Abstracts of Submitted Papers 2014

Hungary's Compelling Legacy of Visual Literacy: Memorable Spatial/Historical/Cultural Images of the Homeland in Materials for Youth

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Study regarding Hungary's legacy of visual literacy emanates from an examination of school atlases published in Hungary, a series which presents memorable spatial/historical/cultural images that enhance visual learning, support Gardners's theory of multiple intelligence, and produce lasting memories. Comparative methods and geography scores attained by Hungarian students in international assessments also receive attention.
Hungary's exceptional contributions to numerous fields of endeavor are widely acknowledged and include WWII era emigre scientists in the USA such as Szilard, Teller, Von Neumann, Wigner and others frequently designated "Hungarian Martians" for their remarkable talents. Five Hungarian emigre author/illustrators have been identified as "Hungarian Martians with Color Pencils" in recognition of their superior skill in portraying memorable Hungarian characters, descriptions, and themes pertaining to the homeland for youth following their immigration to English-speaking countries. British Kate Greenaway Medal awardees Victor Ambrus (many Hungarian tales) and Val Biro (Hungarian Folk Tales and other) now live in England. Willy Pogany illustrated Tisza Tales and Hungarian Fairy Tales, among others. Caldecott awardees MIska Perersham and his American wife wrote Miki and other books. Kate Seredy was a Newbery honoree twice and the Newbery medal winner for three of her books about the homeland, The Good Master, The Singing Tree, and The White Stag. An additional author/illustrator to be discussed is Tibor Gergely, Caldecott honor illustrator of Wheel on the Chimney about the migration of storks in Hungary which includes images of the Kortvelyes ancestral estate of his wife poet/artist Anna Lesznai, also seen in other works.
Visual images appearing in The Hunter and the Animals , a wordless picture book by American author/illustrator Tomi DePaola feature folk depictions fro Hofer and Fel's Hungarian Folk Art in the background. Memorable visual images inspired the Hungarian Picture Dictionary for Americans by Biro, Kontra, and Radnai ( Budapest Tankonyvkiado, 1989), illustrated by Ferenc Sajdik, with photographs by Ede Tomori. Specific visual components complete the picture of compelling spatial/historical/cultural images of the Hungarian homeland for youth.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. Biro earned an M.L.S. and Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh. A founding member of AHEA, she served as curriculum coordinator of the AHEA Ethnic Heritage Study of Pittsburgh FY 80-81, authoring "Children's Hungarisn Heritage" and "Hungarian Folk Traditions Revised" for the project. Her review of Kate Seredy's The Good Master appeared in Magill's Masterplots: Juvenile and Young Adult Literature II (1991). She directed two Fulbright-Hays Group Projects to Hungary, each onsite for six weeks for university professors in 1990 and for educators in 1991, which included visits to schools and education agencies and examination of Hungarian educational materials. With Judith Lechner, she compiled and presented the annotated guide "Children's Books by and about Hungsrians and about Hungary" for the International Reading Association World Congress at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest in 2006. Dr. Biro was the AHEA Peter Basa Award recipient in 2012.

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Challenges and Educational Methods Used at a Summer School for Hungarian Scouts

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
At its inception Hungarian Scouting movement was based on the British model, established by Lord Baden Powell. It has been refined and may be considered highly successful in character building methods for young individuals.

The paper describes my six years’ experience in developing a successful program of Hungarian Scouts Summer School in Fillmore, New York. The curriculum was used both for simply education students and to develop future Scout Leaders. The many challenges included one interesting factors, namely, the student and staff were from different communities around the globe. The program, combining my European experience in education and my research, furthermore implementation of a program utilizing the Baden-Powel learning systems, the result of the developed program may be considered highly successful.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judit Kerekes is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the City University of New York College of Staten Island. She has published extensively on the educational aspects of mathematics and she was a co-author of two books on the same topic. She also lectured and presented numerous papers on education and has been involved in teaching in Hungarian Schools within the community. Kerekes has started and was the principal for the Hungarian Scouts Summer School Program in Fillmore NY.

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Pass it On - The Challenges of Passing on Ethnic Identity to the Next Generation: A Look at the Hungarian American Community

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The challenge of passing on strong ethnic ties to the next generation is one that all cultures deal with in the United States. For three decades, U.S. Census data showed fewer 2nd and 3rd generation Hungarians claiming their ethnic identity every ten-year cycle. From 1990 to 2000, the number of people claiming Hungarian ancestry fell by more than 200,000, reducing the Hungarian American population to 1.4 Million. In 2012, for the first time, the American Community Survey actually showed a small uptick in Americans of Hungarian ancestry to more than 1.5 Million. We look at the meaning behind the data and propose new ways to segment our community as we work to profile each group.

Lauer Learning created the ”Pass It On” project as a way to reach out to the next generation. It proposes ways to reach the youth and help families strengthen ties to their roots. It deconstructs ethnic identity, identifies ways to strengthen each component, proposes ways to target “at-risk” communities and reach out to new communities. It is a blueprint for our community to work together as we find the most effective ways to pass on love of Hungarian heritage to the next generation.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Andrea Lauer Rice is the CEO and founder of Lauer Learning, a company that specializes in creating multimedia educational tools to teach children about history, culture and language. She has authored several books and graphic novels, among them, “Freedom Fighters ’56” and “56 Stories: Personal Recollections of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution”, published in two languages. She has designed and produced a number of educational and oral history websites and created an award-winning computer game, “FF56!,” to teach teens about the Hungarian Revolution. She is the Vice President of the Hungarian American Coalition and Founder of the Hungarian Club of Georgia. She has an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and a BA in Journalism from Lehigh University.

