80 YEARS OF TEACHING POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The fi rst part of the paper is dedicated to the historical background of teaching Polish as a foreign language. It also takes into consideration teaching Polish after 1989 in the widely understood East. The most important points to be considered are: “Bristol” Association set up and the Commission for the Certifi cation of Profi ciency in Polish as a Foreign Language activities. The second part focuses on the history of theoretical thought, in particular: scientific conferences, activities of the Institute of Applied Linguistics and the Department of Applied Linguistic for Teaching Polish as a Foreign Language in the Institute for Polish Diaspora Research at the Jagiellonian University, the fi rst educational programs, dictionaries and grammars based on the language study. The third part of the article presents an overview of textbooks: from so called “Warsaw” textbooks, throughout the “green series” of the Jagiellonian University , the series of Universitas publishing house, to contemporary publishing achievements, including book items of private language schools. Methodology based on theoretical assumptions of world languages glottodidactics has evolved into communication method with its contemporary culmination: task based approach. The final part of the article presents Polish language glottodidactic trends in the coming years