing demand for foreign language instructors, teachers began offering private
courses, and the 1990s and 2000s saw the creation of new bilingual and exchange programs
(Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002; Reichelt 2005).
In the second decade of the twenty-first century, English continues to be the most widely
studied foreign language at all educational levels in Poland. As reported by Polands Central
Statistical Office in 2012, 89 per cent of the total student population is now learning English
(Gowny Urzad Statystyczny 2012). Moreover, according to the same report, the number
of students learning English is steadily growing, as evinced by the 42 per cent increase
between the 19992000 and the 20102011 academic years. The second most popular
language is German (studied by about 36% of students), followed by Russian, French,
Spanish, Latin, and Italian (with classes in each of these languages taken by fewer than 5%
of all students). In 2011, the Central Statistical Office also found that of the 807,477 Polish
university students learning at least one foreign language in 2010, a whopping 657,600
were enrolled in English-language courses (Gowny Urzad Statystyczny 2011). Due to
its geographic proximity, Britain has long served as the main source of English teaching
materials (e.g. textbooks) in Poland, though the target variety to be used in the classroom
is not officially prescribed, and today Polish students are exposed to both American and
British English.
As of the 20092010 academic year, all Polish children and adolescents are required to
take at least one foreign language class starting in the first grade of elementary school,
and at least two foreign languages must be studied in the gimnazjum (lower secondary
school, comprising of grades seven through nine) and until the student completes his or
her secondary education (Gowny Urzad Statystyczny 2012). Although English is not a
compulsory subject, it is a de-facto frontrunner in the classroom. For example, of the six
languages that Polish students could pick on the Matura (an oral and written national
exam taken at the completion of high school), English was chosen by 80 per cent of test
takers in 2008 (Pezda 2008, as cited in Sliwa 2010). Outside of school, English is also
commonly studied at private language institutes, with the help of private tutors, and at
summer language camps (The Warsaw Voice 2010).
Despite this emphasis on foreign language teaching, the Council of Europes Language
Policy Division and Polands Ministry of National Education (n.d.) identify a lack of
teacher quality as a major challenge. One factor likely contributing to the poor quality of
English instruction in Poland is the meager pay that language teachers usually receive. In
effect, English instructors often have to take up secondary jobs at private language schools,


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 English in contemporary Poland 251

thus devoting less time and effort to their regular teaching posts (Johnston 1997; Reichelt
2005). Moreover, Reichelt (2005: 224) argues that the low status of teachers leads many
Polish graduates holding English language degrees to look to careers outside of teaching,
such as business or tourism. Resulting from this lack of long-term commitment is an
absence of a shared discourse of profession (Johnston 1997: 703) among English teachers
in Poland.