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A Turning Point in Heritage Language Teaching?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Bilingualism, language acquisition, language learning, language attrition – we could analyze the language usage of Hungarian language speakers living outside of Hungary from each perspective. From methodological perspective - discovering their interlanguage (Selinker 1972) and finding effective teaching methods for the new generations - it is worth considering the introduction of the concept of heritage language that involves the specific circumstances of their life and their relationship with the Hungarian language community.

What are the advantages of describing the typical aspects of heritage language in language teaching? How can we make use of its universal characteristics? What can we gain from discovering the features specific to the Hungarian heritage language? Would viewing Hungarian language from a heritage language point of view influence the method of teaching it?
Language teaching in Hungarian afternoon/weekend schools outside of Hungary is very similar to that of being used in primary schools in Hungary. The books they use were actually made for schools in Hungary. How can this influence the way students consider their language knowledge and their language identity? Is it possible to create course materials, language books that reflect this kind of view on heritage language and if so, does it worth it at all? Could a different approach change the education of future generations?

In the lecture I am attempting to lay out the possible answers and to show the changes in the teaching methods in certain Hungarian communities.



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 in Pragmatics) is working as the Head of the Hungarian Language Department at the Balassi Institute. She has experience in teaching foreign (HSL) and heritage students (HHL) for 15 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 (HSL and HHL) in Canada, in the Netherlands, in Germany and in many other countries where there are Hungarian language courses for heritage and HSL students.

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Teaching Literature and Culture Focusing on the Role of National Values

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
We live in an intensively globalised world, where the diversity of cultures mix, confront and interact with each other in various fields of life. The national culture is a system of values which connects individuals to their nation. Culture and national identity are closely connected to each other. For Hungarians literature is one of the major components which contributes to the maintenance of our national values and identity. Literature is a great nation-building force that reminds us of our past, our common history both the heroic, glorious events and the sufferings we had to survive. Literature is also a valuable component of second language programs and one of its major functions is to serve as a medium to transmit the culture of the people who speak the same language. It contributes to the holistic development of an individual; is a resource for language learning, manifests valuable language experience; gives students cultural background and emotional content; speaks to the heart and personal experience of the learner; encourages imagination, creativity, personal discovery.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
MOLNÁR, ERZSÉBET Ph.D is a Senior Lecturer at the University of
Miskolc, Hungary. She received her Ph.D. from Pannon University in
Veszprém, based on a dissertation about the great Transylvanian-Hungarian
Polymath, Sámuel Brassai (1797-1897). She has been working at the Department of English
Linguistic and Literature at the University of Miskolc. Her specialty is language
pedagogy and the main issues of foreign language teaching.

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Only 6% of Hungarian-Americans speak Hungarian at home. Why?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Of more than a million and a half Americans who listed Hungarian ancestry in their census questionnaires in 2010, only about 6% speak Hungarian at home. Why? What are the factors that allow Hungarian-Americans to maintain their Hungarian language despite these overwhelming odds? Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with a variety of second and third generation members of Cleveland’s Hungarian community, most of whom were born in the Cleveland area and all of whom grew up in Cleveland’s Hungarian community, to ascertain the factors impacting their language use in the family and in the community, as well as to analyze the formation of their cultural identities. Using their own insights garnered from the interviews, the presentation will show the importance of consistent parenting and peer friendships, and illuminate the role that involvement in scouting and other community events can play. It will show the value the interviewees placed on speaking a second language, as well as the importance of strictness. The presentation will also share linguistic insights, reasons for assimilation, and the role of American spouses. Odds are that 94% of those with Hungarian ancestry will assimilate into American culture. These case studies, examples of Cleveland Hungarians who maintain their language and culture even late into the 2nd and 3rd generations, will show how to beat those odds. Every generation confronts a turning point in its history, whether to assimilate or to preserve language and culture, and these factors are as valid now as they were for previous immigrant generations.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Endre Szentkirályi studied English and German at Cleveland State University, earned an MA in English at the University of Akron, and recently completed his PhD at the University of Debrecen. He has edited several books of oral histories, worked on the 56Films documentaries Inkubátor and Megmaradni, and has two forthcoming books, one with Zrínyi Publishing and one with Helena History Press. He currently teaches English at Nordonia High School near Cleveland.

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Hungarian Teacher and Cultural Ambassador in American High School

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
“Increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills” is the main goal of the Fulbright Programs.
As a grantee of the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange program teaching English Literature at an American high school this academic year, it is also my mission to be a cultural ambassador of Hungary. Meeting rigorous high school curriculum requirements, raising teenagers’ interests to the “world out there”, and discovering the best ways to share my home culture present me with a real, but rewarding challenge. It involves leaving room for questions, finding the right times and venues to tell about national holidays, celebrations, and cultural treasures; discovering parallels between Greek mythology, Shakespeare, contemporary American writers and Hungarian literature, and presenting all these in ways that add to the learning experience, and ultimately to the life of American teenagers. My goal is to show students that the world is far bigger than they know it, and they have a chance to get to know more of it. I wish to do this through the culture and literature of my home country, in ways that are relevant to the students, and could last longer than preparing for a test. Being an exchange teacher, I have the outstanding opportunity to do all these in a setting that allows American students and teachers to connect with Hungarian students and teachers, both on- and off-line.

Equipment needed: projector (power point)


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Orsolya Szili graduated in 2004 as MA in English Literature and Linguistics at Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem in Budapest, and has a postgraduate degree in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Pécs. Since 2004, she has been teaching English as a foreign language in Veres Pálné Gimnázium in Downtown Budapest, worked as a temporary instructor for the Translation Program of ELTE, teaching “Literary Translation Criticism” and “Interpretation” courses, and translated four books. She is one of 28 teachers participating in the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program in 2013-14, and teaches English at Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

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