Education language choice of Hungarian ethnic diaspora communities in Vojvodina (Serbia)

Abstract

Since one's surroundings and environment affect the extent to which one uses native language, first language use has declined and the native language use of the Hungarian minority living in ethnic diaspora communities also takes place of secondary importance in everyday situations. Native language cultivation is important, but it is also important to master the official language. Parents living in ethnic diaspora communities take these factors into consideration when choosing the education language for their children. The aim of the research is to identify, using "soft methods", the individual perspectives, motivations, and factors ("underlying background contents") according to which students and parents belonging to the Hungarian ethnic diaspora choose education language. The main question we pose in our work is what are the individual, familial, cultural and micro-community-related backgrounds in the education choices of Hungarian parents. We interviewed 42 students, parents, and educators of either Hungarian or interethnic backgrounds from ethnic diaspora communities in Vojvodina. According to the results, the native language use of students of the ethnic diaspora studying in the majority (official) language is in decline. The language of school and education has become Serbian, and the Hungarian language is mostly limited to use within the family or has lost its significance within the home completely; thus, it has been pushed to the background and is limited to a more "confined area" (such as communication with grandparents).