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• Multilingualism and Education
• Copyright page
• List of Contributors
• 1 Humanizing Research(ers) and Understanding How Concepts Evolve in Context
• 2 Become a Teacher-Researcher to Find Your Turkish
• 3 Between Languages, Norms and Social Variations
• 4 Learning to Language, Learning to Live:
• 5 A Retrospective Look at Multi/Pluri/Linguistic Transformations
• 6 Multilingualism as Lived, Felt and Evolving through Dialogue and Melody of Life
• 7 Revisiting the “Plurilingual-Intercultural” Orthodoxy
• 8 The Languages That Started to Flourish in Our Childhood, Developed over Time into Beautiful Blooming Meadows
• 9 On the Borderline between Languages and Knowledge
• 10 Multilingualism as Part of Social Reality
• 11 Some Elements of Family History and Language Biography
• 12 My Trajectory in Languages and Language Learning
• 13 Multilingualism as Norm
• 14 From Patois to Inter-comprehension Issues
• 15 Biography, Linguistic Coexistence, and Epistemological Reflection
• 16 Fighting off Zombies in France’s Multilingual Education
• 17 From Language Planning to the Didactization of Plurilingualism
• 18 A Sociolinguistic Biography and Understandings of Bilingualism
• 19 Experiential and Research Journey
• 20 Multimodality and Multilingualism
• 21 Researching Multilingualism and Language Education across Borders and over Decades
• 22 Possible Selves
• 23 Feeling at Home across Languages, Schools and Countries
• 24 From Monolingual Habitus to Plurilingual Education
• 25 My Path toward Awareness of Languages and Linguistic Diversity
• 26 A Personal Journey
• 27 Cultivating Plurilingual Gardens
• 28 Unbecoming a Monolingual Anglophone
• 29 From Plurilingual Experiences to Pluri-Artistic Practices
• 30 A Personal and Professional Journey to Multilingualism
• 31 Journey towards a Translanguaging Pedagogy for Social Justice
• 32 From Language Biography to a Research Life’s Journey
• 33 My Linguistic Biography
• 34 Travelling Back and Forth between Local Language Variation and Global Multilingualism
• 35 A Reflection on Generational Diaspora and Resulting Linguistic Acclimatization
• 36 On Language(s), Education and Dynamic Language Users

32 - From Language Biography to a Research Life’s Journey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2022

Kelleen Toohey went to school on the Canadian prairies with Ukrainian-Canadian and Cree classmates. Strongly influenced by the civil rights movement, she continued to document diverse cultural practices to give students “voice.” Using video cameras, tripods, storyboards, and video editing software, she continues to enhance enaction in classrooms, including both human and non-human actors.

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• From Language Biography to a Research Life’s Journey
• By Shelley K. Taylor
• Edited by Gail Prasad , York University, Toronto , Nathalie Auger , Emmanuelle Le Pichon Vorstman , University of Toronto
• Book: Multilingualism and Education
• Online publication: 02 June 2022
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009037075.032

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Language shifts in the language biographies of immigrants from Upper Silesia residing in Germany

The main objective of the article is to illustrate how language ideologies and language management at the macro-level (state language policy), micro-level (in families) and meso-level (local communities) influence language change and the conceptualization of multilingualism of immigrants from Upper Silesia residing in Germany. Language biographies of persons from Silesia demonstrate the significant influence of historical and political events on sociolinguistic processes. Original fragments of biographical interviews of the people surveyed constitute an integral part of the text.

1 Introduction

This article presents language biographies of immigrants from Upper Silesia who resides in Germany. Its main objective is to illustrate how language ideologies and language management affect language change. Language ideologies are defined as “any sets of beliefs about language articulated by users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use” ( Silverstein 1979 : 193). Language management is broadly understood as a “behavior-toward-language” ( Fishman 1971 ; Nekvapil and Sherman 2015: 1 ; Nekula in press ). It encompasses decisions and behavior pertaining to language, which result in changes in its structure and use. Changes can be initiated by various actors, both those associated with the authorities, and ordinary language users. Developing this theory, Nekvapil and Sherman stressed the relationship between top-down language management organized by authorities, and bottom-up language management at the level of the family, or individual decisions and actions. They observe that the top-down and bottom-up metaphors make it possible to describe more complicated situations than macro- (state policies) and micro-policies (local policies and activities of families and individuals), because individual actions are often associated with those organized by authorities ( Nekvapil and Sherman 2015 : 2).

An older generation who live in Poland, in the territories that belonged to Germany until 1945. These informants were born before 1945 and the majorities were born in the 1930s.

A younger, middle-aged generation of people born in Poland in the 1950s and 1960s in the same territories, who currently live in Germany. They emigrated in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s.

The study examines bilingual people from these two generations. They have the same linguistic and cultural origins but now live in linguistically different contexts. Their language biographies are closely related to historic events, such as World War II and the profound socio-political transformation in post-war Poland.

By October 2019, the language biographies of 124 bilinguals had been examined, including 20 research participants living in Upper Silesia and 28 research participants born in Upper Silesia and living in Germany at present. Language biographies of the speakers from the latter group are analyzed in this article. They were born in the years 1947–1974 in the prudnicki , kędzierzyńsko-kozielski , raciborski , krapkowicki , zabrzański , opolski , tyski , nyski , świętochłowicki , chorzowski , piekarski , siemianowicki and bielski districts. For around 30 years, they have been living in Germany, in towns and villages in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. They are all Catholics. The interviewees were selected based on the manner and period of their language acquisition, their origins in Upper Silesia, and having lived in Germany for approximately 30 years. The interviews were carried out in a maximally natural setting, most often in respondents’ homes. The conversation started spontaneously in one of the languages, but after an hour the researcher switched the language so that 1 h of the interview was in German and 1 h in Polish. In response, the interlocutor also switched languages. The respondents did not seem to perceive this situation as artificial as they did not comment on this switch to the other language. Thus, all the respondents were interviewed in two languages, Polish and German. Interestingly, some respondents engaging in code-switching in their interviews in Polish, using Silesian words, and sometimes Silesian grammatical structures and phonetic features. These interviews were semi-orthographically transcribed accounting for the Silesian influences on their statements in Polish. The interviews will be incorporated into a large multi-media corpus of Polish-German bilingualism collected as part of the Language across generations: Contact induced change in morpho-syntax in German-Polish bilingual speech project. The corpus will include audiotexts and their transcriptions from the entire area incorporated into Poland in 1945, as well as from different places in Germany. It will include long statements by Polish and German bilinguals. The corpus will be multimodal, combining audio recordings with transcriptions, allowing corpus users to encounter the original speech of bilingual speakers.

2 Theoretical foundations of language biography studies

A language biography is the story of the acquisition and use of languages throughout a person’s life, taking into account the successive phases of life (childhood, youth, adulthood, old age) and events that have influenced the change in that person’s language. Language biographies are reconstructed on the basis of narrative interviews in which multilingual persons talk about their experiences related to different languages ( Franceschini and Miecznikowski 2004 : XII). The essence of studies on language biographies is to see language phenomena from the perspective of the speakers, especially their subjective experiences, emotions, as well as wishes, desires, fears and perceptions related to language ( Busch 2013 : 17, 2016 : 2). A multilingual speaker is the object of study and its central category. The linguistic reality is presented from their individual perspective in the first person ( Busch 2013 : 8–9, 2016 : 5).

The method of biographical interview, which is the origin of language biography studies, is part of the paradigm whereby the subjective vision of the world of the investigated persons is examined, i.e., the anthropological paradigm of emic rather than etic . The emic attitude applied in anthropological studies originates from the concept of the humanistic factor developed by Florian Znaniecki, the founder of humanistic sociology and co-author of a study entitled The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (), which was fundamental for the sociology of labor. The procedure of the open interview is explained in the book L’entretien compréhensif ( 2016 ) by Jean-Claude Kaufmann, who refers to Anselm Strauss’s grounded theory, ethnomethodology, Max Weber’s sociology of understanding and Pierre Bourdieu’s works. Kaufmann argues with the classic interpretation of sociological methods which devalues qualitative methods, focusing on quantitative methods and surveys instead. The study of language biographies under the above-mentioned project refer to Kaufmann’s concept.