English in advertising and media discourse

The first English borrowings to appear in Polish newspaper advertisements in the 1920s
and 1930s were terms and compounds like shampoo and vanishing cream (Chopicki
2005). A particularly insightful study of English borrowings in contemporary Polish ad-
vertisements was offered in Wieluniecka (2010). The author examined the use of English
loans in ads that appeared in 2009 in three Polish print magazines, each catering to a
different demographic: a general-knowledge publication (Wprost), a magazine focused on
information technology (PC World), and a monthly for teenage girls (Dziewczyna). The
study revealed that lexical loans in Wprost were used predominantly when the (often,
technical) term did not have a direct Polish equivalent, e.g. leasing. Many borrowings
were either accompanied by explicit Polish translations or the text contained contextual
clues about the meaning of the foreign term. In contrast, PC World used English terms
strategically, as specialized short-cuts that readers were expected to be familiar with. An-
glicisms thus fulfilled a highly informative function and were not accompanied by Polish
translations, with longer utterances in English serving mostly persuasive functions. Finally,
Dziewczyna contained the smallest number of English borrowings, and even these played
a rather decorative role, creating an aura of laid-backness associated with English.
Wielunieckas (2010) study demonstrates the growing significance of English in Poland.
Although close to a third of Poles claim to be conversationally proficient in English, fluent
English speakers remain a minority and they are predominantly young Poles learning
English intensively at school or with tutors (Chopicki 2005: 110). As such, they are more
likely to be educated and knowledgeable about computers and other English-dominated
domains, which were the focus of PC World. Wielunieckas findings thus reflect the trends
found by Anisimowicz (as cited in Wieluniecka 2010), who noted a similar tendency to
use longer, stand-alone English phrases in Polish newspapers. Further examples of the
presence of English in Polish advertisements can be easily found on virtually any major
Polish online news portal or news daily, like gazeta.pl. Thus, during a visit to Gazeta
Wyborczas website on April 22, 2012, I was able to identify several English loans and
semantic shifts in ads that littered the main page alone. These included generic terms like
laptop, piksele pixels, sexy, as well as brand names such as Amber Gold, OLT Express,
and Finroyal.
The news discourse is clearly permeated with English borrowings. As notes
Dr. Andrzej Markowski, English expressions are commonly disseminated by journalists,
though imported English-language TV shows and movies too contribute to this process
(as cited in Staszewski 2007). A telling example of the televisions role in the spread of
English in Poland is the short-lived Polish digital channel, TVN Lingua, which aired be-
tween 2006 and 2009 (Wirtualnemedia 2009) and was dedicated to helping viewers learn
foreign languages (Davies 2008) through predominantly English-language programming.
Furthermore, the names of many Polish TV stations contain English loans, for example,

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Polsat Sport Extra, TV Biznes, Top Shop, not to mention the UK-based Cartoon Network
(Wikipedia n.d.). Finally, the Internet and social media have played a key role in the
spread of English in the discourses of young Poles. These speakers commonly use terms
like fejsbuk Facebook and wyguglowac to Google, but also longer morpho-syntactic
hybrids, such as rzucic posta na fejsa to add a post on Facebook (Borger 2011). Another
note-worthy domain that is heavily influenced by English are swear words, though Borger
(2011) claims that cursing in English is widely seen as pretentious, especially when the
user has never lived in an English-speaking country (Borger 2011).

ENGLISH IN BUSINESS DISCOURSE

The spread of English in Poland during the 1990s can be partially attributed to the arrival
of Western companies and US businesses in Warsaw (Connolly 2000). These high-status
newcomers and other foreigners featured on TV and in movies contributed to the emergence
of Polish Yuppies, who desired the American lifestyle and who expressed their Western
identification by using Americanisms (Chopicki 2005). Today, English reigns in the
business and management jargon, despite attempts to curb this invasion (Borger 2011),
such as the 1999 Polish Language Act. Although the Act does not explicitly prohibit
the use of English in public discourse, it does impose certain restrictions on loans and
may especially affect Poles who use registers with the most English borrowingslike
the technical register (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002)and who work in fields that are most
infused with English, such as business. In fact, in its 20082009 report the Polish Language
Council singled out business discourse as a site of some of the most troubling linguistic
trends, including borrowings, in contemporary Polish (Markowski n.d.).
Soon after the introduction of the 1999 Act, Connolly (2000) asserted that the new
law has worried some business people, who regarded English loans as more accurate
than their Polish equivalents. Thus, a Polish accountant interviewed by Connolly (2000)
explained that a borrowing like venture capital or private equity cannot be translated into
Polish because its a very descriptive language and we would just get bogged down. Another
interviewee argued that its natural for young Poles to use English words, particularly when
theyre more effective than the Polish equivalent. Despite the aforementioned benefits of
using English loans, the Act was favored by 83 per cent of Poles, and some supporters of
the Law seriously suggested that Johnnie Walker whisky should be renamed for the Polish
market Jasio Wedrowniczek (or Wandering Johnnie) (Connolly 2000).
In its report (Markowski n.d.), the Polish Language Council expressed concern over the
pervasive tendency to refer to professions in Polish business discourse via English terms,
for example, junior account executive or field test engineer. According to the Council, this
pseudo-Polish is incomprehensible or even offensive to many readers, and the insistence
on using loans may lead to awkward or incorrect lexical choices, as when the English
term dywizja (from division) is used instead of the preferred wydzia or dzia. Among
other issues discussed by the Council is the use of long and difficult foreign words,
the prevalence of orthographic errors, and a shift in linguistic etiquette. Specifically,
standardized Polish distinguishes between the informal second-person pronoun ty that
requires a second person singular inflection on the verb and the respectful third-person
pronoun Pan/Pani (cf. Mr./Mrs.), which requires that the verb be inflected for third
person singular. The latter form is generally used in official or formal situations, including
business transactions. However, as notes the Council, it is now becoming acceptable to

