The appearance of the results of bilingualism research in secondary school education in Transcarpathia and Hungary

Abstract

Over the past decades, the development of Hungarian language varieties beyond the borders of Hungary and the state language influences that have been manifested in them have attracted considerable attention in linguistic research in Hungary and beyond. In a large part of the literature on the subject, the authors also emphasise the importance of language and language use awareness for achieving adequate communication in all contexts, which is undoubtedly closely linked to the quality of mother tongue teaching in schools and to the language attitudes and linguistic biases of teachers. However, there has been relatively little research on the form and quantity of the results of bilingualism research in school education in Transcarpathia and Hungary. The aim of this paper, therefore, in response to the above-mentioned gap, is to provide an overview of the materials published in Transcarpathian and Hungarian curricula and textbooks on bilingualism research and to present the specificities of the two countries. Based on the analysis of state standards, curricula and textbooks, it can be said that the results of bilingualism research are reflected in the Hungarian language curricula of secondary education in Hungary and Transcarpathia. At the same time, while the Hungarian National Curriculum, the framework curricula and the related textbooks are characterised by a continuous enrichment of the materials related to bilingualism and language varieties from across the border, a certain regression can be observed in the education of native Hungarian speakers in Transcarpathia.