Learning Languages in a Multilingual Context: Hungarian minorities in Slovakia learning a second and a foreign language

Andrea PUSKÀS

J. Selye University, Faculty of Education, Department of Modern Philology, Slovakia, Komárno
(puskasa@ujs.sk)

Key words: Hungarian minority, second language, foreign language, bilingualism

Thedifferences between foreign language and second language as well as the impact of the mother tongue on second and foreign language acquisition have been discussed by various scholars. Learning a foreign language and a second language at the same time in a minority environment is a challenging scope of research. Hungarians in Slovakia have a long history dating back to the political decisions on border transfers in the beginning of the twentieth century.

One of the main goals of the research is to examine whether being a member of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia has an impact on foreign language learning. The research also aims at examining the attitude of Hungarian minority speakers to second and foreign language learning as well as their attitude to the state language – i.e. Slovak – and to investigate to what extent they consider it as a second language or rather a foreign language. Notions such as bilingualism and multilingual language learning environment are also discussed.

The research sample consists of a group of students attending the J. Selye University in Komárno, the only Hungarian minority university in Slovakia. The feedback of the respondents on bilingualism, the state language as a foreign or second language and their experiences in foreign language learning is examined. The relationship of the first foreign language and the second foreign language is also highlighted.