Mothers’ Perceptions of the Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Minority Language Maintenance in Their Bilingual Children (Speaking English and Polish) Living in the United Kingdom

To answer the question of various forms that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected family language practices in HL families, we qualitatively analyzed 27 interviews with Polish mothers living in the UK and raising their children bilingually. We found that the world health crisis had both negative and positive impacts on each of the language acquired by the children, and we identified themes that recurred throughout the material. The factors included: limited possibilities of traveling – either to Poland or back to the UK, school closures resulting in shift in childcare constellations, new language and social practices.