Learning the Language, Learning the Nation

Abstract

In my presentation, I will describe the initial premises of my prospective research on second language teaching and learning in Vojvodina and Transylvania. My project will include a synchronic exploration of ethno-linguistic belonging and interethnic communication in the former Habsburg Monarchy and a diachronic perspective from 1918 until today. My main research aim is to unpack the “hidden curriculum” of the instruction of the state language and the minority language in Vojvodina and Transylvania: to examine the construction and representation of national communities and the nature of the boundaries between them, and to get a better understanding of continuities and ruptures in language policy, interethnic relations and language education in the two regions. I will explore second language acquisition both top-down and bottom-up. In terms of the former, I will tackle methods of teaching and analyze textbooks and documents of language and education policy related to second language learning, such as supranational and national charters and guidelines, laws and regulations, curricula and textbooks, talk with policy- makers, curriculum-makers, publishers and authors of textbooks, professors of future teachers of Serbian, Hungarian and Romanian as second language and teachers, etc. The bottom-up end of second language teaching will be dealing with past and present practices of the second language acquisition and look into how individuals receive and perceive the instruction of the second language. I will draw on literature on ethnic identification, interactions and minority-majority relations in multicultural contexts; on studies about the role of language and education in nation- building processes and on European multilingualism; as well as on works specifically dealing with Serbian-Hungarian and Romanian-Hungarian bilingualism in Vojvodina and Transylvania respectively.