Title: The many faces of the Polish langiage. Dialects and local language variations

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic: The many faces of the Polish language. Dialects and local language variations.

Target group:

3rd‑grade students of a high school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

6) reads non‑literary cultural texts using the code proper in a given field of art;

II. Language education.

2. Differentiation of language. Student:

6) recognises the types of stylization (archaization, dialectization, colloquialization, environmental stylization, biblical, mythological etc.) and defines their functions in the text;

3. Language communication and language culture. Student:

3) defines the functions of language: cognitive (categorizing the world), communication (adapting language to the communication situation) and social (building a regional, environmental, national community); ZR

5) uses different varieties of Polish depending on the communication situation.

General aim of education

Students learn the dialects and dialects that appear in Poland.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• talks about the internal diversification of the Polish language;

• explains the differences between dialect, dialect and regional variation;

• indicates the areas of occurrence of individual dialects.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Before the lesson, students read in available sources what is „dialect” and „dialect”. They prepare examples of words, expressions or dialect sentences from one region chosen by them.

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. Definition of the semantic scope of words: dialect and dialect. Students create definitions of these concepts based on messages prepared at home.

Realization

1. A conversation about dialects and dialects, their occurrence and significance. If we live in an area where there are dialects or dialects, it is a good idea to start a lesson from the nearest students. During the conversation it is worth referring to the content of the abstract.

2. Students perform exercise 2 in abstract: on the map of Poland they place the names of dialects present in given regions.

3. A reading of Jan Miodek's column on Silesian and nationwide homonyms. Students write from the text examples along with their meaning, and then execute exercise 4.

4. Work in pairs. Students choose pairs according to the examples they bring. For example, the person who chose the dialect of Silesia is paired with a person who also chose the dialect of Silesia. The students' task is to create a mini‑dictionary of a dialect or dialect chosen by them. While working, they can use various sources of information, including the internet. After a set time they present the results of their work. A jointly developed dictionary can be placed on a class disk or on the school's website.

5. Optional exercise, depending on the availability of materials: exercise 5 in abstract.

Summary

1. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

2. The teacher asks summarizing questions, e.g.
   - Why are there different dialects in Poland?
   - What features does the Masurian dialect have?
   - Explain the social significance of the occurrence of dialects and dialects.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. In the sentences given, words from the Podhale dialect were used. What is their significance? Write your answers in a notebook.
   Na targowisku gazda sprzedawał oscypki i grule.
   Wartko podążał na wierch, podziwiając po drodze siklawę i dorodne smreki.
   Juhas za swoją pracę wolał dostać dudki niż kierpce.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The many faces of the Polish language. Dialects and local language variations

The Polish language is internally diversified, which means that we can distinguish its numerous variations. The basic variation is the general language, also known as the nationwide or general Polish, which is universal and anybody who speaks Polish should be familiar with. Individual variations can be distinguished with the application of various criteria. The most important criteria for the variations of the Polish language are:

1. Communication channel – written and spoken variation. Each of them can be executed in careful or free variation.

2. Territory – dialects, local and regional language variations.

3. Affiliation to social or professional groups – sociolect, professiolect, slangs (jargon).

4. Functional styles – ways of forming statements depends on the communication situation. They differ mainly in their grammatical features (e.g. sentence formation) and the choice of vocabulary. The main styles are: colloquial, artistic, official and scientific. But other styles can also be identified: journalistic, religious, biblical, rhetorical and popular science. What is more, text styles can be divided into those which are official and unofficial.

The territorial variations of the Polish language are primarily dialects and local languages, meaning the variations of the Polish language characteristic to rural residents. Dialect is the language of the rural population covering a large area of a country – an entire region. Five dialects can be identified in Poland: Greater Polish, Lesser Polish, Masovian, Silesian and Kashubian. There are also such regions in which none of these dialects dominate, e.g. territories in the west and north of Poland recovered after the end of World War II, where new, mixed dialects prevail.

Within one dialect a few local languages can be distinguished. This concept is used to refer to the language of the residents of several or more villages. The linguistic element characteristic of a given dialect and distinguishing it from other dialects is dialectism, and the lexical or grammatical characteristic feature of an individual local language is local dialectism. An example of a dialectism characteristic to Lesser Poland and Masovia, is masourism, namely pronouncing sounds ż, sz, dż, cz as z, s, dz, c e.g. instead of żaba – zaba, szyja – syja, czapka – capka. With reference to the way of speaking of the uneducated population of individual cities, the term regional Polish language is applied, which differs from the general language in the use of regionalisms. One can notice such regionalisms in the speech of the residents of Poznań, Warsaw, Krakow, along with the cities and towns of Silesia and Eastern Poland. All territorial variations differ from the general language mainly in the use of vocabulary and phonetics (pronunciation), and, to a lesser extent, in the declension of words as well as sentence formation and ways of creating new words (word‑formation). Territorial linguistic variations, however, are becoming less dominant due to the migration of the population and the influence of the media.