This study points out that language revitalization is closely connected to the discourse of language endangerment that objectifies languages considering them countable, regarding them separable from both the speaker and their use while speaking. It argues that this "modernist" approach of language defines the nature and, implicitly, the results of language revitalization actions. Using the example of the Moldavian Csángó Hungarian Educational Programme in North-East Romania, the article shows that while this language teaching movement unfolded within the framework of modernity, it came into conflict with the local ideologies surrounding language and speaking. Although the latter were not created by the discourses of the nation state, they are not independent notions as late modern changes had a significant impact on them. The authors analyse language ideologies prior to modernity and the way they have changed as a result of more recent developments, particularly in the context of the standardization of the Moldavian Csángó mode of speaking.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the RIRNM and the Romanian Government cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

No abstract

A romák csoportjához (vagy csoportjaihoz) való tartozás kritériumai hagyományosan sokrétűek: nyelv, etnikai hovatartozás, szociokulturális sajátosságok, történelmi sajátosságok stb. Ennek ellenére a kategorizálások folyamatosan kettősségekre oszlanak: cigány és nem cigány, beás és nem beás, magyar romák és vlah romák, romák és nem romák, sőt egy- és kétnyelvűek. Ezt a logikát, amely a stabil csoportok képzetét idézi, Rogers Brubaker (2002, 2004) csoportosulásnak nevezte. Dolgozatom terepmunka tapasztalataira támaszkodva bevezeti azt a gondolatot, hogy a csoportosulás kategóriái csak korlátozottan érvényesek kutatásunk lokusában, és a kutatásban részt vevő romák részben eltérően beszélnek a nyelvről és az etnicitásról. Azt vizsgálom, hogy a szuperdiverzitás koncepciója (Blackledge–Creese eds. 2018) mennyiben képes adaptálni ezt az alternatív megközelítést a tudományos kutatásba, és hogyan járulhat hozzá a romákkal kapcsolatos nyelvi és társadalmi kérdések vizsgálatához és kezeléséhez.

In most public education in the western world the existence of a standardized language variety is still regarded as a precondition of teaching writing. This stance generates a problem in situations where no standardized variety matches the children’s home language practices and no traditions of an extended and standardised literacy exist. Roma students in Hungary have to acquire writing skills in the majority language (Hungarian), since the teaching of writing cannot rely on a standardized Romani language. In this way, school writing activities seem unrelated to the local discoursal practices of their own community. This puts Romani-speaking children at a disadvantage in learning to write, and reduces their chances of academic success. This paper reports on an ongoing project in Tiszavasvári, Hungary, designed to offer an alternative to approaches that wish to eliminate the disadvantages of Roma students by creating a standardized language. It explores the possibility of applying a translanguaging approach to the teaching of writing, arguing that if teachers allow students to draw on their local Romani-bounded non-standardised language practices, including the grassroots literacy activities occurring in the community, their general writing skills can be improved. For this to happen, teachers must be trained in translanguaging pedagogy, so that they can transcend the boundaries staked out by monolingual ideologies. The hitherto prevailing view that posits an indissoluble connection between standard, school and writing should be set aside. It should also be realized that general linguistic competences can, and should, be separated from language-specific competences. A key endeavour of the Tiszavasvári project has been to convert teachers to the translanguaging stance, and some promising signs can be reported. The introduction of local translanguaging practices into the teaching of writing fostered new learning practices among the students and began to change the pedagogical stance of teachers participating in the project.