Accepted Abstracts -- 2022

“What Does Being „Magyar” Mean to You?” A Case Study of Three Hungarian English Speakers on Being Hungarian and Speaking English (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Post-structuralist research into second language acquisition (SLA) and identity looks at multilingual speakers in their entirety and complexity and perceives SLA as a transformative, meaningful, and often, life-changing experience irrespective of language proficiency levels and exam results (Fekete, 2020a, 2020b, 2021; Kramsch, 2009). Since culture is a product of a speech community, language and culture are intertwined in SLA (Kramsch, 1998), resulting in linguistic and cultural identity responses in multilingual speakers (Fekete, 2020a, 2020b). Furthermore, exposure to a new culture during sojourn also triggers linguistic and cultural identity responses in multilingual expatriates (Sussmann, 2002).
This case study examines three Hungarian English speakers’ linguistic and cultural identity construction drawing on their linguistic autobiographies. One participant has lived in the U.S.A. speaking English with native speakers, one participant has been a sojourner in Sweden and used English as a lingua franca (ELF) in an international community, and the third participant has only learnt English as a foreign language (EFL) in Hungary. Data were collected from English majors as a course requirement at the University of Pécs in Hungary. Qualitative content analysis was carried out to shed light on the participants’ identity responses to being Hungarian and speaking English as a Hungarian.
The data pointed out that the participants’ Hungarian identity construction became salient by learning and speaking English in various contexts, resulting in differing identity responses. The findings pointed out various facets of speaking EFL and ELF as well as the participants’ integrative motivation (Gardner, 1985) and international posture (Yashima, 2009) to learn English. Furthermore, the findings pinpoint that language cannot be separated from the person speaking the language, nor can it be isolated from the context in which the person uses the language, which calls for a holistic, ecological view of SLA. Finally, the findings confirmed that Sussmann’s (2002) identity model of the sojourn is applicable in the context of SLA, since culture is an inherent part of language.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Adrienn Fekete
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1805-2426

Adrienn Fekete is a senior assistant professor at the University of Pécs and holds a PhD degree in English Applied Linguistics and Teaching TESOL/TEFL. Her research interests include linguistic and cultural identity construction in second language acquisition, the language learner’s individual differences, and the study of complex dynamic systems theory in SLA and education. Her courses focus on intercultural communication, individual differences in SLA, research methodology, teaching methodology, educational drama, and translation studies.

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Lessons in "Diversity" and "Equality"; Conceptual analysis of the 2020 Hungarian National Core Curriculum (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Approaching diversity and equality have recently become central questions in educational contexts ranging from educational publishers integrating the themes in their materials and research teams investigating their presence in national curricula and teaching materials. From the perspective of literacy, literature and cultural studies, we set out to give an objective and detailed portrait of how the 2020 Hungarian National Core Curriculum deals with equality and diversity to observe it in the broader European context of school curricula. We decided to use the technique of thematic coding from the research methodology of social sciences and focused on the general introduction and humanities sections, including Hungarian Literature and Grammar, Foreign Languages, History, Geography, Drama, and Studies in Media and Moving Images. However, the initial reading of the curriculum’s text yielded very few exact matches of these concepts, which fact justified the need for the semantic expansion of “diversity.” This fact aligns with the public debates and recent political approaches to renewing education in Hungary outlined in the first section, proving our initial idea that diversity and equality would not appear explicitly or often in the national curriculum. In our presentation, we give a detailed account of our methodological approach our findings with examples and suggestions for dealing with this issue in pedagogical practice.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Monika Fodor works as an associate professor at the University of Pécs, Department of English Literatures and Culture. Her research interest includes narratives, identity, and oral histories.

Réka Lugossy works as an associate professor at the University of Pécs, Institute of English Studies. Her research interest includes narratives and narrative meaning-making and young learners.

Nóra Wünsch-Nagy works as an assistant lecturer at the University of Pécs, Institute of English Studies. Her research interest includes multimodal literacy development and meaning-making in visual narratives.

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Reboot your Roots – Scholarship Program for the Hungarian Diaspora (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship (HDS) launched in 2020 supports those who live in Hungarian diaspora communities, wish to reconnect to their Hungarian heritage and are determined to help their diaspora. The number of Hungarian diaspora members worldwide is about 2.5 M, with more than half of the members (around 1.4 M) living in the US and Canada (0.3 M). The number of people living in Hungarian minorities in the neighbouring countries in the Carpathian Basin is also around 2.5 M. For this latter group, the higher education system of Hungary has been already open, and the government has been giving extra support, offering scholarships, places in colleges for advanced studies and talent nurturing programmes, with the aim of helping young Hungarian intellectuals to succeed in their home countries, supporting their own communities. With the HDS, the same support is now also available for diaspora members, the programme providing access to a wide range of higher education study programmes in Hungary. The presentation gives insight into the most important aims of HDS, how its framework was established based on the needs of diaspora communities, and what synergies in the field of interculturalism can be identified with other scholarship programmes for international and Hungarian minority group students. The challenges and possibilities in promoting the programme and the students’ perspectives – how the needs of diaspora community members are reflected in the motivation letters of the first applicants – are also going to be discussed, with emphasis on applicants from the US and Canada.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Gherdán has been working with international scholarship programmes at Tempus Public Foundation for three years. Her main field of interest is the internationalisation processes of HEIs. Previously, she had worked as an assistant professor at Eötvös Loránd University, teaching mineralogy.

