Sense of local identity, attitudes toward dialects and language teaching: The Hungarian minority in Serbia

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Kovacs Rac ◽  
Sabina Halupka-Rešetar

Abstract A large body of academic literature (e.g. Fishman 1977, 1999; Giles and Johnson 1981; Romaine 2000, among others) claims that language is one of the most significant markers of ethnic identification and that it plays a crucial role not only in the external perception of an ethnic group by outsiders but also in the selfidentification of an ethnic group. In a minority environment, sense of ethnic identity and language retention are connected very tightly, which is why it is of extreme importance to study attitudes towards the dialects of a language and value judgments about them. The paper presents the results of a research into attitudes toward dialects, conducted with approximately three hundred 5th and 8th grade pupils (age 12 and 15, respectively) attending school in Hungarian in two regions of Vojvodina, Serbia. It explores the subjects’ local features of identity, given that the research was conducted in eight different localities. The results of the research serve as a sound basis for developing use-centered, functional-situational mother tongue education of Hungarian minority pupils living in Serbia, since the current curriculum completely disregards the language varieties of many Hungarian minority pupils brought up and living in rural areas, who acquire and use the dialect spoken in the family.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Darya Yu. Vashchenko

The article discusses the inscriptions on funerary monuments from the Croatian villages of Cunovo and Jarovce, located in the South of Slovakia, near Bratislava. These inscriptions reflect the complicated sociocultural situation in the region, which is particularly specific due to the fact that this territory was included to Slovakia’s territory only after 1946, while earlier the village was part of Hungary. In addition, the local Croatian ethnic group was actively in close contact with the German and Hungarian communities. At the same time, the orthographic norms of the literary Croatian, German, Hungarian, and Slovak languages, which could potentially be owned by the authors of the inscriptions, differ in many ways, despite the Latin alphabet used on all the gravestones. All this is reflected in the tombstones, representing a high degree of mixing codes. The article identifies the main types of fusion on the monuments: separate orthograms, writing the maiden name of the deceased in the spelling of her native language, the traditional spelling of the family name. In addition, the mixing of codes can be associated with writing feminitives, also order of name and surname within the anthroponym. Moreover, the settlements themselves represent different ethnic groups coexistence within the village. Gravestones from the respective cemeteries also differ from each other in the nature of the prevailing trend of the mixing codes. In Jarovce, where the ethnic groups live compactly, fusion is often presented as a separate foreign language orthograms. In Cunovo, where the ethnic groups constitute a global conglomerate, more traditional presents for a specific family spelling of the names on the monument.


The present paper is an attempt to analyze the socio-economic profile of the labour households in rural Punjab. The study revealed that majority of rural labour households belonged to the scheduled caste category. As far as the distribution of sampled rural labour households according to the family type was concerned, it was found that 46.42 percent of the total rural labour households had nuclear families, while the remaining 53.58 percent have joint families. Majority of the rural labourers were living in semi-pucca houses. Further, if we look at the housing condition, 54.72 percent of rural labourers owned the houses of average condition, 40.19 percent owned good condition households and 5.09percent owned dilapidated houses. The analysis further showed that as many as 20.35percentof the sampled labour population was illiterate. A few persons from sampled labour households educated above matric. Although large majority of the sampled labour population were from the working-age group yet the ratio of dependents was high among rural labour households. This was due to lower employment opportunities in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Shankar Chatterjee

The self-help group (SHG) is a powerful instrument to empower economically backward women of rural India as the women members under the SHG not only can earn income but they feel empowered also. With the launching of Swarnajaynti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India from April 1999, subsequently rechristened as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) self-help group approach (SHG) has been given utmost importance in India for the development of rural women mainly focusing on below poverty line households. SHG concept is popular in many rural areas of India as through economic development and subsequently empowering, rural women have got a solid platform. This research article has discussed the how rural women after forming SHGs in Ranga Reddy district (R.R. District) of Telangana were not only earning and contributing to the family but felt empowered also. The study was carried out at Gandipet village of Gandipet Mandal, Ranga Reddy (R.R.) district in September 2017. The some women members of 10 different SHGs were contacted and few individual cases are presented here.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
E.A. CHEGODAEV ◽  