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address another individual in a business setting with singular or plural second-person

verb forms. Similarly, first names, which are traditionally reserved for relatives, friends,
and closer acquaintances, are also used more frequently in business discourses. Chopicki
(2005: 18) draws a direct causational link between the expansion of the ty convention and
the universal you in English, especially in regard to the discourse of Polish advertising and
electronic media. As the researcher explains, under American influence, radio presenters
use very colloquial language and address their audiences informally (Chopicki 2005:
118). Chopicki also cites data from Anisimowicz, who examines English loans in Polish
newspaper articles and who identifies patterns of usage that closely resemble those outlined
in Wieluniecka (2010). Taken together, the aforementioned findings provide evidence for
a general trend wherein English lexis, syntax, and even conversational rituals are shaping
the language of many Poles.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH

English as an asset
Polands turbulent history has no doubt contributed to the countrys current fixation on
English (Sliwa 2010). Because English was never imposed on Polesunlike Russian or
Germanthe language does not have the negative historical and political associations for
Poles (Reichelt 2005: 222) that the other two languages have. Thus, English easily won over
Poles who despised the Soviet regime and who, by taking English classes and listening
to English-language music, could express their allegiance with the West. Furthermore,
knowledge of English could give individuals access to the wider international community;
as a result, the language has been regarded as an indispensable economic advantage and
as a symbol of educational achievement and employability (Strefa Dobrej Pracy, as cited
in Sliwa 2010: 695), if not an economic imperative (The Warsaw Voice 2010).
The reasons for studying English are both integrative and instrumental. Beyond high
school, many universities in Poland require that the applicant provide evidence of foreign
language proficiency, such as scores on the foreign language section of the Matura exam
or, more specifically, a copy of the applicants TOEFL score (Study in Poland n.d.).
English is a common choice when applying to higher-education institutions: 50 per cent of
recent applicants to the prestigious University of Warsaw, for example, submitted proof of
proficiency in English (Council of Europe, Language Policy Division & Polands Ministry
of National Education n.d.). At the same university, English Philology was the fifth most
sought-after department for the 20112012 academic year, with almost sixteen candidates
competing for each available spot in the program (Uniwersytet Warszawski n.d.).
Today, many younger and older Poles alike try to supplement their compulsory ed-
ucation by enrolling in private language courses, finding private tutors, and participat-
ing in exchange programs or summer language camps (The Warsaw Voice 2010; The
Kosciuszko Foundation n.d.). Poles also fulfill their integrative needs by listening to
English-language music, watching US movies, using English-dominant social media, and
traveling to English-speaking countries (Reichelt 2005). Nonetheless, these personal ef-
forts are frequently regarded as insufficient, and some Poles argue that English should be
a required subject in school. This so-called battle for English (Sliwa 2010: 693) became
a vocal public campaign in 2008, in response to a newly drafted reform by the Polish
Ministry of Education. A major tenet of the reform was that all Polish children would

