Dwujęzyczność na Zaolziu w Republice Czeskiej – sytuacja językowa i uwarunkowania prawne .......... 79

BILINGUALISM IN ZAOLZIE REGION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC – LANGUAGE SITUATION AND LEGAL CONDITIONS

The purpose of this paper is to describe the language situation of Zaolzie – the area near the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The contemporary language situation and the population of Zaolzie are characterized by multilingualism and multiculturalism at the individual and community level. The text describes the current language situation and legal conditions regarding the use of Polish in public places in theoretical and practical terms. Generally, Polish occurs in Zaolzie as a symbolic language, among others, with the task to emphasize the fact that, in addition to the Czech majority, there is also an indigenous Polish minority, who have the right to have information written in Polish in public places (like offices, institutions, railway stations and stops, street names, squares, etc.).