Education paper by Maróti, Orsolya
A Pragmatic Approach to Heritage Language and Its Relation to HSL
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
New roads in language teaching, new ways in cultural exchange: the continuous search for new possibilities characterizes every teacher eager to develop his or her craft. Yet a debate concerning new methods or approaches cannot be held in the case of how best to educate language students who are of Hungarian descent, yet still need to learn Hungarian. Even now, little attention has been paid to the unique requirements posed by heritage language learners. Indeed, at most we can consult a scattering of studies that—according to laymen—employ methods used in native language training while those working in the field interpret these studies as examples of Hungarian as a Second Language (HSL).
Students capable of producing correct utterances displaying proper vocabulary and grammar usage no longer receive the kind-hearted forbearance generally extended to foreigners trying to speak Hungarian; native speakers do not view them as being foreign, which is why natives rarely realize that the mistakes being made are not a negative aspect of the speaker’s personality, but rather the product of pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic deficiencies.
It is time we use complex methods to map the interlanguage of heritage language learners to help them find their own way to develop their language ability and pragmatic competence to make them feel comfortable when using the language of their (grand)parents.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Orsolya Maróti (MA Hungarian Literature, Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; MA Hungarian as a Second Language and Hungarian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; MA Cultural Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; working on her doctoral thesis on Pragmatics) is working as the Head of the Hungarian Language Department at the Balassi Institute. She has experience in teaching heritage students for 12 years in the Balassi Institute, at Eötvös Loránd University and at the Corvinus University in Budapest as well. She has worked with Hungarian language teachers as a teacher trainer in Canada, in the Netherlands, in Germany and in many other countries where there are Hungarian language courses for heritage students.