DOI: 10.18150/ixieow
title: Różnorodność językowa w Polsce: języki kolateralne, działania na rzecz języków i konceptualizacja tożsamości zbiorowej

description: The proposed research project concerns a comprehensive understanding of the situation of non-recognized, collateral languages in Poland as well as extensive research on those languages intra- and extra-linguistic processes, particularly the process of language standardization, and their effects, interdependencies with and influence on the creation of the collective identity of the people concerned. The term ‘collateral languages’, central to this project, denotes those linguistic varieties which belong to the same language family as the State language and are (to a certain extent) intelligible with it. The main objective of this research is to investigate the (ethno)linguistic vitality of chosen collateral languages in Poland, the processes of those languages protection with particular attention to language standardization and the societal consequences thereof. The case study concerns five largely differentiated languages and related communities, namely: 1) Masurian; 2) Podlachian (with its different varieties, some of them moving towards Polish as a standard, some of them towards Belarusian and Ukrainian); 3) Podhalanian; 4) Silesian. As an example of the only recognized collateral language of Poland, the research will also concern 5) the Kashubian language and community. The project draws on the research in the fields of sociolinguistics, particularly the branch concerning endangered languages, language policy and planning, and social movements. The concepts which are central to the proposal are language ideologies, language practices, language attitudes, ethnolinguistic vitality, language standardization, language-oriented activities, collective identity, language movements and activism.The study is based on three main research hypotheses. 1) Collateral languages represent a separate category of languages. This is related to their mainly oral form of use and similarity to the dominant language. Therefore, they are often perceived as ‘dialects’ of the State language and are undervalued. 2) The perception of European linguistic diversity is strongly connected with the literacy-oriented character of this continent, including the systems of protection of languages, the prevalent ideologies of monolingualism and of the standard language. As a consequence, non-literary languages or languages with multiple literary sub-standards are treated as ‘dialects’ and, therefore, are not taken into consideration as a part of the State/European linguistic diversity. The literacy perspective also demands that the first step in protecting those languages is an attempt to codify them. 3) Language-oriented activities undertaken by the members of communities, linguists, researchers and activists, including attempts to change the status of collateral languages, are on many levels closely related to the identity-forming processes of a given group. The standardization processes of collateral languages which lead to their recognition may result in the creation of a stronger local/regional collective identity of their users.To verify the research hypotheses, this extensive and comprehensive research project is designed that combines different research methods (both qualitative and quantitative). These will include i.a.: statistical research; ethnographic research on language practices, attitudes and language policy and planning; content-based and critical discourse analysis as well as the analysis of the data collected during fieldwork, participant observation, interviews, focused group discussions and archival and media research. The research project is based on six work packages: 1) (ethno)linguistic vitality assessment; 2) language ideologies research; 3) investigation of the process of language standardization; 4) language policy and planning research; 5) collateral languages-oriented activities and the process of creating collective identity; 6) comparative analysis of the research results. The research will be carried out by eight team members separately in five different areas in Poland, and their results will be compared in order to draw general conclusions on collateral languages, and the relation between language and identity in the context of language standardization processes and ideologies.