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begin learning a foreign language in the first grade and that they would study at least
two foreign languages upon entering the gimnazjum (Gowny Urzad Statystyczny 2012).
From the outset, it was understood that most students would choose English, but a number
of Polish journalists and prominent public figuresall widely supported by the public
argued that English should be officially designated as one of the compulsory foreign
languages. The social campaign culminated in an open letter to the Polish Prime Minister,
signed by 59 outstanding figures from public life (Czubkowska, as cited in Sliwa 2010:
690).
In the end, not even the highly-publicized letter could change the Ministrys decision.
As of the writing of this paper, Polish students can choose any of the (acceptable) foreign
languages to fulfill their school requirement. In justifying its decision, the Ministry of
Education emphasized the role of the Polish government as a promoter of multilingual-
ism, which constitutes one of the key principles and objectives of the European Union.
According to the Council of Europes Language Policy Division and Polands Ministry of
National Education (n.d.), English language proficiency is indeed important, but it is only
secondary to the ability to speak multiple languages. Moreover, both agencies point out
that the increasing insistence on English leads to the neglect of other languages (Council
of Europes Language Policy Division and Polands Ministry of National Education n.d.).
It is therefore the belief of both the European Union and the Polish Ministry of Education
that not narrowing the scope to English only will provide a broader language competence
base on which to develop a multilingual society (Council of Europe, Language Policy
Division & Polands Ministry of National Education n.d.).

English as a threat
The Polish Ministry of Education is not alone in expressing concern over the spread of
English. Although over 90 per cent of Poles surveyed in 2008 supported a hypothetical
English language requirement in schools (Sliwa 2010), the growing influence of English
in many public and private domains of life tends to be regarded as troublesome. The
anti-English sentiment is expressed by a number of Polish linguists and language experts,
among them Dr. Andrzej Markowski, who cautions against linguistic changes in Polish
caused by foreign languages and a lack of reflection (Staszewski 2007). According to
Manczak-Wohlfeld (2002), the war on foreign borrowings escalated after Poland regained
independence in 1918, though the early language purists were mainly preoccupied with
ridding Polish of Russianisms and Germanisms. With time, these linguistic reminders
of Polands violent past came to be regarded as relatively harmless, compared with the
supposed overuse of Anglicisms (Manczak-Wohlfeld 2002: 216).
The fear over the future of Polish was summed up in the 1996 proclamation of one Polish
journalist: Our language is dying (as cited in Chopicki 2005: 121). While the Polish
Language Council does not necessarily share the journalists fatalism, it too considers
English as a destructive force creating chaos in the discourse and etiquette of business.
In fact, it seems that one of the primary tasks of the Council itself is to fight English
corruptions, as the Councils provision to regulate the use of loan words is, in practice, a
provision to regulate Englishisms. Thus, commenting on the 1999 Language Act, Polish
politician Wanda Samborska defended the legislation as an attempt to empower non-
English speakers who were disadvantaged by the prevalence of English (Connolly 2000).
Another linguistic phenomenon often cited as evidence for the decline of the Polish

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 English in contemporary Poland 255

language is the Polish-English hybrid used predominantly by Polish emigrants to the