While the biographical turn dates back to the early 1980s, linguists carried out studies within this research paradigm even earlier. The first studies of biographical material by linguists examined the development of bilingualism in their own children in the first half of the twentieth century ( Leopold 1939–1949 ; Ronjat 1913 ). In 1934–1935, Halina Turska conducted sociolinguistic field research in Poland, in the Vilnius area (today, this territory is in Lithuania). Based on biographical interviews with the representatives of three generations of inhabitants of many villages, she found that the Polish-language areas had emerged as a result of a language change which took place in the young generation of Lithuanian peasants at the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century ( Turska 1995 : 34). Women played a leading role in the process of language change ( Turska 1995 : 35). Halina Turska can therefore be considered a forerunner of the studies on language biographies and historical sociolinguistics. Linguists have also used their own experience of bilingualism as a topic of academic reflection, as shown by the articles by Anna Wierzbicka (1990 , 1997) . This linguist, an emigrant from Poland living in Australia, analyzes her own bilingualism, which she sees as living in two worlds. The experience of one’s own bilingualism has also become a literary theme in the famous book Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language ( Hoffman 1998 ) by an American writer from Kraków, Eva Hoffman. The author describes the development of her own bilingualism related to emigration. Studies are developing with particular intensity in German-speaking countries, where they are based on sociological works, primarily those of Fritz Schütze (1983 among others) , Martin Kohli (1981 among others) and Gabriele Rosenthal (1995 ; 2006) . The results of studies on language biographies in various parts of the world are presented in the monograph by Johanna Miecznikowski and Rita Franceschini (2004) .

Language biographies are the life stories of multilingual speakers. For example, Michał Głuszkowski presents the language biographies of bilingual Russian Old Believers living in Poland in the Suwałki-Sejny region ( Głuszkowski 2011 ). He describes language biography as the whole of the development stages relevant to the particular idiolect of a person. He analyzes the psycho-sociolinguistic development of the individual, including subsequent stages of their life ( Głuszkowski 2011 : 127). The same current is represented by Katharina Meng’s works on the Russian Germans ( Meng 2004 ). Language biographies are constructed on the basis of data contained in interviews, participant observations and field study notes. According to Meng, a language biography is a systemic presentation of a person’s linguistic development divided into the subsequent stages of their life and taking into account the social context. Within this research approach, particular attention is given to the processes related to the acquisition, use, change and loss of languages in a politico-social context. Each of these processes can be observed, on the one hand, in the individual phases of one’s life and, on the other, in the social space, which can be divided using the domain method (e.g., family, neighborhood, religion, work, etc.) ( Fishman 1964 ). It is usually assumed that family is the central domain, as it is the first language environment of every person.

3 The history of Upper Silesia

The language biographies of immigrants from Upper Silesia are greatly influenced by historical and political events. Upper Silesia is a heterogeneous multicultural and multilingual region that is today situated in both Poland and the Czech Republic. It is the part of Silesia located on the Upper Oder, and in Poland it encompasses the areas around cities such as Opole, Racibórz, Koźle, Głubczyce, Gliwice, Bytom and Katowice. Over the ages, its dynastic and political borders, alongside statehood, have changed many times. In the nineteenth century, most of it belonged to Prussia, which is why it was incorporated into a united Germany in 1871. After World War I, Upper Silesia was in the territories of three countries: the German Reich, the Republic of Poland and Czechoslovakia ( Linek 2015 : 379). The beginnings of the distinction between Lower and Upper Silesia date back to the fifteenth century. In the eighteenth century, Upper Silesia, where a Silesian version of the Polish language was spoken, began to stand for backwardness in German discourse, as a result of religious (Upper Silesians are mostly Catholics) and linguistic differences ( Linek 2015 : 380–381). During the long period of Silesia being incorporated into the German state, German use increased significantly, also entering those language domains where Silesian was previously dominant. What was important in this respect was that Polish was removed from schools, and compulsory teaching in German was introduced in 1872, which resulted in a gradual increase in bilingualism even among the rural population, who previously would often speak only Silesian ( Choroś 2015 : 70; Matuschek 1997 : 110).

As a result, Upper Silesians from regions in the east were usually bilingual and spoke both German and Silesian. For the studies carried out as part of the project, the period after World War II is significant, when Silesia (previously part of Germany) was incorporated into Poland. From the turn of 1944/45, the remaining German population and German language was the target of a repressive policy of the Polish state and supported by the Polish community. In the post-war years, Poles wanted to retaliate and obtain compensation for the harm they had suffered during World War II. It was widely believed that Germans should be interned and displaced, and that German should be eradicated ( Kacprzak 2010 : 215). Shortly after the war, about three million Germans were displaced from Poland and only qualified specialists were kept who were needed in industry. People who could prove the Polish origin of their families were also allowed to stay; however, all of them underwent cultural and linguistic polonization ( Madajczyk 1998 : 66–67). The campaign to erase everything that was German was carried out by regional authorities in all areas incorporated into Poland, but it was the most intensive in the Śląskie Region ( Kacprzak 2010 : 230), which before 1950 also comprised the majority of today’s Opolskie Region – the pre-war Opole district. In order to determine who was Polish and who was German, the nationality of the indigenous population from the territories incorporated into Poland was investigated. Speaking Polish was one of the decisive criteria for Polishness, sometimes limited to the knowledge of the text of a prayer ( Kneip 2000 : 164; Madajczyk and Berlińska 2008 : 549). Madajczyk and Berlińska observe that “borderland communities were treated instrumentally – the incorporation of Silesians and Masurians into the Polish nation served as an additional argument to legitimize the shift of the western border” ( Madajczyk and Berlińska 2008 : 240). Following the trend to establish nation-states, the authorities emphasized the de-germanization of the incorporated areas, that is the removal of all traces of German, consisting of the massive polonization of names and surnames, the ban on German names, the elimination of German from public and private life, the removal of traces of German culture in the form of German names, inscriptions, tombstones, and the destruction of German books. All forms of association with the German culture and people were persecuted by various sanctions – fines, detention, imprisonment in camps, dismissal from work or resettlement to Germany ( Linek 1997 : 74). According to Madajczyk and Berlińska, “the removal of German traces had the intended effect at the turn of 1948/1949. Although not entirely removed, they were no longer a visible part of the cultural landscape” ( Madajczyk and Berlińska 2008 : 564). After massive displacements to Germany immediately after the war, the population structure continued to change in Silesia. New inhabitants settled down in Silesia, mainly from the former Polish eastern regions incorporated into the Soviet Union, as well as settlers from other parts of Poland destroyed during the war. Apart from the tens of thousands of Germans needed in industry, Lower Silesia became inhabited by an entirely immigrant population, while the Silesian population, which identified as Polish during the verification operation, remained in Upper Silesia ( Karch 2018 : 274, 290). The newcomers lived here alongside the former residents ( Karch 2018 : 287; Madajczyk 1998 : 67; Madajczyk and Berlińska 2008 : 524). The new inhabitants were generally hostile towards the Upper Silesians, clearly considering them to be Germans. The social situation of the indigenous inhabitants of Upper Silesia was therefore very difficult. This, along with various other reasons (family reunion, financial situation, nationality), increased their desire to leave Poland. In 1949–1954 alone, almost 100,000 people left Poland for Germany under the family reunion campaign ( Madajczyk 1998 : 87). The number of immigrants remained high in the years that followed: “By February 1959, 253,130 people had left, including all the intelligentsia” ( Madajczyk 1998 : 95). In the 1970s, pursuant to the Gierek-Schmidt agreement, another 120,000–125,000 persons were permitted to leave for Germany in exchange for a business loan granted to Poland. Over 47,000 people left for Germany from the Opolszczyzna alone. The name Opolszczyzna refers to the Opole Region (Pl.: województwo opolskie ). It spread after World War II and the influx of persons displaced from the Eastern Borderlands ( Linek 2015 : 382). The wave of departures grew stronger again starting in mid-1981 ( Madajczyk 1998 : 104–108). This is the period (the 1980s and early 1990s) when most of the respondents interviewed in this article left Poland. A total of over 1.5 million people used the opportunity to leave for Germany between 1950 and 2005 ( Lasatowicz and Weger 2008 : 149).

