Abstrakt: | The aim of this publication was to study the effectiveness of the original methods
of stimulating Polish language vocabulary development in bilingual children living
in an English-speaking environment. At the beginning of the research, the initial
level of Polish language competence in Polish bilingual children living in England
was assessed. The next stage of the study was to establish what change could be
seen a year after the traditional and modern methods of stimulating vocabulary
development were introduced. The results achieved by the bilingual children from
England were compared with those of the monolingual children living in Poland.
The publication consists of five chapters. The introduction is followed by a theoretical
chapter dealing with the methodologies employed in the study. The second
chapter focuses on the particular aspects of multilingualism which were recognised
as essential to present a complete picture of the issues raised in this work. The third
chapter provides a description of the research tools used in the study. One of the
tools, “A child’s vocabulary test” (Test Słownika Dziecka) by professor Zbigniew
Tarkowski, is already known in the world of science. Two other tools, referred to
as a traditional method, which involves short stories accompanied by questions,
and a modern method that is a multimedia program, were created by the Author
exclusively for this research. The fourth chapter presents the development of the
tested children’s vocabulary based on the analysis of the results obtained by the
children from the youngest age group taking part in the research. The fifth chapter
features the prospects associated with the use of the research tools.
The research on lexis, whose level influences communication efficiency, brought
a number of observations. They concerned the choice of particular vocabulary made
by the children, problems (e.g. relating to defining), linguistic mechanisms applied
by the bilingual children to develop their vocabulary. Moreover, the research enabled
the Author to make observations with regard to the challenges faced by the bilingual
children and bilingual families living in England. The results of the research allow to
appreciate especially one of the methods which is broadly discussed in the chapters
describing the tools and the results of the research. |