‘They Started School and Then English Crept in at Home’: Insights into the Influence of Forces Outside the Family Home on Family Language Policy Negotiation Within Polish Transnational Families in Ireland
Abstract
1. Introduction
1.1. Language Education Policy in Ireland
1.2. Family Language Policy and Theoretical Framework
1.3. Language Socialisation
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participant Recruitment and Profiles
2.2. Data Collection Methods and Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Parents’ Awareness of Their Children Being Socialised into English Language Use
What I find is that when Kuba is with Polish friends, they speak English. This is common I think for kids from Poland who are living here a long time, maybe ten years because of the school, and they are walking around the house speaking English.(II3)
It’s like in English-speaking countries, English is dominant and all the other languages, even the native languages, don’t matter so much. I think it’s because English is the language people speak and you don’t have to learn another language to do well because everybody in the world is learning English.(Mother, Family B)
When they start the primary school and when they make the Irish friends, this is when they speak so much English and then they get used to this more and more and they spend more time with their friends outside the house.(Mother, Family E)
I got advice from preschool for Zuzanna that I should teach her a little bit of English but I refused. I don’t want to teach incorrect English. I see lots of parents doing this and it’s not good. If they would like their children to have some English words, the children will get them themselves because they have to.(Mother, Family D)
You know Zofia’s teacher in junior infants said to me ‘Can you speak English at home so she will learn it more quickly?’ and my answer was ‘No, we will never do this. Polish is our language and they will need the language for when they are with Polish family.’ Also I was thinking our English is not too good for speaking at home.(Father, Family A)
3.2. Children’s Awareness of English Language Importance and Language Practice Preferences
The majority of my life is now in English. Like, the majority of people I talk to, I talk to in English. Therefore, it just becomes the default. Like, it becomes the language I turn to. I know more words in English and I can express myself better in English. I’ve just been here so much longer. So it’s Polish for the home stuff and English for everything else.(Son, Family E)
I don’t really get the opportunity to speak Polish very often since I’m always out with my friends or in school. I honestly find it easier to speak English since my English is more developed than my Polish.(Son, Family E)
Henryk: I think through English.Malgorzata: And in Polish…no?Henryk: When I think in my head, I always picture in English. I never think through Polish. I don’t think I’ll ever think through Polish.Malgorzata: And of course I think through Polish.Henryk: I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t know why I think in English and not Polish. But it doesn’t bother me at all.(Family C)
It’s easier for me to read and write in English. I would choose to read English books quicker. I read to expand my vocabulary and English I use more often in school, so picking English books is more useful to me for vocabulary.(Daughter, Family A)
When it comes to my brothers, I don’t really use too much Polish. Me and Kacper speak about school, friends, games all the time so it’s very difficult to translate all the words in our heads and talk about the things in Polish when we could just go to the easier alternative and speak English.(Son, Family E)
I have travelled around most of Europe and being able to speak English has been an advantage. I believe that English is a very handy and smart language. It is a very useful language and I think it will really help me in the future.(Son, Family E)
I think English will be great for me in the future if I want to work abroad or travel. My cousins in Poland learn English but they are not so fluent and it would be harder for them to communicate with people like in a work space if they ever work abroad but it’ll be easier for me because loads of people speak English around the world.(Daughter, Family A)
3.3. Children’s Experiences of Polish Language Recognition, Use, and Non-Use in School Settings
There were other kids from Poland in my class and we used to talk Polish together during the break but teachers told us to stop speaking Polish and to use English in the class … It felt so weird because I knew what I wanted to say to them in Polish but to try and say the same in English was tricky. The teachers knew I knew Polish but they probably wanted me to learn English since I was living in Ireland and English is the main language here.(Daughter, Family A)