The immigrants from Upper Silesia form part of a very large group named Aussiedler in German law, in accordance with the German Federal Law on Expellees ( Bundesvertriebenengesetz , BVFG) ( Dietz 2011 ). This term is explained by Barbara Dietz:

The term Aussiedler was coined in the early 1950s as the influx of German minorities from east-central and southeastern Europe and the Soviet Union continued after the flight and expulsion during the immediate postwar years had come to an end. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (Article 116, paragraph 1) guarantees the admission of these persons as German citizens: ‘Unless otherwise provided by a law, a German within the meaning of this Constitution is a person who possesses German citizenship or who has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries to the territory of December 31, 1937 as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such person.’ Decisive for admission as Aussiedler are the ‘German ethnicity’ of the immigrants and the ‘expulsion pressure’ in their county of origin” ( Dietz 2011 : 245).

Immigrants from Upper Silesia being included in the group of Aussiedler is fundamental for the topic of the language shift discussed here. The German policy towards Aussiedler aimed at their complete integration into German society:

Since the beginning of the immigration of Aussiedler , it was a political goal in Germany to ease and promote the integration of this group, something that had already been laid down programmatically in the immediate postwar period for refugees and expellees. Along with the granting of German citizenship to Aussiedler , this attitude led to the privileged admission of this group of immigrants ( Dietz 2011 : 248). The actions promoting the integration of this group include considerable social support and financing language courses. Even though the financial means earmarked for the integration of Aussiedler dwindled in the 1990s, this group was socially and financially privileged compared to other immigrants ( Dietz 2011 : 248).

In our project, we do not use the category of ethnicity essential to the definition of the Aussiedler , and neither do we use the categories of nationality. The Silesian identity is a complex structure which is examined via the interviews ( Księżyk in press ). For the same reason, we also do not use the term Aussiedler , which was created for political purposes, but prefer the more general term immigrants .

4 Language change in Upper Silesia after 1945

Even before the 1945 border shift, many inhabitants of Upper Silesia knew Silesian, but it was not widely spoken, especially in the cities. The extent to which it was spoken depended also on individual factors, such as origin, occupation or social group ( Kneip 2000 : 160). The statements in the interviews we collected show that Silesian can be considered a separate language, e.g.,:

Silesian is sometimes called Wasserpolnisch  – ‘diluted Polish’ in German. Yet, some respondents do not make a distinction between Silesian and Polish in their accounts, which creates interpretational problems.

Current studies on Silesian indicate an increasingly clear trend of Silesian becoming emancipated and officialized. Nevertheless, the attempts to include Silesian in the Law on national and ethnic minorities and regional languages ( Ustawa o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym ) have so far been futile ( Michna 2019 : 59). While scholars are divided on the matter of the officialization of Silesian, the idea of an independent Silesian ethnolect has been winning supporters among linguists and sociologists. Speakers of Silesian are also becoming increasingly convinced of the fact that Silesian is an entity independent from Polish ( Jaroszewicz 2019a : 141–142). In the latest census, over 500,000 people living in Poland indicated Silesian as a language used at home ( Gudaszewski 2015 : 69). Silesian was also the main mother tongue indicated by the interviewees (140,000), second only to Polish ( Gudaszewski 2015 : 82; Kamusella 2016 : 90). The proponents of the officialization of Silesian emphasize objective conditions in favor of elevating Silesian to the level of a language, such as the fact that the Silesian ethnolect has been listed as a separate entity on the official list of languages acknowledged by the International Organization for Standardization; they also indicate that Silesian operates in a majority of functional language areas, which definitely goes beyond the framework of dialectal creativity, and to the standardization and codification attempts taken with respect to Silesian in the Cieszyn principles of Silesian orthography ( Jaroszewicz 2019b : 27, 32; Michna 2019 : 59; Wyderka 2018 : 9). Given the above, the fact that Silesian has not been recognized as an official language is interpreted in political terms ( Kamusella 2016 : 109). However, Hentschel takes a neutral position on this matter and recommends that Silesian be treated as a (regio-)lect, thereby supporting the use of a politically neutral term, and argues that Silesian is transforming into a micro-language, thus being neither a prototypical dialect nor a prototypical language ( Hentschel 2018 : 43, 62).

Our interviews showed that there were differences between the families from cities/towns and rural families. People from urban environments (Gogolin, Klodnitz [now Kłodnica], Oberglogau [now Głogówek], Proskau [now Prószków], Oppeln [now Opole]) frequently mentioned that, before 1945, their families and surroundings spoke only German, and their family members did not come into contact with Polish or Silesian until after the war, although some respondents believed that their parents might have known Silesian. They were therefore monolingual. In contrast only a few inhabitants of rural areas reported that they were monolingual (for example Himmelwitz [now Jemielnica], Bierdzan [now Bierdzany], Josefsgrund [now Józefów], Norok [now Narok]). The rural population was mostly bilingual. They reported that before World War II, they spoke Silesian at home (Niesnaschin [now Nieznaszyn], Comprachtschütz [now Komprachcice], Mechnitz [now Mechnica], Groß Döbern [now Dobrzeń Wielki], Trawnig [now Trawniki], Straduna [now Stradunia], Friedersdorf [now Biedrzychowice]), while German was spoken in official domains. All the villages mentioned here, where our respondents come from, lie east of the line drawn by Wiesinger and showing the extent of the Polish language before World War II. The inhabitants of these villages, similar to our interviewees, were mostly bilingual, while the population west of the marked language border was mostly monolingual and spoke German dialects ( Księżyk 2017 : 24; Wiesinger 1983 : 818). This is evidenced by the biography of one of our informants (XL_MÜN). By the age of six, that is until 1970, he lived in the village of Biedrzychowice where people spoke Silesian, although everybody knew German:

He knows this from the tales of his uncle, who lives in Berlin at present. This was the case both during the childhood of this informant and the pre-war times. This statement is confirmed by a local history researcher, Johannes Preisner, who quotes the census which shows that the majority of the rural population was bilingual at the beginning of the twentieth century: “In the census of December 1, 1910, there were 164 inhabited houses and one uninhabited building and a population of 1,233 persons in Friedersdorf. Of these 520 were male and 713 were female. […] Among the people in the census, 51 spoke only German, 307 only Polish and 875 spoke both German and Polish. 12 persons were of Slavic nationality, who came from Galicia and Russia” ( Preisner 2009 : 123). Interestingly, compared to 1905, the number of Polish-speaking monolingual persons dropped significantly, while the number of bilingual persons almost doubled ( Preisner 2009 : 124). In the following part of the interview, the informant XL_MÜN admits that it was different in the town of Głogówek, to which the informant moved when he had turned six. German was spoken there, though the indigenous people also understood Silesian. From the stories of his mother, who worked as a shop assistant for some time, he knows that German was often spoken in Głogówek even after 1945 (in the 1950s). This is also confirmed by an analysis of the comments made by the authorities in the 1950s, in which Głogówek often appears in connection with the use of the German language there and was even named ‘second Berlin’ ( Dawid 2020 : 368).

Repressions against speaking German, and the ban on teaching German in schools in the opolskie and katowickie regions (names of regions as in the 1950 administrative division) which was in force until 1989, thoroughly changed the linguistic situation in Upper Silesia. For fear of sanctions and discrimination, German was no longer used, and was replaced with Silesian or Polish. This is illustrated by the accounts of the interviewees who point out that in families with many children the language sometimes changed within a few years. Therefore, older children were still socialized in German, and their younger siblings were raised speaking Silesian or Polish. This is shown in several interviews:

The following fragment of the interview also shows the quick change from German to Polish or Silesian:

The breaking of the language continuum in families was a consequence of top-down language management. It should be firmly emphasized here once again that the break in the generational transmission of German was not a voluntary act rooted in one’s attitudes, but the outcome of a brutal anti-German policy enforced by the Polish state ( Kamusella 2011 : 773). This policy was highly effective, as the use of German was discouraged by the establishment of camps for the German-speaking population ( Karch 2018 : 259, 276–278; Madajczyk and Berlińska 2008 : 273–309). One such camp operated in Gliwice from 1947 to 1949. People could find themselves in the camp for merely speaking German ( Linek 2000 : 363–367). Our interviewees can still recall their families suffering harsh penalties for speaking German:

The older generation, those born before 1945, possess more vivid, and frequently more painful memories.