European Union and to the United States, referred to as Poglish, Poglisz, Ponglish, or
Polglish3 (Bralczyk 2007; Muskaa 2011).
The distrust of linguistic foreignness is likely amplified by the fact that Poland sees
itself as an essentially monolingual society in which having a first language other than
Polish still tends to be stigmatised or at least treated as a curiosity (Council of Europe,
Language Policy Division & Polands Ministry of National Education n.d.). Poles attitudes
toward foreigners are quite varied and not always consistent with their attitudes toward
languages, as reveals a 2010 public opinion poll reported in Wadoowska
(2010). The
poll found that the five nationalities most liked by Poles were, in descending order:
Spaniards, Czechs, Italians, the French, and Slovaks. The most liked English speakers, at
ninth place, were the residents of the UK, followed by the Irish at eleventh and Americans
at seventeenth place. Among the least liked or disliked groups were the Roma (Gypsies),
Arabs, Romanians, Turks, and Chechens, as well as Central and Southeast Asians, in
addition to many Eastern and South Europeans. These attitudes seem to correspond to the
persistent stereotype of the rich, civilized West and the poor, intellectually backward
East (Wadoowska
2010: 8; also see reports cited in otocki 2009). In addition, while
Poles were generally becoming more tolerant of others, they were still distrustful of certain
nationalities, including Americans.
Nonetheless, Westerners in Poland tend to be treated with respect, which cannot be
said of individuals who are of African or Asian descent and who encounter relatively
more discrimination (otocki 2009). Despite the low rates of hate crimes and violence
against foreigners, a large number of incidents are never reported to the authorities, and
research suggests that people perceived as non-Western tend to be victims of verbal abuse
and physical assaults (Mikulska 2010). On the other hand, citizens of English-speaking
countries, even if distrusted or not well liked by Poles, rarely encounter outright prejudice
or violence. Due to the high prestige of English in the Polish educational system and
in the workforce, (White) native speakers of English are generally held in high regard.
The social status of British and American English native speakerswho often work
as language teachers in Polandhas likely contributed to the special privileges granted
these individuals before and right after the fall of communism. However, the situation may
have changed when Poland joined the European Union and as Polish teachers become
more qualified. Today, Poles can more freely compete with American, British, and other
native speakers of English, who are no longer considered a novelty (Teaching English
in Poland n.d.). The changing approach to English teaching greatly benefits Poles (and
perhaps other non-native users of English), though some foreigners see it as troubling.
The disillusionment which these teachers express toward contemporary Poland is best
illustrated by the following excerpt, taken from an entry posted on an online message
board, Daves ESL Cafe (2009):

I first taught in Poland in 96. Back then and until the late 90s, you could have a comfortable life, you
had rock star status (almost) and the place was well [ . . . ] er [ . . . ]Polish. Nowadays, foreigners are ten
a penny, EFL teachers/backpackers are everywhere and the place is bloody expensive. Not only that
[ . . . ] but there are a lot of excellent Polish teachers about competing with you and willing to work for
less [ . . . ] Polish women have cottoned on the Jonnie Foreigner, EFL teachers seem rightly ridiculed and
are paid accordingly and the booze is jolly expensive if you go off the beer. Eating out is just farcical
[ . . . ] shite food, big tab!! [ . . . ] Wheres the new Poland?


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ENGLISH IN INTERNET DISCOURSE

As outlined in the previous sections, there exist several dominant discourses of English
in contemporary Poland, which are primarily disseminated by politicians, government
officials, academics, and other powerful groups. In the midst of this cacophony stands
the ordinary Pole. Because most Poles are now Internet users (Milkowski 2011), they are
increasingly exposed to English and to these discourses about English. Moreover, Poles are
increasingly vocal about what the English language means to them personally. This section
summarizes the findings of my preliminary study of Polish discourses on the Internet,
which was conducted with the goal of identifying some of the trends and themes in a
limited online context. Because of the narrow scope of this research, the findings yielded
herein may not be generalizable to a larger population, but they may nonetheless provide
certain insights about Poles attitudes towards English and toward users of English. These
initial observations could therefore lead to more systematic analyses of Polish discourses
about English in the future.
In conducting my preliminary study, I was primarily interested in collecting the opinions
expressed by readers of gazeta.pl, the online extension of Gazeta Wyborczaone of
Polands leading dailies. Moreover, I was specifically interested in learning about these
readers opinions on English, English users, and English language teaching as well as
learning, especially in the Polish linguistic and cultural context. To this end, I first searched
the websites archives to identify a set of articles that were published online and that
discussed the English language in one way or another. In generating possible articles, I
searched the online archives with the keyword angielski English and I further limited the
results to articles that were posted during the last four years and articles with at least ten
reader comments. The 15 articles yielded by this process were published online between
September of 2008 and July of 2012. They included text as well as video elements, and
each article contained as few as 12 and as many as 168 reader comments at the time of my
search. I also selected articles from three thematic domains: education, news, and gossip.
The topics covered in these articles ranged from the recent Matura exams, to the cost of
learning foreign languages, to the Euro 2012 soccer championships, and included reports
on ordinary as well as famous Poles English language abilities. I carefully examined all
reader comments that accompanied the articles, and it is these comments that comprise the
primary data discussed in this section (the comments were written almost entirely in Polish
and are reported herein in my own English translation). In analyzing the data, I aimed
to identify recurring thematic trends in the commenters discourses and to note specific
statements through which I could gain insight into Poles relationship with English.
The prevailing sentiments expressed in the data were quite pessimistic, with Poland
portrayed as lagging behind other industrialized nations and Poles described as incapable
of catching up with the West. According to the commenters, the majority of Poles could
not construct the most basic phrases in English, which was regarded as a great failure
of the Polish educational system and of individual Poles. For example, a press video
exposing then-President Kaczynskis lack of English skills spawned numerous comments
that expressed the users disbelief, anger, and shame from their association with the
President. One vociferous commenter exclaimed: Every man, ESPECIALLY HOLDING
AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC OFFICE, should know at least one language English.
Another user saw the Presidents shortcoming as a personal choice, arguing that Kaczynski
surely had the financial resources to take English language classes and that he simply did


