Updated profile of an adult Ukrainian learning Polish as a foreign language

Abstract

The change in the status and conditions of teaching Polish as a foreign language in Ukraine has led to a fundamental change in the profile of those people who learn the Polish language, their needs, motivations and educational goals. The relevance of the study is related to the need to improve the system of work on teaching Polish to adult Ukrainians. The purpose of the study is to analyse the current situation of learning the Polish language in Ukraine by new groups of adults, taking into account age characteristics and social status, educational training and existing experience in learning foreign languages, previous contacts with the Polish language, needs and requirements regarding its mastery / proficiency level. This requires a more detailed analysis of the characteristics demonstrated by various groups of people consuming these educational services. The teacher is faced with the need to overcome students’ stereotypical perception of the speed of learning material, the mandatory presence of detailed explanations, the frequency of repetition, as well as the determination to obtain the final result. The factor of previous experience in learning foreign languages and the degree of student's previous education are important, as students transfer the associated successes and failures to the process of learning a new foreign language. Previous contact with the Polish language also has a significant impact on the effectiveness of learning. Ease of understanding the language, attempts to communicate with native speakers generally contribute to increasing motivation to study. The analysis showed that the goal of learning the Polish language for the majority of students was and remains the acquisition of higher education. The number of adults studying the language is also growing to fulfil their professional duties. Changing learning conditions alongside adjusting the goals and motivation level diversify the process of learning the Polish language, which often consists of several stages, in which Ukrainian and Polish teachers participate simultaneously. Taking into account all the listed aspects will make it possible to build an effective training model, namely to adapt programmes and training manuals to work with a qualitatively heterogeneous audience.