German became a secret language used by the older generation to talk about topics not intended for children. This is evidenced by the statements:

Using German as a secret language was practiced in many families, including other regions in western Poland. Such a specialization of language function is a symptom of breaking the generational language continuum in families.

In some families, children were taught prayers in German, but in later years they no longer prayed in German:

In this context, the change of the language situation in Upper Silesia, also in the religious sphere should be mentioned. Church schematisma (directories) show that in the nineteenth century Polish was used in pastoral work in most Upper Silesian parishes, with the exception of a few districts such as Leobschütz [Głubczyce after 1945] and Grottkau [Grodków after 1945]. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the division into masses and services celebrated in the Polish or German language in many parishes ( Kurpiers 2015 : 73). This allowed the congregation to participate in services corresponding to their language competences and preferences. National languages at that time were used for praying and singing, because the masses were celebrated in Latin, which did not change until after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Especially after Hitler came to power in 1933, the use of German in the parochial ministry systematically increased, and in 1939 Polish was removed from the liturgy altogether ( Hanich 2008 : 52–53). Another radical unification of the language used in pastoral ministry took place in 1945, when the Polish state authorities ordered the Church to celebrate services exclusively in Polish. The ban on the use of German in the religious sphere was particularly strict in the villages and towns where the population spoke Silesian ( Hanich 2008 : 61–63). This caused extraordinary difficulties for both the population and priests attached to specific rites. This is illustrated by the following quote:

In Szymiszów, Strzelce Opolskie district, in May 1945, during the mass the priest announced in Polish which songs would be sung (three in Polish and two in Latin). Yet the young people sang two songs that were to be sung in Polish ( Jesus, Jesus, come to me and Rejoice, Queen of Heaven ) in German, probably not knowing the lyrics in Polish. […] After the end of 1945, the state authorities made efforts to remove Fr. Dean Leon Szal (another spelling of the name Schall). The priest’s problems began on November 11, when he translated the most important points of the pastoral letter to the faithful who did not understand Polish, and read the gospel to them in this [German – A.Z., F.K.] language. As he explained, the ban issued by the local authorities in Prudnik in early June applied only to songs and sermons in German. […] Finally, at the end of 1946, the authorities of the region decided to expel the priest to Germany ( Linek 2000 : 131).

Our interviewees also say that from 1945 to the 1989 breakthrough it was not possible to use German in the life of the Church. One of the informants admits that the priest preparing him for receiving the First Holy Communion was bilingual:

He categorically denies, however, that the priest would make use of it:

Gościęcin – a parish including Trawniki, the home village of the informant KI_WIM – was a German speech island before 1945. Most of its inhabitants were resettled to Germany after World War II and replaced by the displaced persons from the neighborhood of Lviv.

Another interviewee points out that also priests from Silesian families did not always meet the religious needs of native residents, and the Catholic Church was becoming a national institution:

Such attitudes were related to the fact that “the Polish state treated the Church as an object of national policy” ( Linek 2000 : 111).

Language macro-management exercised by the state through issuing a ban on the use of German in all spheres, translated into micro-management at the family level, also leading to the elimination of this language.

Admittedly, one of the founders of first German minority organizations in the Opolskie Region, Johann Kroll, claimed that “With Gomułka [Władysław Gomułka – the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party and the actual leader of the country in 1956–1970 – A.Z., F.K.] the polonization pressure eased, people could speak German among themselves, but children were not allowed to learn our language in schools” ( Kroll and Kalicki 1991 : 130), but it was more common for families to succumb to the pressure and not pass the language on to children ( Ogiolda 2018 : 19). This resulted in a generation gap when it came to knowing German. The opportunity for minority education did not appear until after the 1989 political breakthrough.

The interviews show that the German-speaking families began to use Silesian much more often than Polish. Speaking in Silesian, however, caused further problems. The main goal of the language policy in the whole of post-war Poland was to eradicate dialects. This was associated with political processes pursuing the cultural unification of all inhabitants of the country and ensuring the political, economic and cultural dominance of the ruling elite ( Gajda 2001 : 209), not only by removing non-Polish elements, but also by eliminating regional differentiation ( Kneip 2000 : 174). For this reason, the command of the standard Polish language was indispensable for social promotion. After World War II, for the first time in Polish history, a nationwide community was formed that included all classes and social strata, including peasants. A high position in the ethos of this community was attributed to literary language. In the 1940s–1970s, the number of users of this prestigious language variation increased. The massification of literary language in Poland led to internal qualitative changes and transformations in the system of language variations ( Gajda 2001 ). Silesian was tolerated, but its low prestige was stressed at the same time. Speaking Silesian was persecuted in schools first and foremost, in line with the ideology of the linguistic unification of the country. One respondent remembers that students were pressured to refrain from speaking Silesian:

Failure to comply with language ideologies which privilege majority languages is usually the reason for the negative lived experience of language , associated with shame ( Busch 2013 : 18–19, Busch 2015 ). Shame arises when a speaker realizes that they have violated a linguistic or social norm by using a language considered socially unacceptable. Children were made to feel ashamed for speaking Silesian at school, which is evidenced by numerous statements about the language at school, e.g.,:

The same informant said that due to her being Silesian she was harassed in high school by other students and a Polish language teacher:

The above quotation shows that using Silesian was associated with having a German origin, which triggered insults referring to Nazism and war criminals.

Despite the state’s language policy aimed at eliminating Silesian, speakers from Upper Silesia are emotionally connected with it. Silesian is an indicator of Upper Silesian identity, as evidenced by fragments of interviews, such as:

Such a positive attitude stems from language meso-ideologies, which are contrary to the state macro-ideology in the Silesian community. Language macro-ideologies should be understood as a complex of beliefs, judgments, and concepts regarding or shaping the perception of languages and their users, which are shared in the area that transcends national, ethnic or linguistic borders. Internalized by persons from different social groups, language macro-ideologies directly or indirectly affect a large part of society. They change over time, but they are long-term structures overall. The macro-ideology in Poland says that people living in one country should have one common language and, vice versa , people who speak one language should have their own country. This is also known as the territorial principle. The territorial principle is an ideology that associates a particular language with a particular land, which produces subordination of other languages ( Piller 2016 , 35). Language meso-ideologies are spread across narrow social groups, in small areas ( Turner 2012 ). The meso-ideology in Upper Silesia says that Silesians should speak Silesian, and thus there is tension between the top-down language management organized by state and that organized by local, bottom-up management.

5 Language change after migration to Germany

While the autobiographical interviews of the people born before 1945 show that their socialization before the end of World War II was either monolingual in German or bilingual – in German and Silesian, the representatives of the generation born after 1945 often did not know German before leaving for Germany. The transmission of German in their families was interrupted to the extent that the people who went to Germany as adults learned German from scratch in language courses, and sometimes they never developed good language skills. This is especially true for people who did not pursue any education in Germany, apart from language courses, as well as for those who live in Silesian endogamous marriages, who usually speak Polish or Silesian at home, and have little contact with German due to their occupation. Several examples of how these speakers assess their language competence follow:

A lack of knowledge of German generated a lot of frustration and problems at the beginning of the interviewees’ stay in Germany, e.g.,:

Polish was used in private, and German in external contacts:

In the following fragment of the interview, the informant talking about the use of language in his mother’s family home in Upper Silesia draws an analogy to the language practices used in his family in Germany:

In endogamous marriages, where both spouses come from Poland, Silesian dominates in their communication, although they also speak Polish and German, in various configurations. Several examples follow.

The informant in the last quotation is trying to illustrate how she and her husband talk using the example of the verb wylyszować – ‘to delete’. She is integrating the German verb löschen – ‘to delete, erase’ into the Polish language, attaching the Polish infinitive ending and a prefix wy- . Thereby a hybrid wylyszować emerges, which the speaker classifies as part of neither the Polish nor German language systems. In the opinion of the speaker, by mixing the two codes the spouses are simplifying their communication.

Multilingualism and language mixing were practiced in everyday life:

In the last sentence, the verb lyszować ‘to delete, erase’ refers to the speaker’s mixing languages when communicating with her husband. She gives this word as an example of mixing languages.