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 English in contemporary Poland 257

not CARE HOW HE MAY BE SEEN IN THE WORLD. English was also described by
one commenter as one of the easiest languagesa view likely held by younger Poles,
many of whom are today exposed to English via popular music, movies, and at school.
Shame was a frequently articulated emotion in the collected data. The commenters
were primarily ashamed of their nations questionable command over English and seemed
very preoccupied with the international communitys opinion of Poland and of Poles. To
draw attention to Polands marred global image, some users chose negatively-charged or
colloquial terms in describing the state of English education in Poland. Among such terms
were nightmare, massacre, and ciemnogrod, with the last one coined by Stanisaw
PotockiPolish diplomat, orator, and writer. Ciemnogrod is structurally a compound that
in Potockis novel denoted a dark, backward place and symbolized a deeply traditionalistic,
anti-progressive mindset. The pejorative term has since come to refer to the typically
(if not exclusively) Polish flaws of character and detestable predilections. As evinced by
the commenters discourses, low proficiency in English may now constitute one of these
national flaws, as it effectively pushes Poland far behind Western Europe, where even kids
are fluent in English.
Poles preoccupation with their nations command of English could be described as
verging on obsession, especially in the months leading up to Euro 2012, which was
regarded as a test of sorts: a test of Poles tolerance (because Polish soccer hooligans are
infamous for their racist slurs) and a test of Poles English skills. Thus, a video posted
on gazeta.pl featured a Polish reporter who on the first day of the Euro games walked the
streets of Warsaw speaking only English. The goal of his short excursion was to determine
whether Varsovians were ready for the influx of foreigners that would soon flood the
capital. As it turned out, most of the civil servants, coffee shop staff, and even cab drivers
were able to hold a basic conversation in English, demonstrating a level of proficiency that
exceeded the commenters pessimistic expectations.
A particularly heated debate seemed to surround the slogan featured in a government-
sponsored advertisement, which (in English) encouraged foreign visitors to the soccer
games to feel like at home. The slogan was widely ridiculed as grammatically incorrect,
with Polish and British linguists, as well as commenters declaring the phrase a direct
translation of the corresponding Polish expression czuc sie jak w domu. Responding to
this criticism, the Polish government assured viewers and readers that English language
experts had been consulted in preparing the slogan. Nonetheless, the online commenters
overwhelmingly considered the Euro slogan as further proof of Poles laughable English
language skills; one user, for example, rejected the governments justification, arguing
that an error is an error. Similar statements implied that linguistic innovations of non-
native speakers were inevitably doomed to be classified as an error, as summed up by
the following comment: Everyone who is learning languages knows that idioms cant be
changed and that every modification results from ignorance.
The above claim revealed a persistent belief that the English language was the sole
property of native speakersand, above all, those from Great Britain or the United States.
A Pole, even a high-ranking government official, was therefore not in the position to argue
against grammar textbooks, for any attempt to justify divergent usage was automatically
regarded as an example of Poles arrogance (who know English better than native
speakers) and stupidity. Consequently, imitating the accent and mannerisms of native
speakers was highly praised, although a few users rebelled against such uncritical native-
speakerism, with one commenter arguing that the Euro slogan was fine because we wanted

