Language/Literature paper by Fekete, Adrienn
University of Pécs, Hungary

Exploring Hungarian English Learners’ Imagined Second Language Habitus (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Fekete’s (2018) concept of the language learner’s imagined second language habitus refers to how language learners speak, act, and think differently using the second language from how they would do so in their mother tongue. The concept is linked to Bourdieu’s (1997) construct of habitus, Kristeva’s (1980) concept of desire and her understanding of the realm of the semiotic and the realm of the symbolic (1987), Sussman’s (2002) cultural identity model, and Kramsch’s (2009) concept of the subjectivity-in-process. Furthermore, imagination plays a crucial role in creating learners’ imagined second language habitus.

In this qualitative study, involving 38 first-year English majors studying at the University of Pécs, in Hungary, I explore how these English learners think, feel, act and speak differently using English and Hungarian. Data were collected with the help of a structured writing task, and I employed qualitative content analysis to make sense of the qualitative datasets.
The participants recall changes in their way of thinking, acting, and feeling, as well as in their voice when they switch between English and Hungarian. The findings of the study provide empirical evidence for the construction of an imagined second language habitus in advanced English learners that they adopt in English language interactions, shaping their identity construction in and via English.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Adrienn Fekete is a Junior Lecturer at the Department of English Applied Linguistics, University of Pécs, in Hungary. She received her PhD degree in 2018. Her research interests include multilingual and multicultural identity construction in the process of language learning, the language learner’s individual differences, English as a lingua franca, and the study of complex dynamics systems theory in language education. Her courses focus on individual differences in second language acquisition, intercultural communication, educational drama, teaching methodology, and language development. Adrienn has studied and lived in the U.S.A. and has been a guest lecturer at a Spanish university.