6 Language practices pertaining to the next generation born in Germany

While communication between spouses is spontaneous, German is consciously chosen for conversations with children. The same applies also to the children of close relatives, or the entire generation that was born in Germany. Only in isolated cases did one or both parents use Polish or Silesian in conversations with their children, either due to their insufficient competence in German

The biographical interviews collected show that, in some cases, the spouses’ speaking Silesian and Polish turned out to be sufficient for their children to acquire the ability to communicate in these languages. As a result, they can speak Polish or Silesian when visiting Poland, e.g.,:

We know from interviews that some of the adult children of our informants have decided to learn or improve their Polish as part of study exchanges at universities in Poland, others on language courses, for instance, the daughter of one of the interviewees:

The change of language in many families also pertained to the sphere of religion. Some immigrants have an opportunity to participate in masses in Polish, but they do not take advantage of it. Usually, the decision is made for practical reasons, one being the distance from the church and the other – the conviction that they can pray in German, so they are not interested in the mass in Polish. This is illustrated by one of the respondents from Lambrecht:

The above quote features another important topic of children’s participation in religious life. It is because of the children, first and foremost, that the respondent participates in masses in German. This is in line with the already mentioned policy of raising children in the majority language.

7 The conceptualization of multilingualism

The interviewees conceptualize their multilingualism as part of socially and politically grounded language ideologies. There are two main language ideologies in Europe that have been historically significant for the process of modernization and formation of nation-states in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One is the belief in language standardization, and the other is monolingualism ( Farr and Song 2011 ). According to these ideologies, which are mutually related and complement each other, an ideal person speaks one standardized language. The conviction about the value of monolingualism, and the resulting belief that multilingualism is harmful in education, is the reason for choosing the language of the state, the majority and socially dominant language, to communicate with children. That is why the immigrants from Silesia have spoken German with their children despite their poor language skills. The following illustrates the power of the ideology of monolingualism:

The ideology of multilingualism was associated with the strong conviction about the need for assimilation:

The interviewees express fears that they may be harassed because of speaking Polish:

The interviewees have observed that the attitude towards bilingualism has changed recently. The following comments refer to changes in language ideologies and the formation of a positive image of bilingualism in Germany:

As a consequence, some interviewees consider their decision to speak with their children only in German to be a mistake in retrospect:

8 Conclusion

The article presents the impact of language ideologies and language policies on the change of the language of immigrants from Silesia living in Germany. Language ideologies are systems of beliefs about language widely acknowledged in a given society, and the most widespread of which are unquestioned ( Chromik 2014 : 69; Wolfram 1998 : 109). Ideologies operate as a doxa  – the convictions and truths, or conventional opinions, about what the social order should be, that are believed to be natural and binding, therefore they are neither discussed nor examined, they are taken for granted. Language ideologies have causative power; they can determine whether a language will be preserved or lost and even affect its structures ( Chromik 2014 : 68; Jaffe 1999 ). In this way, language ideologies are a bond between social structures and language. They influence the formation of the social standard of linguistic behavior in multilingual communities. They determine the value of languages and classify them as correct or incorrect . Moreover, whether or not a person speaks correctly determines how they feel. Brigitta Busch has introduced the term Spracherleben , ‘lived experience of language,’ to linguistics ( 2013 : 18–20). Lived experience of language is related to the emotions felt when communicating in a language: does a person feel fully themselves then, or do they have the impression that they are an actor on stage, or another person? Do they feel accepted or, the other way round, they feel ashamed and fear rejection? Do they feel strong and efficient, or rather weak and ineffective? Busch points out that the emotional experience of language use has been a neglected aspect of studies on multilingualism, as researchers have rather focused their attention on language competence and other measurable parameters. Each lived experience of language is individual and arises in a particular situation.

In this paper the material collected makes it possible to distinguish the main themes and topics that recur in many autobiographical narratives, including those of lived experience of language . The interviews with immigrants from Upper Silesia share several narrative themes which are important to the interviewees because they are always related to their personal encounters, experiences and feelings. That is why the stories about language experiences are turning points in language biographies.

The first topic recurring in the interviews concerns the language change that occurred in the generation of their grandparents and parents after 1945. This change was an outcome of historical and social circumstances in which the territory where they lived had been transferred from one state to another, at the same time their language change occurred in traumatic post-war conditions of coercion and terror. Language policy is a system of laws and rules implementing language ideologies that are desirable from the point of view of the authorities, and the goal of state language policy at that time was to eliminate German quickly and completely. Therefore top-down language management was performed through intimidation, punishment, and discrimination against German speakers. As a result German-speaking inhabitants of Silesia decided to rapidly change the language spoken in their families. This resulted in intergenerational language transmission being interrupted.

The second topic concerns the lack of knowledge of German. The immigrants leaving for Germany did not know the language of their ancestors and learning German at language courses did not ensure full and satisfactory command of the language. For this reason, in the first phase of their stay in Germany, the dominant feeling associated with language was shame. The immigrants sought full assimilation with German society, and their lack of perfect command of German was a serious obstacle in these endeavors. Thus, the ideology of monolingualism was in line with the ideology of assimilation. The third topic is language planning focusing on children. Teaching children German was the goal of language management in families. That is why the immigrants, although they had not mastered the language themselves, spoke German to their children. Paradoxically, they passed on a language they had only recently learned while not seeking to pass on Polish or Silesian, in which they were raised themselves, to the younger generation.

The collected biographical interviews show that language change is associated with the change of state and of the state language, and results from the hegemony of language ideologies which combine nationality and loyalty to the state with the use of one majority language. There is a significant difference between the change of the language from German to Silesian or Polish in the Silesian community in Poland after 1945, and the change of the language from Silesian and Polish to German after emigration to Germany. The former was a top-down change, initiated and organized by state authorities using brutal methods. The participants were forced to change their language. On the other hand, the change of language in Germany was a bottom-up change initiated by the bilingual speakers themselves with state support. The dramatic history of the families surveyed has come full circle because they have returned to communicating in German.

List of informants quoted

male living in Gemmingen, born in Koźle in 1960, he left in 1988

male living in München, born in Prudnik in 1964, he left in 1987

male living in Wimbuch, born in Koźle in 1968, he left in 1991

male living in Lambrecht, born in Polska Cerekiew in 1964, he left in 1991

female living in Lambrecht, born in Koźle in 1970, she left in 1990

male living in Wuppertal, born in Biedrzychowice in 1964, he left in 1990

male living in Bielefeld, born in Głogówek in 1962, he left in 1988

female living in Paderborn, born in Krapkowice in 1968, she left in 1990

male living in Lübeck, born in Koźle in 1961, he left in 1981

female living in Bielefeld, born in Głogówek in 1965, she left in 1979

female living in Hattingen, born in Głogówek in 1965, she left in 1989

male living in Steinen, born in Głogówek in 1965, he left in 1988

male living in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, born in Cosel in 1940

female living in Opole, born in Oppeln in 1939

Funding source: Narodowe Centrum Nauki

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2016/23/G/HS2/04369

Research funding: The paper was written within the framework of the research project entitled Language across generations: Contact induced change in morpho-syntax in German-Polish bilingual speech , financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, project no. 2016/23/G/HS2/04369, carried out at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences.

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European Language Portfolio (ELP)

• Guide to compiling an ELP

What is the European Language Portfolio?

It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences.  

Its main aims are:

• to help learners give shape and coherence to their experience of learning and using languages other than their first language
• to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their language skills at all levels
• to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad)

In a European Language Portfolio (ELP) all competence is valued, regardless whether gained inside or outside of formal education. In addition:

• The ELP is the property of the learner
• It is linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
• It conforms to a common set of Principles and Guidelines that have been approved by the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern Languages ( see Recommendation N° R (98) 6 ).

The components of an ELP

All ELPs are divided into three parts:

• The Language Passport
• The Language Biography
• The Dossier

Learners can use each of these according to their particular needs in their different learning contexts. The three different parts do not have to be placed in the order above.

All ELPs adhere to terminological conventions and standard headings and rubrics as specified by the Council of Europe.

The headings and rubrics must be presented in at least one of the official languages of the Council of Europe (English or French) in addition to any other languages.

