The German Language in Poland: the Eternal Foe and the Wars on Words

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to examine the current status of the German language in Poland and to envisage its future standing in the linguistic marketplace in this part of Europe. Some may wonder why such an undertaking is necessary. After all, German is a prestigious language in this part of Europe — a new lingua franca. Indeed, for some time there has been a widespread belief that German is a language of intercultural communication in Poland, as it is elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe (cf. Pfeiffer 1992; Darquennes and Nelde 2006). For many, this was evidenced by the proximity of the German-speaking communities, the presence of German minorities and the high number of learners of German as a foreign language. In particular, the latter is flagged as proof of the high status that German has: Poland is, according to data provided by StaDaF (Goethe Institut 2005), a country where German is widely taught and learnt. However, the quantitative data is highly decontextualized and based on figures from one sector only: state education. It presents a homogeneous picture and does not reveal many of the dynamic mechanisms and nuances which are emerging in this context, and appear to indicate significant changes in linguistic practices. While I would agree that some quantification is necessary to capture tendencies and developments in ‘linguistic marketplaces’, such data often only scratches the surface (Holliday 1994: 5). These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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