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258 Aleksandra Kasztalska

to say something different than what would have been expressed by the English idiom.
A few others wished Poles would cease trying to accommodate and flatter foreigners.
Instead, they claimed, foreign visitors to Poland should learn Polish. Why, they asked, was
an Englishman or an American who could utter at most a couple of utterances of Polish
regarded with such awe? This double-standard was again draped in rhetoric that drew on
Polands literary tradition, with one commenter quoting the beloved 16th century Polish
poet, Mikoaj Rej: Polacy nie gesi (which is part of a longer, well-known aphorism that
translates to: Poles are not geese, for they have a language of their own).
The alleged hegemony of the English language was seen as a threat by commenters who
considered English intrusions into Polish as challenging the primacy of Polish. For example,
one user observed that the Milka chocolate bars sold in Poland were labeled in English,
even though in Germany and in Spain the labels were rendered in the respective countrys
official or dominant language. Another ridiculous social trend was the increasing use of
English terms and expressions in Polish advertisements. A number of commenters thus
rejected the widespread acceptance and glorification of English in Poland and abroad.
They also applauded Poles who had moved to England and who would intentionally speak
grammatically correct English with a heavy Polish accent so as to emphasize their Polish
roots. Finally, a commenter denounced as pathetic and unwarranted Poles obsession with
their nations English skills (or lack thereof) and their constant fear of being ridiculed by
other, more powerful nations:

Our distress over how all our guests will be making fun of us, how backwards, shameful, worse, uglier,
dirtier we are, and how our roads have more holes only demonstrates our insecurities. Seriously, people
from this socially, morally, educationally, culturally, hygienically, and technologically advanced West
come to Poland and somehow they dont laugh at us with every move they make.

DISCUSSION
The English language has played an important role in the identity-construction of Poles,
especially during the Soviet period (Krajewska 1995; Sliwa 2010). As a result of its growing
prestige, English is now the most widely studied foreign language inside and outside of the
classroom. The presence of English is also increasingly salient in everyday discourses of
Poles. Polish advertisements, magazines, music, slang, and even business transactions are
saturated with English borrowings, and reveal changing conversational rituals (Chopicki
2005; Wieluniecka 2010). English competence is no longer just an asset, but rather, an
economic imperative (The Warsaw Voice 2010) and a means to advance ones career.
At the same time, English-inspired linguistic innovations are frequently dismissed as
corruptions that threaten the survival of the Polish language and culture (Cuprych 2010).
This somewhat incongruous view of English is paralleled by Poles attitudes towards Inner
Circle English speakers, who, despite being held in high regard, tend to be disliked and
distrusted (otocki 2009).
In addition to instrumental motives for learning English, my analysis of Polish Internet
discourses suggests that speaking English may be regarded as a sign of an individuals
ambition and progressive or Westward thinking. However, the image being painted in
the print and online press is a pessimistic one: vast numbers of Poles, it is argued, are
functionally illiterate in English. Online commenters similarly express concern over their
nations intellectual and economic development and over Polands image in the West.

