KulFon – how to teach Polish as a foreign language in a modern way?
As of December 2024, glottodidactics specialists, linguists and speech therapists from Lodz and Kharkiv will begin work on a unique project that aims to prove that learning Polish phonetics can be enjoyable and effective, even for people from abroad who are just starting their adventure with Polish.
This is an attempt to fulfil the dream of a modern, effective and attractive material for teaching pronunciation of Polish as a foreign language
– explains, Dr Michalina Biernacka, the project manager.
The project "Nauka fonetyki polskiej przez kulturę (KulFon)" assumes the preparation of a substantive background based on the cooperation of Polish and Ukrainian linguists. The team will develop a special phonetic training, addressed to Ukrainian students who are trying to master the correct pronunciation of Polish. The training will be supported by texts of broadly understood culture, popular culture in particular.
We will focus on fragments of Polish songs, films, series, poems, prose – something that has never been done regularly in any pronunciation teaching textbook before! This is innovative in Polish phonology
– explains Dr Biernacka.
Learning Polish through play
The set of exercises prepared by the project team is to take into account cross-linguistic influences from Ukrainian (to a limited extent from Russian) on pronunciation in Polish. The exercises are to integrate various subsystems and look at the development of perception and articulation as the foundations of listening and speaking. Additional support is to be offered by a speech therapy component prepared by specialists, and among the innovative ways of learning, specialists have included language games, the use of humour and visualisations.
As part of the project, an e-book with anti-interference phonetic exercises will be created, aimed at adult Ukrainians learning Polish as a foreign language. It will be supported by texts from Polish popular culture, which will make the teaching process more attractive and effective
– adds the project manager.
The teaching of Polish pronunciation will be integrated with the teaching of Polish culture. The textbook will also demonstrate the need for correct speech in Polish – including the impact of pronunciation on communication effectiveness and respect towards the interlocutor. The recordings for the exercises will be prepared in a radio studio at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz, and voice-overs will be provided by speech therapists and lecturers from the university.
Panorama of Kharkiv
Not only exercises
The task of the project "Nauka fonetyki polskiej przez kulturę (KulFon)" is not limited to developing effective phonetic training. As part of the activities promoting the set of exercises, special webinars for lecturers from Poland and Ukraine will be held. Their goal will be to present ways of working with the materials. The meetings are intended for employees of Polish and Ukrainian universities, as well as for all lecturers from Poland and abroad who teach Polish as a foreign language.
We want exercises set in real communication situations, proving that it is worth putting effort into learning pronunciation. At the same time, it is supposed to be an interesting material, showing Polish popular culture, inspiring and encouraging further exploration!
– concludes Dr Michalina Biernacka.
The project team, in addition to Dr Michalina Biernacka, includes: Dr hab. Beata Grochala, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, Dr Monika Kaźmierczak, Dr Iwona Dembowska-Wosik, Dr Paulina Kaźmierczak, Dr Mateusz Gaze from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz, as well as Dr Sofiia Butko and Dr Inna Litvinova from the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. The project received funding in the amount of PLN 148,868.00 under the "Promotion of the Polish language" programme of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA). The scientists will begin their work in early December 2024 and complete their work after a year, i.e. on 1 December 2025.