Egzaminy certyfikatowe z języka polskiego jako obcego w świetle badań statystycznych .......... 73

CERTIFICATE EXAMS IN POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE LIGHT OF STATISTICAL RESEARCH

The purpose of this article is to present and analyse the data obtained in the process of the state certification examinations in Polish as a foreign language (PFL) to – based on the de-mographic information – describe the profile of the examinee taking the state certification exams  in  PFL  at  the  threshold  level  (B1),  look  at  the  2015  exams,  and  study  the  impact  of  factors such as the examinees’ age, gender, citizenship, native tongue, learning method, mo-tivation, and profession/occupation on exam results. A presentation and an analysis of the research  results  are  preceded  by  recapping  the  most  important  facts  from  the  history  of  the PFL certification, and a discussion of the procedures and examination requirements im-posed by the Association of Language Teachers in Europe (ALTE) that are important in the context of the study. All the proposed steps are to document the PFL certification process, but they can also have a real impact on improving the quality of the product, that is the PFL certification tests.