Ötvenhatos Hungarians’Language Socialization: Two Case Studies (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
A recent “social turn” (Block, 2003) has shifted interest towards language socialization studies, but “insufficient research has examined …. older adults” (Duff, 2017, p. xi). Adults are socialized in their L1 community and during L2 socialization they reflect on their identity and social relationships (Steffensen & Kramsch, 2017). Case studies use an ecological approach to examine how L2 learning interacts with secondary socialization. They allow researchers to explore sociocultural, discursive, and personal aspects without detailed linguistic descriptions (Duff, 2014) and to examine language use and learning “as emergent, dynamic, unpredictable, open ended, and intersubjectively negotiated” (Douglas Fir Group, 2016, p. 19).

The talk explores how two refugees with no English established themselves in North America after fleeing Hungary in 1956 and then went on to have illustrious careers in their respective technical fields. Retrospective interviews were conducted in Hungarian with these two highly accomplished individuals, Gyuri (age: 86) and Tomi (age: 93), to elicit their reflections on their lived experiences. Data for triangulation, all in English, include oral history videos and a published memoir. Although their trajectories are different, the way they learnt English, socialized into their new contexts, developed new identities and maintained their Hungarian language and identity are similar.

Content analysis reveals their (1) learning of English and other languages, (2) uses of English and Hungarian, and (3) identities. Discourse analysis explores emerging patters in their multicompetence: how they convey meaning in Hungarian and English, how they codemix and how conscious they are about their own practices.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Marianne Nikolov (Ph.D., D.Sc.) is Professor Emerita of English Applied Linguistics at the University of Pécs, Hungary. Her research interests include: the age factor; early learning and teaching of modern languages: assessment of processes and outcomes in language education; individual differences (aptitude, attitudes, and motivation); teacher education, teachers’ beliefs and practices, and language policy. Her publications include longitudinal classroom research and large-scale national assessment projects. Recently she has been fascinated by language socialization phenomena. Her CV is at her website: http://ies.btk.pte.hu/content/nikolov_marianne. Email: nikolov.marianne@pte.hu