Accepted Abstracts

International Relations at the Pius Jesuit Gymnasium of Pécs (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Society of Jesus is long known as one of the best network builders of the Roman Catholic Church. The Ignatian brothers are founded an international educational system all around the world. After the order's supression in 1773, the Hungarian Jesuit schools were forced for a hiatus until the second half of the nineteenth century. The Pius Catholic Gymnasium (1912–1948) – founded by Count Gyula Zichy, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs – was one of the most developed secodary schools in Hungary, at the first half of the twentieth century. The bishop entrusted the Jesuits with the operation of the school after the incorporation of the Independent Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus. The school’s fist headmaster was P. Gábor Jablonkay SJ – a Jesuit monk moved from the Jesuit Gymnasium of Kalocsa – set the foundations of the school’s pedagogical program, called the Péter Pázmány Study Group to life at 1916, as a supplement beside the regular educational program and of course tended the international relations with the Office of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, and the other institutes of the Society. The paper presentation has two goals: firstly, it is to show the archival sources related to the onetime Gymnasium’s international relations, and secondly to represent the Hungarian Jesuits networking process at the early twentieth century.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kristóf Dallman is in his first year as a PhD student at the University of Pécs. He is graduated as a teacher of history and pedagogy at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest at 2019. His research topic is the Hungarian Jesuit educational history of the XIX-XX. centuries.

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Students at Pannon University, Veszprém, Hungary (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The purpose of this paper is to direct attention to the potential relationship between the cultural anthropology of the Hungarian education scene and some features of the interaction between Hungarian and international college students at Pannonia University, Veszprém. Between 2011 and 2013, a study of Hungarian students’ classroom behavior was carried out (Fábián 2012, 2014) based on earlier cultural anthropological findings (Hofstede 1986, 2008). In the current presentation, the results of the aforementioned cultural anthropological study are reiterated in the form of a description of the contemporary Hungarian education scene; they will be used as new aspects of the interpretation of the interaction patterns between Hungarian and international college students on the Veszprém campus. For this purpose, the reflective reports of international students will be investigated. As an outcome of their course offered on the subject of intercultural communication, a group of international students were asked to reflect on their intercultural experiences at the end of the first year of their study program at the university. The students provided their reflective thoughts in the form of a brief written discourse. The analysis of their reflections suggests that the interaction between the international students and their Hungarian peers was extremely limited. Some suggestions to improve the interaction as recommended by the international students themselves will also be presented. Finally, some cultural anthropology-based implications of the results will be discussed.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Gyöngyi Fábián is an education specialist and applied linguistics teaching Hungarian and international students. She has worked as a materials writer and curriculum and materials developer with several national and international projects. She holds a PhD degree and habilitation in Education Studies, and is currently working as Associate Professor at the Institute of Hungarian and Applied Linguistics at the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. She has authored several English language teaching materials. As a researcher, her special interests include understanding general and language teachers’ roles through metaphors, education in Hungary, and more specifically, critical thinking in education.

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The Value of International Experiences in Higher Education: A Model for Institutions and Faculty (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The present paper is based on academic experiences, discussions as well as feedback from higher educational and diplomatic entities both in Hungary and the US. It provides a model for turning one’s international exchange experience to various types of community values. For entities of internationalization (foundations, universities, GOs and NGOs) that support faculty engagement abroad, beyond the individual researcher’s and educator's increase of expertise and network, certainly efficiency and the disseminated impact are equally relevant factors in their efforts to facilitate global internationalization and its goals. I wish to share the experience of the last decade as a Fulbright alumna, reaching out for greater utilization of that experience than expected, and affecting the complex internationalization processes of two universities. Seven areas are investigated: increased-value professional knowledge based on transatlantic teaching and research; networking for colleagues and students; developing institutional partnerships; value transfer (sharing and adopting North-American cultural and citizenship values with Hungarian students and faculty); acquiring management skills and introducing them to HEI managements; as an alumna, supporting others in applying for mobility and promoting the value of international exchange experiences; and finally, creating alumni-network and such network-based research projects, one of which focused on the engagement of disadvantaged student pools, a topic related to “Future students.” Getting faculty engaged in such process-type mobility experiences is an academic commitment that I have found essential in the current Hungarian (and global) HE arena. My presentation focuses on the extended role and responsibility of HEIs and individual faculty opportunities in that context.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judit Kádár is the Director of International Relations at the University of Physical Education in Budapest, Hungary. She taught American and Canadian culture studies at the Department of American Studies of Eszterházy University (Eger) for 25 years, with a focus on ethnic and multicultural studies. She published a textbook (Critical Perspectives on English-Canadian Literature, 1996). She has received some research grants (FEFA, FEP, FRP/CEACS, JFK, Fulbright) and holds a temporary lecturing position at GCSU (Georgia, USA, 2009), taught and did research at UNM (Albuquerque, USA, 2012-3). As for research, earlier she studied alternative histories in recent western Canadian fiction (PhD thesis), then the psychological and sociological implications of the gone indigenous passage rites (Othering/indigenization) in US and Canadian literature and culture and has published Going Indian: Cultural Appropriation in Recent North American Literature (2012, University of Valencia Press). In 2013, she obtained her habilitation at ELTE University of Budapest. Currently she explores mixed blood narratives and identity negotiation in the SW literature and recent Nuevomexicano and Canadian Métis writing respectively. She was the director of the International Relations Center at Eszterházy University and has worked in internationalization for years. She is a language examiner (LCCI, ORIGO, ECL). Between 2015-17, she was the country representative of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies (CEACS). She worked as the educational expert of the Central Bank of Hungary. She served as the co-chair of the International Committee of the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference between 2017-9. She obtained her diploma in interpreting in 2017 (ELTE, Budapest). Recently she co-edited an E-journal on mixed heritage US and Canadian literature and visual arts (Americana) and contributed to The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature (2016) on a mixed heritage-related topic. She is also the head of the foreign language portfolio developing project of UPE.

