Abstract
In the past two hundred years, Poland twice labored under the brutal occupation of its stronger, militaristic neighbors, promoting anti-German and anti-Russian sentiment still visible today. This research study inquires as to whether these attitudes have any impact on the language selection of Polish university students. During November and December of 2009, four undergraduate English pedagogy students at a mid-level Polish university were interviewed in order to ascertain their attitudes toward the languages that they studied, the motivation for studying these languages, and the role of social pressure in becoming competent in English, German, or Russian. The results suggest that the subjects viewed English as a neutral, prestige language unconnected to a specific culture, be it American or British. In word, they expressed a similarly neutral attitude toward German and Russian, though further analysis of their attitudes, contrasted with their actions, demonstrated that the social and historical influence of anti-German and anti-Russian sentiment may still play a role in their motivational processes. Further, this study also considers that the seeming negativity toward these second languages results from lack of choice in language selection and considers the future impact of this lack of choice on the subjects' language future.