Abstract
Abstract The case study of the article is translanguaging as an educational strategy in preparation for the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature in a Hungarian school in Miercurea Ciuc/Csíkszereda, Romania. Romanian language competence scores are at the bottom of national rankings in this Hungarian-majority town in Szeklerland. Students who speak a minority language have their knowledge of the majority language evaluated in the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature based on the same criteria as first-language speakers’, which has strong implications for their participation in Romanian society. The main research question of this ethnographically informed article is how translanguaging happens in a classroom where students’ first language is being used with the aim of facilitating performance in their second language. The article argues that in the classrooms where the research was conducted, translanguaging is a strategy that negotiates between students’ educational needs in the local environment and the expectation espoused by the state to perform as if they were monolingual Romanian speakers. Similarly, students use translanguaging to strategize between the curricular expectations and their language performance. Yet, I argue that in this case study the emancipatory potential of translanguaging is limited due to ethnolinguistic hierarchies that remain unchallenged.
Highlights
The case study of the article is translanguaging as an educational strategy in preparation for the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature in a Hungarian school in Miercurea Ciuc/Csíkszereda, Romania
The ethnographically informed case study was that of a Hungarian secondary school in the town where students in the final year of their secondary education were preparing for the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature
Through the analysis of translanguaging in the classroom, this article aimed to contribute to the understanding of the uses and limitations of translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy, especially in a dominantly minority language context where its aim was to facilitate students’ performance in a majority language testing situation
Summary
The case study of the article is translanguaging as an educational strategy in preparation for the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature in a Hungarian school in Miercurea Ciuc/Csíkszereda, Romania. The class began interpreting the poem, which was one of the possible 20 literary works that students would get on the graduation exam in Romanian language and literature and that they would keep working on for the following two weeks It was done mainly in Hungarian “so that they understand”, Gabi told me. As in the Szeklerland, including Csíkszereda, the administrative seat of Hargita county, the linguistic environment is mainly Hungarian, and the majority of students come from monolingual Hungarian milieu, they have low exposure to the majority language outside school Their “acquisition of Romanian solely depends on the institutionalized teaching of Romanian” (Fazakas 2014: 347). Even though there are wide and well-developed Hungarian minority institutional networks that make it possible to live in a “Hungarian world” in Transylvania (Brubaker et al 2006), for certain types of social mobility, integration into
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