I had to do lots of translation for the teachers when a new Polish child came or when they needed me to help a younger child. If there was a Polish child crying, they came to me and asked me to talk to the young child in Polish to try help them.(Son, Family E)
I’ve a few Polish friends because I went to Polish school and made friends there. Surprisingly, we speak all Polish because if I spoke English, it would be really awkward to hear us speaking English because we are just used to Polish in Polish school … Another Polish friend I have … I speak to him in English because I know him very well since second class of primary school.(Son, Family C)
3.4. Negotiating Family Language Policy
Kamil, because he is here more years than he was in Poland he prefers to communicate in English … In English he can speak better. He says ‘I use English in school so I am more familiar with it’ … You see I know everything he does is in English now. He goes to the movies. They are in English. He goes to school. Everything is in English. He speaks English with many of his friends. He was eight when he left Poland and he is now 18 years old. English is his language I know.(II2)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Name | Mother or Father | Years in Ireland | Current Occupation | No. of Children | Transcript Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gracja | Mother | 9 years | Fitness instructor | 2 (Ages 4 and 6) | FG |
Marcel | Father | 7 years | Mechanic | 2 (Ages 2 and 5) | FG |
Daria | Mother | 11 years | Stay-at-home mother | 2 (Ages 4 and 8) | FG |
Natalia | Mother | 1 year | Hairdresser | 2 (Ages 6 and 12) | FG |
Patrycja | Mother | 2005–2008 (3 years) 2013–present (4 years) | Stay-at-home mother | 2 (Ages 6 and 12) | FG |
Karina | Mother | 10 years | Chef | 2 (Ages 1 and 7) | FG |
Name | Mother or Father | Years in Ireland | Current Occupation | No. of Children | Transcript Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lidia | Mother | 17 years | Shop assistant | 2 (Ages 11 and 17) | II1 |
Wioletta | Mother | 10 years | Childcare worker | 2 (Ages 5 and 18) | II2 |
Dawid | Father | 11 years | Hotel waiter | 2 (Ages 13 and 16) | II3 |
Judyta | Mother | 12 years | School secretary | 1 (Age 9) | II4 |
Martyna | Mother | 10 years | Part-time shop assistant and part-time student | 2 (Ages 1 and 4) | II5 |
Ewa | Mother | 11 years | Kitchen worker in childcare facility | 2 (Ages 4 and 7) | II6 |
Family Name | Parent’s Name | Years in Ireland | Child’s Name and Age | Current Education | Languages Spoken in the Home |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kowalski (Family A) | Matyas (Father) | 13 years | Zofia Age 16 | Transition Year (Post-primary school) | Polish English |
Sonia (Mother) | 11 years | Agata Age 13 | Second year (Post-primary school) | ||
Lewandowski (Family B) | Hanna (Mother) | 3 years | Ola Age 3 | Preschool | Polish |
Kropkowska (Family C) | Oskar (Father) | 13 years | Henryk Age 17 | Fifth year (Post-primary school) | Polish English |
Malgorzata (Mother) | 12 years | ||||
Mazur (Family D) | Jakub (Father) | 10 years | Zuzanna Age 7 (born in Ireland) | First class (Primary school) | Polish English |
Aneta (Mother) | 10 years | Maja Age 5 (born in Ireland) | Junior infants (Primary school) | ||
Nowak (Family E) | Bozena (Mother) | 13 years | Kacper Age 16 | Transition Year (Post-primary school) | Polish English |
Filip Age 14 | Second year (Post-primary school) | ||||
Bartek (Father) | 12 years | Szymon Age 11 | Fourth class (Primary school) | ||
Antoni Age 5 | Junior infants (Primary school) |
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Connaughton-Crean, L.; Ó Duibhir, P. ‘They Started School and Then English Crept in at Home’: Insights into the Influence of Forces Outside the Family Home on Family Language Policy Negotiation Within Polish Transnational Families in Ireland. Educ. Sci. 2025, 15, 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060732
Connaughton-Crean L, Ó Duibhir P. ‘They Started School and Then English Crept in at Home’: Insights into the Influence of Forces Outside the Family Home on Family Language Policy Negotiation Within Polish Transnational Families in Ireland. Education Sciences. 2025; 15(6):732. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060732
Chicago/Turabian StyleConnaughton-Crean, Lorraine, and Pádraig Ó Duibhir. 2025. "‘They Started School and Then English Crept in at Home’: Insights into the Influence of Forces Outside the Family Home on Family Language Policy Negotiation Within Polish Transnational Families in Ireland" Education Sciences 15, no. 6: 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060732
APA StyleConnaughton-Crean, L., & Ó Duibhir, P. (2025). ‘They Started School and Then English Crept in at Home’: Insights into the Influence of Forces Outside the Family Home on Family Language Policy Negotiation Within Polish Transnational Families in Ireland. Education Sciences, 15(6), 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060732