Parental Support of Bilingualism in Children Attending Schools and Kindergartens with the Polish Language of Instruction in Zaolzie

Abstract

The topic of this research is the development of bilingualism of children of Polish nationality living in the Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia and attending a nursery or elementary school in Karviná where Polish is the language of instruction. The main research question is: How do parents stimulate the development of bilingualism in their children? This main question creates additional partial research questions: Which language or languages do the parents use to talk to their children? What determines the choice of language, when the parents use one language or another or a dialect in everyday communication? What other ways do the parents use to develop bilingualism of their children? What advantage do the parents see in bilingualism? What were the reasons for the parents to choose a bilingual school for their children? Two research methods were used to answer the research questions, namely a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. Respondents included parents of children who attend a nursery and elementary school in Karviná with Polish as the language of instruction.