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Guided Discovery for Preservice Teachers (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In this talk we present teacher education methods used at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education (BSME), a study abroad program in Hungary for American preservice teachers. The aim of the program is for these preservice teachers to learn about the guided discovery pedagogy used in Hungarian middle and secondary school mathematics classrooms, stemming from the work of Tamás Varga, an internationally recognized Hungarian genius in mathematics education. At BSME, we challenge preservice teachers’ view of mathematics by discovery of problems drawn from various fields including art, music and language and provide them the pedagogical and methodological tools to likewise challenge their future students. To this end, BSME participants play the dual role of a student and a teacher. As students, they are exposed to tasks of guided discovery; as teachers, they reflect on this experience, and based on their experience and self-reflection, they create and teach their own tasks. In the talk, we illustrate this method of teacher training by presenting some simple selected examples of guided discovery tasks that are used in BSME classes and by illuminating how interesting questions and ideas from multifarious fields may transform into substance of mathematical discovery. We also discuss how BSME participants engage in task design and reflection.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Anna Kiss teaches Concept Building through Games and Manipulatives at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education. She is also a PhD student at the Mathematics Didactics Programme of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, where she conducts research on Tamás Varga’s guided discovery approach in mathematics education. She has taught mathematics at various levels from elementary school to college, most recently for 5-6th grade students at Kincskereső School, an alternative school which integrates children with learning difficulties, as well as those with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, into the school community.

Réka Szász is the Hungarian Director of Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education, and she teaches English and Mathematics at the Lauder Javne School in Budapest. In her PhD she studied differentiated instruction in the Hungarian Mathematics Classroom, then she conducted research on developing the mathematical knowledge of teachers at the University of Toronto. For most of her career she taught on the secondary level and in teacher education simultaneously. Recently she also started teaching yoga, which informs her work in the above fields, as well.

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Student Dropout Rate in the Hungarian Higher Education in the Light of Religiosity (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
One can examine the effectiveness of students in higher education institutions through positive and negative aspects (Pusztai, 2015). Tinto and Bean investigated the phenomenon through negative aspects and concluded that those students who interrupt their studies simultaneously interrupt their socialization processes (Tinto 1975, Bean 1985, Lukács & Sebő 2015). Student failure, disillusionment in study purposes or in one’s own institution raises the importance of institutional background. International research mostly focuses on the changes caused by expansion. On the other hand, in the case of denominational institutions, students’ commitment to the institution and its importance in preventing dropout cannot be ignored, especially when students can identify with the spirit of the institution. In this presentation, we intend to examine the effect of religiosity on the dropout rate in higher education in a cross-sectoral comparison. Our research is based on a database from the PERSIST 2019 survey, conducted among students of higher education (N = 2310) in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and Serbia), coordinated by CHERD-Hungary (Center for Higher Education Research and Development), from which we would like to focus on the Hungarian sample. Our results show that there are significant differences, but also similarities between the two sectors in Hungary, but also in the cross-border areas.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Enikő Maior, PhD. is associate professor at Partium Christian University, Oradea. She graduated from Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca and received her Ph.D. from the West University of Timisoara. She is the author of Bernard Malamud and the Type Figure of the Schlemiel and Gary Shteyngart and the Question of Identity. She has published articles in collective volumes and journals on the problems of identity in Jewish American literature. In the first half of 2013 she was a SCIEX fellow working at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. In the first half of 2018 she was a Fulbright fellow at Central Connecticut State University, CT.

Zsuzsanna Demeter-Karászi is a PhD student and an assistant at the University of Debrecen, in the Doctoral Program on Educational and Cultural Sciences.

Gabriella Pusztai PhD is the head of Doctoral Program on Educational Sciences.