This means that all ELPs are required to use:

• the titles European Language Portfolio/Portfolio européen des langues, Language passport/Passeport de langues, Language biography/Biographie langagière and Dossier
• the common reference levels and skills of the Common European Framework of Reference .
• English and/or French in addition to any other languages for the key headings in the three parts.

Compiling an ELP

It is now possible to put together an ELP model using the set of Templates and resources supplied by the Council of Europe. Before selecting from the templates and resources, however, you are advised to read the following notes on the ELP in general and its three parts.

Before embarking on the development of a new model, you should consider the needs of your particular target group of learners and check that there is not an existing model that you could use or draw on.

You should consider the following points in relation to the needs of the target group and the educational context in which the model is to be used:

• the age of the learners (with consequences for the design of the model, the language of the instructions, etc. and the examples given in the checklists, etc.)
• the context of learning (with consequences for the way you treat formal and informal learning, the checklists, the types of reflective task, etc.)
• the sociolinguistic context (with consequences for your choice of languages used in the headings and instructions, the types of example and illustration you select, etc.)

Introduction to the ELP and the Council of Europe

Every ELP model must contain one of the template texts about the Council of Europe. There are two to choose from. The texts are usually placed in the Language Passport (see below).

• Text about the Council of Europe for older learners
• Text about the Council of Europe for young learners

Every model should also contain an introduction to the ELP. Developers should consider whether to use the template provided or to write their own:

• Text about the ELP

• Aim of an ELP
• Principles, Guidelines and the CEFR
• Overview of CEFR-related scales
• Self-Assessment Grid
• Templates of the 3 parts of a ELP

Language Policy Portal www.coe.int/lang

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Yiddish: Biography of a Language

Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies

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This book provides an introduction to Yiddish, the foundational vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews, both as a subject of interest in its own right and for the distinctive issues that Yiddish raises for the study of languages generally, including language diaspora, language fusion, multilingualism, language ideologies, and postvernacularity. By approaching the study of Yiddish through the rubric of a biography, rather than following a more conventional chronological, geographical, or ideological approach, this book examines the story of Yiddish thematically. Each chapter addresses a different “biographical” topic concerning the character of the language and how it has been conceptualized, ranging across time, space, and speech communities. These chapters interrelate discussions of the language’s origins, characteristics, and development with the dynamics of its implementation in Ashkenazi culture from the Middle Ages to the present. These thematic chapters also examine the symbolic investments that Jews and others have made in Yiddish over time, which are key to understanding both general perceptions and scholarly analyses of the language, especially in the modern period.

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Yiddish: Biography of a Language 1st Edition

• ISBN-10 0190651962
• ISBN-13 978-0190651961
• Edition 1st
• Publisher Oxford University Press
• Publication date October 19, 2020
• Language English
• Dimensions 9.3 x 1 x 6.3 inches
• Print length 264 pages
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (October 19, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0190651962
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0190651961
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1 x 6.3 inches
• #162 in Judaism (Books)
• #273 in Jewish Holidays (Books)
• #3,319 in Linguistics Reference

About the author

Jeffrey shandler.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Language biographies for multilingual learning Brigitta Busch Aziza Jardine Angelika Tjoutuku - PRAESA

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Definition of Biography

Common examples of biographical subjects.

As a literary device, biography is important because it allows readers to learn about someone’s story and history. This can be enlightening, inspiring, and meaningful in creating connections. Here are some common examples of biographical subjects:

Famous Examples of Biographical Works

Difference between biography, autobiography, and memoir, examples of biography in literature, example 1:  savage beauty: the life of edna st. vincent millay  (nancy milford).

One of the first things Vincent explained to Norma was that there was a certain freedom of language in the Village that mustn’t shock her. It wasn’t vulgar. ‘So we sat darning socks on Waverly Place and practiced the use of profanity as we stitched. Needle in, . Needle out, piss. Needle in, . Needle out, c. Until we were easy with the words.’

This passage reflects the way in which Milford is able to characterize St. Vincent Millay as a person interacting with her sister. Even avid readers of a writer’s work are often unaware of the artist’s private and personal natures, separate from their literature and art. Milford reflects the balance required on the part of a literary biographer of telling the writer’s life story without undermining or interfering with the meaning and understanding of the literature produced by the writer. Though biographical information can provide some influence and context for a writer’s literary subjects, style, and choices , there is a distinction between the fictional world created by a writer and the writer’s “real” world. However, a literary biographer can illuminate the writer’s story so that the reader of both the biography and the biographical subject’s literature finds greater meaning and significance.

Example 2:  The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens  (Claire Tomalin)

The season of domestic goodwill and festivity must have posed a problem to all good Victorian family men with more than one family to take care of, particularly when there were two lots of children to receive the demonstrations of paternal love.

Example 3:  Virginia Woolf  (Hermione Lee)

‘A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living’: so too with the biography of that self. And just as lives don’t stay still, so life-writing can’t be fixed and finalised. Our ideas are shifting about what can be said, our knowledge of human character is changing. The biographer has to pioneer, going ‘ahead of the rest of us, like the miner’s canary, testing the atmosphere , detecting falsity, unreality, and the presence of obsolete conventions’. So, ‘There are some stories which have to be retold by each generation’. She is talking about the story of Shelley, but she could be talking about her own life-story.

In this passage, Lee is able to demonstrate what her biographical subject, Virginia Woolf, felt about biography and a person telling their own or another person’s story. Literary biographies of well-known writers can be especially difficult to navigate in that both the author and biographical subject are writers, but completely separate and different people. As referenced in this passage by Lee, Woolf was aware of the subtleties and fluidity present in a person’s life which can be difficult to judiciously and effectively relay to a reader on the part of a biographer. In addition, Woolf offers insight into the fact that biographers must make choices in terms of what information is presented to the reader and the context in which it is offered, making them a “miner’s canary” as to how history will view and remember the biographical subject.

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language summary

Know about language families and structures.

language , System of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to communicate with each other. A language both reflects and affects a culture’s way of thinking, and changes in a culture influence the development of its language. Related languages become more differentiated when their speakers are isolated from each other. When speech communities come into contact (e.g., through trade or conquest), their languages influence each other. Most existing languages are grouped with other languages descended “genetically” from a common ancestral language ( see historical linguistics). The broadest grouping of languages is the language family. For example, all the Romance languages are derived from Latin, which in turn belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the ancient parent language, Proto-Indo-European. Other major families include, in Asia, Sino-Tibetan , Austronesian , Dravidian , Altaic , and Austroasiatic ; in Africa, Niger-Congo , Afro-Asiatic , and Nilo-Saharan ; and in the Americas, Uto-Aztecan, Maya, Otomanguean, and Tupian. Relationships between languages are traced by comparing grammar and syntax and especially by looking for cognates (related words) in different languages. Language has a complex structure that can be analyzed and systematically presented ( see linguistics ). All languages begin as speech , and many go on to develop writing systems. All can employ different sentence structures to convey mood. They use their resources differently for this but seem to be equally flexible structurally. The principal resources are word order, word form, syntactic structure, and, in speech, intonation. Different languages keep indicators of number, person, gender, tense, mood, and other categories separate from the root word or attach them to it. The innate human capacity to learn language fades with age, and languages learned after about age 10 are usually not spoken as well as those learned earlier. See also dialect .

How to Write a Biography

Biographies are big business. Whether in book form or Hollywood biopics, the lives of the famous and sometimes not-so-famous fascinate us.

While it’s true that most biographies are about people who are in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. Primarily, though, famous or not, the person who is written about has led an incredible life.

In this article, we will explain biography writing in detail for teachers and students so they can create their own.

While your students will most likely have a basic understanding of a biography, it’s worth taking a little time before they put pen to paper to tease out a crystal-clear definition of one.

What Is a Biography?

A biography is an account of someone’s life written by someone else . While there is a genre known as a fictional biography, for the most part, biographies are, by definition, nonfiction.

Generally speaking, biographies provide an account of the subject’s life from the earliest days of childhood to the present day or, if the subject is deceased, their death.

The job of a biography is more than just to outline the bare facts of a person’s life.

Rather than just listing the basic details of their upbringing, hobbies, education, work, relationships, and death, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of the subject’s personality and experience of life.

Full Biographies

Teaching unit.

