PolkaNorski

The PolkaNorski project investigated the development of language skills and world knowledge in Polish-Norwegian multilingual children and their monolingual peers in Poland and Norway.

In the PolkaNorski project, we studied the development of language skills and world knowledge in Polish-Norwegian multilingual children and their monolingual peers in Poland and Norway.

We focused on understanding the relationship between children’s language skills, their knowledge of the world, and the linguistic, cultural, and educational environments in which they were growing up. As part of four research work packages, we analyzed data from multilingual Polish-Norwegian children and monolingual Polish and Norwegian children aged 2 to 6 years.

We conducted studies on the language development of monolingual and multilingual children, comparing three language groups (two monolingual: Polish and Norwegian, and one bilingual) and observing their language development trajectory from the age of 2 until the end of preschool age. We also observed and described the brain mechanisms underlying word processing in children. Additionally, we analyzed the influence of the culture in which the children were raised on their language development and their acquisition of knowledge about the natural world.

Furthermore, we sought to answer whether it is possible to effectively support expectant parents so that their future multilingual children have optimal conditions for language development.

We believe that the PolkaNorski project has provided valuable data that enhances our understanding of language and cognitive development in children across various linguistic and cultural environments.