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Learning Hungarian Can Be Fun. The Story of Fungarian. (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Fungarian offers a light-hearted way of learning Hungarian, specializing in providing educational tours to school groups ranging from small classes to large field trips, as well as individual visitors and expats. Our innovative approach to learning the language incorporates dissemination of the best of Hungarian culture and thus empowering the students to function well in everyday situations. After 14 years of its launching, by now Fungarian is an accepted brand in tourism and among teachers of Hungarian as a foreign language. The presentation will highlight some linguistic aspects learners find strange or even amusing when confronted with everyday situations, as well as what first visitors find strange in Hungary or what causes culture shock for them. The innovation of Fungarian is dialogical and interactive learning wrapping cultural, historical and practical information into a session. These intercultural encounters provide a lot of empirical data to enable the teaching staff to find the appropriate means to make Hungarian culture familiar to foreigners. (fungarian.com) Since the clientele has been 65 per cent American a significant intercultural database has been assembled. The lecture will focus on what first-time visitor Americans find strange in Hungary or what causes culture shock for them including an analysis of more than 200 Tripadvisor reviews that they have submitted. The conclusion the presentation is aiming at is to provide an alternative way to motivate foreigners to learn Hungarian and appreciate Hungarian culture.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Miklós Molnár taught at the University of Economics before founding one of the first and most successful English language schools in Budapest. He also set up Hungarolingua Translation Services and Fungarian (see www.fungarian.com). Miklós has trained tourist guides and also worked as a guide in many countries.

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Sell Yourself at Job Interviews: understanding employer's perspective

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
There is an ongoing, intense request from students to receive training about job interview situations. Unfortunately, most university curriculums are not containing such education.
However, statistics show that a decision is made within the first 2-3 minutes in case of 80% of the interviews are longer than 30 minutes in general...

On top of it, most of the applicants fail because they do not get the main point: almost every question is asking for something else than the question means grammatically.

We could create a clear format that is understandable for all students:
1. We discuss what does the actual question really mean? What the recruiter really wants to know?
2. Typical mistakes, what everyone should avoid both professionally and culturally
3. Tips for a well-structured, proper answer.
4. Concrete examples are the next, which reflect real-life situations.
5. What this situation teaches us? - what recruiter can learn from the answer?

Even though this course is proposed for medical school, we accept students from other faculties. The curriculum became so fortunate that we have success stories from medical doctors through graphic designers to soccer coaches.

Hungary, especially Budapest became a multinational environment, providing plentiful opportunities for people abroad. However, foreigners don’t understand Hungarian culture in-depth and make terrible mistakes without even recognizing them. Just like Hungarians if they go abroad. We teach students how to act and react properly in such life-determining situations both if they stay as an alien or if they leave as a Hungarian.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Joe Petersburger is a photographer and publicist for National Geographic, a biologist Ph.D., and public speaking specialist. He has over 10 years of experience in recruitment and over 20 years in training students, employees, and employers all around the globe. The material included in this book is part of his "Sell Yourself!" course family, where one particular course series is focusing exclusively on job interview situations, motivational letters, and CV writing.

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Study Abroad in Mathematics Teacher Education on Hungarian Guided Discovery (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In this talk, I will present an approach to teacher education used at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education (BSME), a study abroad program in Hungary for American and international preservice and inservice teachers. The program’s goal is for participants to learn about the guided discovery pedagogy used in Hungarian secondary mathematics classrooms, stemming from the work of Tamás Varga. At BSME, we challenge participants’ view of mathematics through tasks 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, participants play the dual role of a student and a teacher. As students, they work on mathematical tasks that provide them with the experience of guided discovery; as teachers, they reflect on this experience, and create and teach their own such tasks. In the talk, I will illustrate this method of teacher education by presenting simple guided discovery tasks that are used in BSME classes and by describing how BSME participants engage in task design and reflection. I will also discuss how the BSME method was adapted for online settings.

No background in Mathematics is necessary for the audience of the talk.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
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.

