Silesian Monsters. Folk Demonology in Teaching Polish as a Foreign Language

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Details about this monograph
Synopsis
Silesian Monsters. Folk Demonology in Teaching Polish as a Foreign Language uses the glottodactic potential of Silesian tales of supernatural beings. The monograph presents the culture of the Upper Silesia from the perspective of folk demonology, as well as the possibilities of its use in teaching Polish as a foreign language. The publication therefore combines knowledge about Silesian demons with its practical application. Stories about extraordinary characters became an inspiration to tell the contemporary fates of Silesian demons and half-demons. In addition to discussing each of the six demons (Utopek, Skarbek, Bebok, Chabernica and Heksa), the author has written texts about supernatural characters, which served as a basis for developing language exercises. As a result, each chapter contains a story related to a given character and suggestions of tasks to be completed both before and after reading the text (comprehension, vocabulary and grammar exercises, writing and speaking). The last, additional chapter introduces the phenomenon of the character of Bebok in the urban space of Katowice – thanks to the exercises included in this part of the book, foreigners can understand the pop-cultural presence of the demon in the cultural landscape of the Upper Silesia. Silesian Monsters thus fulfill the assumptions of linguistic and cultural competence, according to which learning Polish entails not only the knowledge of the language system, but also of the cultural realities.
