In September 2019 the Erasmus project LISTEN (Linguistic Assertiveness for Minority Language Speakers), in which the Faculty of Sciences and Arts of Sapientia University collaborates with several international partners, including the University of Valencia, ELEN (European Language Equality Network), Afûk of Friesland, the democratic forum Conradh na Gaeilge of the Irish language community, the Welsh centre for language planning, IATH and the CNR-ILC research institute of Italy.
The LISTEN project aims to develop a training methodology to help minority language speakers learn to change their linguistic behaviour and overcome anxiety to become confident users of their native language. For further information see the website of the project.
As part of the project, the Faculty of Sciences and Arts in Cluj-Napoca agreed to create animations that will be part of the online MOOC course. The first completed animation has several purposes: to draw the attention of Hungarians living in Romania to the importance of using the Hungarian language and communicating in their native tongue, to briefly sum up the essence of linguistic assertiveness, and also to highlight the objectives of the LISTEN project.
The project team also initiated a short questionnaire to collect stories from minority language speakers about how they manage to use their native language assertively in situations where they would otherwise be inclined to choose the majority language. There are many such situations: for example, when there are speakers of the majority language in a group of people, in shops, when carrying out administrative tasks, or when they cannot decide whether a stranger speaks the minority language or not. The questionnaire can be completed here.
The collected stories provide an insight into the challenges faced by minority language speakers, including ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania, when using their native language, as well as their successes and doubts. We can also learn about the experiences of minority language speakers in other countries and regions. The stories submitted can be accessed on the website.
Participants: TORÓ Tibor (project manager) and KASSAY Réka (consultant).
SAPIENTIA HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSYLVANIA
The Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania is the independent university of the Hungarian community in Romania, which aims at providing education to the members of our community and performing scientific research on a high professional level.
Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Cluj-Napoca
Address: 400193 Cluj-Napoca, Calea Turzii no. 4, Cluj County, Romania
Tel.: +40-364-401-458
Fax.: +40-364-410-069
E-mail: office@kv.sapientia.ro