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Alongside this cultural and linguistic insecurity, however, there are also signs of an active
resistance against the perceived dominance of English in Poland, with some commenters
encouraging Poles to take pride in their linguistic and cultural identity, and to preserve
their Polish roots even when using English.
These largely opposing attitudes toward English are perhaps a byproduct of the trans-
formations that the Polish society has undergone since the fall of communism. Polands
joining of the European Union has created new challenges for the Polish government, and
new opportunities and dilemmas for ordinary Poles. For instance, EUs policy of plurilin-
gualism is still a relatively unknown concept in Poland, as Poles tend to see their society
as culturally and linguistically unified, unaware that many of the countrys residents are
bilingual or bidialectal in regional and minority languages (Council of Europe, Language
Policy Division & Polands Ministry of National Education n.d.). The long history of im-
posed languages, which has elevated the Polish language to a symbol of national identity
and unity (Rada Jezyka
Polskiego n.d.; Sliwa 2010), has thus indirectly shaped contempo-
rary Poles attitudes toward foreign languages, including English. According to Filipowicz
(2004: 175), the American Dreamor rather, mythmay have had a therapeutic function
on this post-communist country, which has been plagued by economic woes and political
discord.
More research is needed to understand Poles emergent identities as English users, as
Europeans, and as global citizens. Some scholars (e.g. Zaborowska et al. 2004; Galasinski
2009) have pointed out that the stigma of communism in Eastern and Central Europe may
not be easily lifted. Because post-communist identification lacks its own distinct label,
many Poles appear to be stuck between the traditional notions of East and West, and
they have a need for anchorage, for pinning down (Galasinski 2009: 216). This sense
of uncertainty likely influences Poles perceptions of and interactions with speakers of
other languages. Consequently, Poles attitudes toward native speakers of English, in and
outside of the classroom, warrant an analysis of its own. Recent data, for example, suggest
that a significant number of English-speaking individuals who come to Poland are citizens
of what Kachru (1985) calls Outer (and possibly Expanding) Circle countries, such as
India and Nigeria (UDSC n.d.). A question that arises is whether this influx of speakers
who have been traditionally regarded as non-native English speakers may be in some
way changing Poles attitudes toward English language teaching and toward the English
language itself.
Furthermore, while Reichelt (2005) classifies Poland as an Outer Circle country, Berns
(1995) objections to the clear-cut distinctions between the Outer and the Expanding Cir-
cle cannot be ignored. According to Berns (1995), countries like Germany (and likely
Poland) are perhaps more appropriately labeled as Outer/Expanding Circle or as dual
circle countries, due to the multiplying functions of English in these settings. In many
ways, Poland in the second millennium resembles Berns (1995) Germany, suggesting
a more general pattern of Englishization across Europe. A comparative study of sev-
eral European states, especially those located in Central and Eastern Europe, may there-
fore reveal larger underlying sociolinguistic trends. Then again, even such taken-for-
granted labels as Eastern and Central Europe may need to be re-examined (Pollack
2012). For example, Sliwa (2010) argues that Poland and its neighbor states are suffer-
ing from a kind of an inferiority complex as a result of their Eastern or post-communist
identification.


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260 Aleksandra Kasztalska

Finally, in terms of its linguistic features and pragmatic functions, Polish English has
been largely neglected by world Englishes scholars. Although English-influenced Polish
has garnered a certain degree of academic attention (e.g. Chopicki 2005; Wieluniecka
2010), the English variety used by Poles living in Poland and abroad is still a lesser
known variety (Reichelt 2005: 217). Despite the increasing contact between English and
Polish, the English spoken in Poland today has not yet been exhaustively studied. On the
other hand, the public and scholarly interest in Poglish has mostly led to prescriptive,
rather than descriptive, analyses. It is my hope that future research on both Polish English
and English Polish will produce more detailed and less biased investigations of these
still-emerging and developing varieties.

NOTES
1. Poland recognizes nine national minorities (Belarusians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans, Armenians, Russians, Slo-
vaks, Ukrainians and Jews) and four ethnic minorities (Karaites or Karaim, Lemkos or Lemkowie, Roma, Turks) (US
English Foundation Research n.d.).
2. The Polish data collected in this study are reported directly in English, as translated by this author.
3. According to Dr. Jan Mokrzycki, Vice President of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, Poglish corrupts both
Polish and English, and results from laziness (Cuprych 2010). Even Szymon Piatek, founder of the online Polish-
Ponglish dictionary ponglish.org, believes that such linguistic mixing reveals the speakers lack of education and his
or her desire to show off.

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(Received 11 December 2013)


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