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The Importance of Rhetoric and Communication Skills in the 21st Century’s Entrepreneurship Education in Hungary (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Nowadays more and more young people want to be entrepreneurs, but only a few of them are prepared enough to consider setting up and managing their own business as a realistic career option. The study covers the development of rhetoric and communication education in the past and seeks to demonstrate the current situation in Hungary. The Hungarian National Core Curriculum (NAT), revised in 2020, is based on the key competencies recommended by the European Union, but it also considers specific national conditions while defining general competencies across learning areas. Competencies of communication (mother tongue and foreign language), creativity (creative creation, self-expression and cultural awareness), employee, innovation and entrepreneurial competencies are all there among the key competencies of the Hungarian NAT2020.The study also demonstrates that deficiency in communication skills can mar the expertise in other skills and why it should be considered as an integral part of entrepreneurial skills. In order to obtain the required information, both a qualitative methodology and a quantitative approach were used. As rhetoric and communication skills play vital roles in entrepreneurs' success, the study seeks to restore rhetoric to the curriculum as an overarching and integrating theory for communication. The conclusion of the study is that it is essential for students to have contact with modern – on classical rhetoric studies based – communication theories in entrepreneurship education programs, since the aim of these is to instill and develop important personal characteristics that will be crucial for those wishing to become successful entrepreneurs.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
(Budapest, 1978) senior lecturer (Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education, Department of Hungarian Language and Literature), secondary school teacher (English, Business English, Hungarian Language and Literature; BGSZC Széchenyi István Secondary Vocational School of Trade (Budapest, Hungary)).
His main scientific interests are the applied fields of linguistics (mainly applied rhetoric). The main aim and purpose of his researches are to show and to search for new ways and methods in and of teaching and applying rhetoric, and to highlight possible pathways between rhetoric and other social sciences such as political science, text linguistics (eg. academic writing) or literature (eg. literary theory, text reading comprehension/analysis). Title of doctoral dissertation: “Public rhetoric. Metaphors and myths in the Hungarian political speeches” (2015.)

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Storied Self - Mental Imagery in SLA. Visualization Activities to Enhance Motivation and Engagement to Narrate our Storied Self. (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Humans inherently live their lives in and through stories. As actors, agents and authors in our lifespan we tell stories to others and ourselves about ourselves to comprehend our everyday life, to interpret and re-interpret our past and present, to create pathways we envision for our future. We are innate narrators of our own narratives through our mind’s eye.
Mental images are what our mind creates and is made of as representations of the unfolding world on our narrative journey. The power of imagination, the connection between cognition and mental imagery is a crucial, yet often untapped resource in second language acquisition (SLA). With mental imagery and through autobiographical memory our selves are activated, our past, present and similarly our future selves are narrated and re-narrated. Our actual self, our ought self and ideal self are once again put on stage with discrepancy (Self-Discrepancy Theory), when and where individuals are motivated to decrease the discrepancies between those of the actual and ideal selves. Our autobiographical memory - our lived Hungarian past and our anticipated future (our Hungarian nurture and education) thus is constantly triggered by and contrasted with the Second Language and its culture, creating a blended flow of mental representations: therefore SLA is not merely „the accumulation of skills and knowledge” of language learning, but „it is a process of becoming, or avoid becoming a certain person.’ (Pavlenko & Norton, 2007: 590).
The presentation is to guide through some of the fundamental concepts and theoretical frameworks which can be related to mental imagery such as Dan McAdam’s New Big Five with its identity multi-layer model, Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory, flow triggers or Zoltán Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System alongside an ample amount of practical guidance and task types for teachers of foreign languages in the classroom, with special emphasis to the Hungarian context.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Currently I have been teaching English in Bonyhádi Petőfi Sándor Lutheran Grammar School. I graduated from Pécsi Tudományegyetem with English and History majors in 1997 where in the same vein, I gained my postgraduate diploma last year in the field of talent management. My special field of interest and research is motivation and engagement in Second Language Acquisition.

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‘It’s like I have a switch’: Identity Shift in a Hungarian English Major from Vajdaság (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Proceeding from work by Bruner (1987) and Fougère (2008) on the construction of identity through self-narrative, the paper will present findings from a longitudinal study of a Vajdaság/Vojvodina Hungarian student in/graduate of a BA programme in English Studies at the University of Szeged. The participant represents an especially salient group for Hungarian higher education, and for the University of Szeged in particular, due to its ever increasing number (Kincses & Nagy, 2019). Two semi-structured interviews over two years apart provide rich and nuanced signs of numerous aspects of identity change. Themes explored in the data include: sensemaking (the process of an ever changing understanding of an ever changing identity); a sense of belonging with a focus on insideness and outsideness, competence and role fulfilment, and centre and periphery dynamics; questioning and learning about the self; and development and change, including heterotopias and the ‘third space’, and dwelling in-between. The findings may well have implications for foreign language learners, teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, educational policymakers, coursebook and other materials designers and anyone involved in the foreign language learning and teaching enterprise, which is by definition an experience marked – and enriched – by multiple cultural and linguistic identities.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Thomas A. Williams, PhD, is a senior assistant professor at the Department of English Studies, University of Szeged, where he researches identity construction among language learners and teaches classes on linguistic pragmatics and identity as well as English language teacher education courses. A certified translator, he also teaches – and does – specialized translation in a range of genres and subject areas.

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