Journals of wartime students from Ukraine. An attempt to memorize the world and myself

Abstract

The article analyzes eleven, written in Polish as a target language, journals of students from Ukraine, participants of Polish studies with English, a field of study created at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz in May 2022, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The first part of the article defines the place of the biographical method in various scientific disciplines, with particular emphasis on pedagogy and glottodidactics. The second part of the article is a diary study, in which the following are discussed: the form and structure of student diaries (among others, the volume of notes, titles, introductions, endings of the diaries) and their subject matter. Thematic threads of a retrospective and introspective nature were distinguished, referring to various aspects of the authors’ lives, such as: war (war exodus), cultural, social and linguistic adaptation of students from Ukraine, taking into account their identity and educational issues, personal relations (contact with Poles and other compatriots), self-development, authors’ experiences outside the university (e.g. at work). Each of the key threads has been illustrated with diary quotes. The diaries of people learning Polish as a foreign language have not been the subject of research in Polish language glottodidactics so far. An important goal of this diary study is to show the advantages of using the biographical method in glottodidactic research. The diary research is summarized in the third part of the article. It allowed for a sketch of a collective portrait of students from Ukraine who appeared in the educational space of the University of Lodz due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine in order to try to redefine themselves.