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Visuals in the HFL Class (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Visual materials – drawings, pictures, photos, short films, videos – count undoubtedly as a significant support in facilitating the teaching-learning process of a foreign language. The present paper aims to examine the use of such visuals in the Hungarian as a Foreign Language class, starting from materials in coursebooks and exercise books to those available on separate sheets, flashcards, online etc. At the same time, it also intends to give some specific examples from HFL classes of how these materials work and can effectively help the teaching-learning process (e.g. vocabulary expansion, the introduction of new grammar items, the presentation of cultural information) in the classroom and possibly even beyond.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dénes Mátyás earned his Master’s degrees (American Studies, Italian Studies), his diploma in Hungarian Studies Instruction for Foreigners, and his PhD in Literature (contemporary Italian narrative fiction) at the University of Szeged. He was a Visiting Assistant Lecturer at the Department of East European Studies (2009-‘10) at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Italy, and a Fulbright Visiting Professor in Hungarian language and culture at the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (2015-’16) at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA. He currently works and teaches at the University of Szeged.

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Language Programmes as Identity Markers – Best Practices from Hungary and the Hellenic Republic (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Rationale: The flourishing medieval Byzantine-Hungarian historical-cultural relations, and later the flourishing coexistence with the Greek diaspora that settled in several waves in Hungary, has been providing a solid basis for dialogue and exchange of good practices between the two cultures. The mutually prosperous cooperation and strong bonds between Hungary and Greece have been marked by religious tolerance, cultural and economic flourishment, social support and mutual recognition from the Byzantium until our contemporary time.
Aims: The talk is dealing with educational aspects of interaction between contemporary Hungarians and Greeks. The presentation also addresses the concept of education of cultural heritage from the perspective of teaching languages and cultures for expatriates and foreigners via the methodology of comparative analysis. Since the 1980s-1990s both Hungary and the Hellenic Republic have been organizing intensive language and cultural education courses for foreign nationals and those with Hungarian and Greek ancestry to promote intercultural dialogue.
Conclusion: Basic to the analysis is to examine and utilize best practices of Greek and Hungarian language and culture programmes offered which also serve as continued survival and flourishment of the European cultural heritage.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Szederkényi, Dr. lectures as an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Human Development and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs, Hungary. Besides doing educational research in the Hellenic Republic in the field of ULLL, her study interests include university lifelong learning, cultural diplomacy and soft skills development.
Zoltán Huszár, Dr. habil. is Director of Institute for Human Development and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs, Hungary. His professional field of research is related to the Danube as an integrating factor in Central Europe in the 19-20th centuries, history of culture, history of education and pedagogy, and museums as a cultural mediation institutions.
Péter Várnagy, Dr. habil. is an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs, Hungary. He has been extensively publishing in Hungarian adult education in the process of European integration with special regards to legal regulations, equal opportunities regarding minority rights in the cultural sector and education.

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From Functional to Fancy: Proofreading Technical English in a Trilingual Environment (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
English is the primary language of technology. Thus, researchers are required to be proficient not only in their relevant fields of science, but also in using English to report their findings. Therefore, the correct use of academic English should by definition be included in the engineering education curriculum. Nevertheless, researchers must often rely on the skills of a proofreader/editor to ensure the accuracy of reporting their findings in professional journals or other publications. Subsequently, the proofreader is expected to have multiple talents in multiple fields: fine-tuning skills to improve texts, vocabulary knowledge in the given technical field, and, especially in a bilingual environment, linguistic competences in the first language of the text writer. Subotica Tech - College of Applied Sciences, located in the area of Vojvodina (Vajdaság), finds itself in a unique setting in terms of the linguistic composition of both staff and students. While education is carried out in two languages, Serbian and Hungarian, with many first-language Hungarian speakers there is also language transfer from the majority language, Serbian. Additionally, the functional use of English is required in technical writing, resulting in functional trilingualism (Serbian, Hungarian, English), but not without language transfers. Errors or non-native patterns in language are often mirrored in academic writing, showing peculiar linguistic error patterns detected during proofreading. This paper will explore the strong first-language influence (either Serbian, Hungarian, or both) in English academic technical texts. It will also explore the often-bewildering questions with which proofreaders are faced: “Mit akart pontosan az iró mondani” – what exactly is the original writer attempting to say?


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Livia Szedmina, PhD in American Studies (2015), Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Teaches technical English language at Subotica Tech – College of Applied Science in Subotica, Serbia, holds posts of International Relations Coordinator and Erasmus+ coordinator. Skills include translating, proofreading, conference organizing. Interested in Irish history, specifically 19th-century Irish-American history. Speaks Hungarian, English, German, Serbian. Has given lectures and presentations in Irish culture and history at universities in Belfast, Boston, Cluj, Dublin, Graz, Košice, Ljubljana.

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