Teach your students everything they need to know about writing an AUTOBIOGRAPHY and a BIOGRAPHY.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ( 26 reviews )

Features of a Biography

Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of a Biography. An excellent way to determine how well they understand these essential elements is to ask them to compile a checklist like the one-blow

Their checklists should contain the items below at a minimum. Be sure to help them fill in any gaps before moving on to the writing process.

The purpose of a biography is to provide an account of someone’s life.

Biography structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Open your biography with a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention

SEQUENCING: In most cases, biographies are written in chronological order unless you are a very competent writer consciously trying to break from this trend.

COVER: childhood, upbringing, education, influences, accomplishments, relationships, etc. – everything that helps the reader to understand the person.

CONCLUSION: Wrap your biography up with some details about what the subject is doing now if they are still alive. If they have passed away, make mention of what impact they have made and what their legacy is or will be.

BIOGRAPHY FEATURES

LANGUAGE Use descriptive and figurative language that will paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read. Use time connectives to link events.

PERSPECTIVE Biographies are written from the third person’s perspective.

DETAILS: Give specific details about people, places, events, times, dates, etc. Reflect on how events shaped the subject. You might want to include some relevant photographs with captions. A timeline may also be of use depending upon your subject and what you are trying to convey to your audience.

TENSE Written in the past tense (though ending may shift to the present/future tense)

THE PROCESS OF WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

Like any form of writing, you will find it simple if you have a plan and follow it through. These steps will ensure you cover the essential bases of writing a biography essay.

Firstly, select a subject that inspires you. Someone whose life story resonates with you and whose contribution to society intrigues you. The next step is to conduct thorough research. Engage in extensive reading, explore various sources, watch documentaries, and glean all available information to provide a comprehensive account of the person’s life.

Creating an outline is essential to organize your thoughts and information. The outline should include the person’s early life, education, career, achievements, and any other significant events or contributions. It serves as a map for the writing process, ensuring that all vital information is included.

Your biography should have an engaging introduction that captivates the reader’s attention and provides background information on the person you’re writing about. It should include a thesis statement summarising the biography’s main points.

Writing a biography in chronological order is crucial . You should begin with the person’s early life and move through their career and achievements. This approach clarifies how the person’s life unfolded and how they accomplished their goals.

A biography should be written in a narrative style , capturing the essence of the person’s life through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes. Avoid dry, factual writing and focus on creating a compelling narrative that engages the reader.

Adding personal insights and opinions can enhance the biography’s overall impact, providing a unique perspective on the person’s achievements, legacy, and impact on society.

Editing and proofreading are vital elements of the writing process. Thoroughly reviewing your biography ensures that the writing is clear, concise, and error-free. You can even request feedback from someone else to ensure that it is engaging and well-written.

Finally, including a bibliography at the end of your biography is essential. It gives credit to the sources that were used during research, such as books, articles, interviews, and websites.

Tips for Writing a Brilliant Biography

Biography writing tip #1: choose your subject wisely.

There are several points for students to reflect on when deciding on a subject for their biography. Let’s take a look at the most essential points to consider when deciding on the subject for a biography:

Interest: To produce a biography will require sustained writing from the student. That’s why students must choose their subject well. After all, a biography is an account of someone’s entire life to date. Students must ensure they choose a subject that will sustain their interest throughout the research, writing, and editing processes.

Merit: Closely related to the previous point, students must consider whether the subject merits the reader’s interest. Aside from pure labors of love, writing should be undertaken with the reader in mind. While producing a biography demands sustained writing from the author, it also demands sustained reading from the reader.

Therefore, students should ask themselves if their chosen subject has had a life worthy of the reader’s interest and the time they’d need to invest in reading their biography.

Information: Is there enough information available on the subject to fuel the writing of an entire biography? While it might be a tempting idea to write about a great-great-grandfather’s experience in the war. There would be enough interest there to sustain the author’s and the reader’s interest, but do you have enough access to information about their early childhood to do the subject justice in the form of a biography?

Biography Writing Tip #2: R esearch ! Research! Research!

While the chances are good that the student already knows quite a bit about the subject they’ve chosen. Chances are 100% that they’ll still need to undertake considerable research to write their biography.

As with many types of writing , research is an essential part of the planning process that shouldn’t be overlooked. If students wish to give as complete an account of their subject’s life as possible, they’ll need to put in the time at the research stage.

An effective way to approach the research process is to:

1. Compile a chronological timeline of the central facts, dates, and events of the subject’s life

2. Compile detailed descriptions of the following personal traits:

•      Physical looks
•      Character traits
•      Values and beliefs

3. Compile some research questions based on different topics to provide a focus for the research:

• Childhood : Where and when were they born? Who were their parents? Who were the other family members? What education did they receive?
• Obstacles: What challenges did they have to overcome? How did these challenges shape them as individuals?
• Legacy: What impact did this person have on the world and/or the people around them?
• Dialogue & Quotes: Dialogue and quotations by and about the subject are a great way to bring color and life to a biography. Students should keep an eagle eye out for the gems that hide amid their sources.

As the student gets deeper into their research, new questions will arise that can further fuel the research process and help to shape the direction the biography will ultimately go in.

Likewise, during the research, themes will often begin to suggest themselves. Exploring these themes is essential to bring depth to biography, but we’ll discuss this later in this article.

Research Skills:

Researching for biography writing is an excellent way for students to hone their research skills in general. Developing good research skills is essential for future academic success. Students will have opportunities to learn how to:

• Gather relevant information
• Evaluate different information sources
• Select suitable information
• Organize information into a text.

Students will have access to print and online information sources, and, in some cases, they may also have access to people who knew or know the subject (e.g. biography of a family member).

These days, much of the research will likely take place online. It’s crucial, therefore, to provide your students with guidance on how to use the internet safely and evaluate online sources for reliability. This is the era of ‘ fake news ’ and misinformation after all!

COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON INTERNET RESEARCH SKILLS USING GOOGLE SEARCH

Teach your students ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF THE INFORMATION ERA to become expert DIGITAL RESEARCHERS.

⭐How to correctly ask questions to search engines on all devices.

⭐ How to filter and refine your results to find exactly what you want every time.

⭐ Essential Research and critical thinking skills for students.

⭐ Plagiarism, Citing and acknowledging other people’s work.

⭐ How to query, synthesize and record your findings logically.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip #3: Find Your Themes In Biography Writing

Though predominantly a nonfiction genre, the story still plays a significant role in good biography writing. The skills of characterization and plot structuring are transferable here. And, just like in fiction, exploring themes in a biographical work helps connect the personal to the universal. Of course, these shouldn’t be forced; this will make the work seem contrived, and the reader may lose faith in the truthfulness of the account. A biographer needs to gain and maintain the trust of the reader.

Fortunately, themes shouldn’t need to be forced. A life well-lived is full of meaning, and the themes the student writer is looking for will emerge effortlessly from the actions and events of the subject’s life. It’s just a case of learning how to spot them.

One way to identify the themes in a life is to look for recurring events or situations in a person’s life. These should be apparent from the research completed previously. The students should seek to identify these patterns that emerge in the subject’s life. For example, perhaps they’ve had to overcome various obstacles throughout different periods of their life. In that case, the theme of overcoming adversity is present and has been identified.

Usually, a biography has several themes running throughout, so be sure your students work to identify more than one theme in their subject’s life.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip: #4 Put Something of Yourself into the Writing

While the defining feature of a biography is that it gives an account of a person’s life, students must understand that this is not all a biography does. Relating the facts and details of a subject’s life is not enough. The student biographer should not be afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with the reader throughout their account of their subject’s life.

The student can weave some of their personality into the fabric of the text by providing commentary and opinion as they relate the events of the person’s life and the wider social context at the time. Unlike the detached and objective approach we’d expect to find in a history textbook, in a biography, student-writers should communicate their enthusiasm for their subject in their writing.

This makes for a more intimate experience for the reader, as they get a sense of getting to know the author and the subject they are writing about.

Biography Examples For Students

• Year 5 Example
• Year 7 Example
• Year 9 Example

“The Rock ‘n’ Roll King: Elvis Presley”

Elvis Aaron Presley, born on January 8, 1935, was an amazing singer and actor known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Even though he’s been dead for nearly 50 years, I can’t help but be fascinated by his incredible life!

Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a tiny house with his parents and twin brother. His family didn’t have much money, but they shared a love for music. Little did they know Elvis would become a music legend!

When he was only 11 years old, Elvis got his first guitar. He taught himself to play and loved singing gospel songs. As he got older, he started combining different music styles like country, blues, and gospel to create a whole new sound – that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!

In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis recorded his first song, “That’s All Right.” People couldn’t believe how unique and exciting his music was. His famous hip-swinging dance moves also made him a sensation!

Elvis didn’t just rock the music scene; he also starred in movies like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But fame came with challenges. Despite facing ups and downs, Elvis kept spreading happiness through his music.

Tragically, Elvis passed away in 1977, but his music and charisma live on. Even today, people worldwide still enjoy his songs like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Elvis Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll will live forever.

Long Live the King: I wish I’d seen him.

Elvis Presley, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend born on January 8, 1935, is a captivating figure that even a modern-day teen like me can’t help but admire. As I delve into his life, I wish I could have experienced the magic of his live performances.

Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis faced challenges but found solace in music. At 11, he got his first guitar, a symbol of his journey into the world of sound. His fusion of gospel, country, and blues into Rock ‘n’ Roll became a cultural phenomenon.

The thought of being in the audience during his early performances, especially when he recorded “That’s All Right” at 19, sends shivers down my spine. Imagining the crowd’s uproar and feeling the revolutionary energy of that moment is a dream I wish I could have lived.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical prodigy; he was a dynamic performer. His dance moves, the embodiment of rebellion, and his roles in films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” made him a true icon.

After watching him on YouTube, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll never witness the King’s live performances. The idea of swaying to “Hound Dog” or being enchanted by “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in person is a missed opportunity. Elvis may have left us in 1977, but he was the king of rock n’ roll. Long live the King!

Elvis Presley: A Teen’s Take on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon”

Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935, was a revolutionary force in the music world, earning his title as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Exploring his life, even as a 16-year-old today, I’m captivated by the impact he made.

Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up in humble beginnings, surrounded by the love of his parents and twin brother. It’s inspiring to think that, despite financial challenges, this young man would redefine the music scene.

At 11, Elvis got his first guitar, sparking a self-taught journey into music. His early gospel influences evolved into a unique fusion of country, blues, and gospel, creating the electrifying genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1954, at only 19, he recorded “That’s All Right,” marking the birth of a musical legend.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical innovator; he was a cultural phenomenon. His rebellious dance moves and magnetic stage presence challenged the norms. He transitioned seamlessly into acting, starring in iconic films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

However, fame came at a cost, and Elvis faced personal struggles. Despite the challenges, his music continued to resonate. Even now, classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” transcend generations.

Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is undeniable. He was known for his unique voice, charismatic persona, and electrifying performances. He sold over one billion records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling solo artists in history. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elvis’s influence can still be seen in today’s music. Many contemporary artists, such as Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake, have cited Elvis as an inspiration. His music continues to be featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Elvis left us in 1977, but his legacy lives on. I appreciate his breaking barriers and fearlessly embracing his artistic vision. Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is timeless, a testament to the enduring power of his artistry. His music has inspired generations and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING TEACHING IDEAS AND LESSONS

We have compiled a sequence of biography-related lessons or teaching ideas that you can follow as you please. They are straightforward enough for most students to follow without further instruction.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 1:

This session aims to give students a broader understanding of what makes a good biography.

Once your students have compiled a comprehensive checklist of the main features of a biography, allow them to use it to assess some biographies from your school library or on the internet using the feature checklist.

When students have assessed a selection of biographies, take some time as a class to discuss them. You can base the discussion around the following prompts:

• Which biographies covered all the criteria from their checklist?
• Which biographies didn’t?
• Which biography was the most readable in terms of structure?
• Which biography do you think was the least well-structured? How would you improve this?

Looking at how other writers have interpreted the form will help students internalize the necessary criteria before attempting to produce a biography. Once students have a clear understanding of the main features of the biography, they’re ready to begin work on writing a biography.

When the time does come to put pen to paper, be sure they’re armed with the following top tips to help ensure they’re as well prepared as possible.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 2:

This session aims to guide students through the process of selecting the perfect biography subject.

Instruct students to draw up a shortlist of three potential subjects for the biography they’ll write.

Using the three criteria mentioned in the writing guide (Interest, Merit, and Information), students award each potential subject a mark out of 5 for each of the criteria. In this manner, students can select the most suitable subject for their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 3:

This session aims to get students into the researching phase, then prioritise and organise events chronologically.

Students begin by making a timeline of their subject’s life, starting with their birth and ending with their death or the present day. If the student has yet to make a final decision on the subject of their biography, a family member will often serve well for this exercise as a practice exercise.

Students should research and gather the key events of the person’s life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.

They can present these to the class when they have finished their timelines.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 4:

Instruct students to look over their timeline, notes, and other research. Challenge them to identify three patterns that repeat throughout the subject’s life and sort all the related events and incidents into specific categories.

Students should then label each category with a single word. This is the thematic concept or the broad general underlying idea. After that, students should write a sentence or two expressing what the subject’s life ‘says’ about that concept.

This is known as the thematic statement . With the thematic concepts and thematic statements identified, the student now has some substantial ideas to explore that will help bring more profound meaning and wider resonance to their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 5:

Instruct students to write a short objective account of an event in their own life. They can write about anyone from their past. It needn’t be more than a couple of paragraphs, but the writing should be strictly factual, focusing only on the objective details of what happened.

Once they have completed this, it’s time to rewrite the paragraph, but they should include some opinion and personal commentary this time.

The student here aims to inject some color and personality into their writing, to transform a detached, factual account into a warm, engaging story.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING BIOGRAPHIES

Teach your students to write AMAZING BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES using proven RESEARCH SKILLS and WRITING STRATEGIES .

• Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
• Explore the language and perspective of both.
• Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
• Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
• Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
• A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

FREE Biography Writing Graphic Organizer

Use this valuable tool in the research and writing phases to keep your students on track and engaged.

WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE

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To Conclude

By this stage, your students should have an excellent technical overview of a biography’s essential elements.

They should be able to choose their subject in light of how interesting and worthy they are, as well as give consideration to the availability of information out there. They should be able to research effectively and identify emerging themes in their research notes. And finally, they should be able to bring some of their personality and uniqueness into their retelling of the life of another.

Remember that writing a biography is not only a great way to develop a student’s writing skills; it can be used in almost all curriculum areas. For example, to find out more about a historical figure in History, to investigate scientific contributions to Science, or to celebrate a hero from everyday life.

Biography is an excellent genre for students to develop their writing skills and to find inspiration in the lives of others in the world around them.

HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY TUTORIAL VIDEO

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO BIOGRAPHY WRITING

How to write an Autobiography

How to Write a Historical Recount Text

15 Awesome Recount & Personal Narrative Topics

Personal Narrative Writing Guide

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Biography of Joanne Blanchard, BA, LLB

From: Public Safety Canada

Backgrounder

Ms. Blanchard began her career as an Independent Board Member and Adjudicator Chairperson, appointed by the Minister of Public Safety to the Correctional Service of Canada, where she conducted offender disciplinary offence court hearings.

In 2016, Ms. Blanchard joined the Immigration and Refugee Board as a Board Member, where she presided over hearings for asylum seekers. Her leadership skills and dedication to efficient, fair processes were recognized with several key roles, including as Deputy Chairperson of a national Task Force.

In October 2022, Ms. Blanchard transitioned to the Parole Board of Canada, initially serving as a Board Member, an Appeal Division Board Member and then as Regional Vice Chair. In these roles, she conducted hearings, rendered conditional release decisions, and was responsible for the professional conduct and training of Board Members.

Ms. Blanchard holds a Bachelor of Laws from Université de Moncton and a Bachelor of Psychology from McGill University.

Throughout her career, Ms. Blanchard has been recognized for her leadership and innovation. She has received multiple Chairperson’s Awards, highlighting her contributions to leadership and innovation.

Jean-Sébastien Comeau Deputy Director of Communications Office of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs (343) 574-8116 [email protected] Media Relations Public Safety Canada 613-991-0657 [email protected]

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