The article is devoted to political repressions among Belarusians of Bashkiria in the 30s of the XX century. To date, this ethnic group remains one of the little-studied peoples of the republic, which was a consequence of the long-term priority in the research of the titular Bashkir ethnic group against the background of the ethnocentrism of the historical science of the country. The number of publications devoted to the Belarusians of Bashkiria continues to remain insignificant until now, and most of them are published in the periodical press, as a rule, they have a journalistic, local history, popular science, reference or review orientation. For the first time, the researcher was faced with the task of identifying the dynamics of repressive measures against the ethnic group of Belarusians who lived compactly in rural areas of the region. The analysis of the data of the "Book of Memory of the Victims of Political Repression of the Republic of Bashkortostan" has established that rural residents from among the Belarusian ethnic group suffered more at the initial stages of mass collectivization. this confirms the prosperity of the settlers acquired during the functioning of the farm system of management, as well as the fact that the repressions against Belarusians did not have an ethnic coloring, like their neighbors in the farm residence of Latvians. As an example, the archival and investigative cases of the FSB in the Republic of Bashkortostan from 1931 are considered. The fate of a late-period migrant who emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1926 from the territory of Western Belarus is considered.


Author(s):  
M. P. K. Nzunga

Fare has been established as a major issue, in primary and secondary schools within the Third World countries. This work sets out to reveal the possible determinants of this phenomenon. A comparison between performance in the rural areas and the urban areas has produced a lot of data on the determinants of school failure and repetition. The researcher seeks to establish the link between failure and the level of intelligence of the learners, the language of instruction, the financial status of the family and the culture of origin. The researcher hopes that by so doing, it would be easier to find a practical and efficient solution, to this problem, which is a great stambling block in the Third World countries.


2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Abhijit Maity

This essay discusses how the imagination of women in India is framed up by the gender-biased mythical representations. By looking at the mythical representations that are circulated through centuries in many popular mages, paintings and calendar-portraits, a discursive pattern can be found that has positioned women in a secondary level, belonging to men. The family itself becomes a political site in the process of normalizing women’s submissiveness to men by comparing their actions with the Goddesses. By interrogating the gendered position of Goddess like Lakshmi and her male counterpart Lord Vishnu, this essay attempts to problematize with the mode of representation in religious visual images. I conclude by arguing that these religious representations in visual images have negative impact on the Hindu women, especially, in rural areas and thus keep the unhealthy gender role intact in Indian society.


2021 ◽  
pp. 310-328
Author(s):  
Sergej A. Borisov

The article provides an overview of a field study conducted among Czechs in Serbia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. The first results are presented, samples of transcribed texts are given. The purpose of the expedition was to collect narratives for the proper linguistic study of contact elements, conversations were conducted, among other things, about the history of the resettlement of Czechs to the Balkans, about folk culture, and interaction with other Slavic and non-Slavic ethnic groups. In the three regions studied, the Czech language remains unevenly due to a number of linguistic and extralinguistic factors. There are very few Czechs left in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Czech is the mother tongue only for elder people living in rural areas. In Serbia, there are several schools where Czech language and culture are taught, and in Romania there are schools where in the primary grades all subjects are taught in Czech. The collected language data is a valuable source for studying local Czech dialects and contact phenomena (borrowings, code-switching). The metalinguistic comments used by informants when they have difficulties in their Czech language during a conversation with a researcher are of particular interest to sociolinguistics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-79
Author(s):  
Lorena Patricia Gallardo Peralta

ABSTRACTThis research analyzes the differences in health in terms of belonging to a native Chilean ethnic group in the region of Arica and Parinacota. This is one of the first investigations in Chile and South America that analyze this dimension in the aging process. This is a quantitative and cross-sectional study. The sample consists of 493 Chilean elderly living in the far north of Chile. The application of the questionnaire was conducted through personal interviews. The study was conducted in urban and rural areas, including villages in the Chilean Altiplano. Scales internationally recognized geriatric research to measure the presence of symptoms of impaired health, dependence and depression were applied. The results of data analysis showed statistically significant differences in depression and health in terms of ethnic belonging, establishing a disadvantage for the elderly Indians. The findings confirm the heterogeneity of the aging process and the importance of the cultural aspects through belonged to a native ethnic group. For the field of social sciences this study confirms the need for gerontological contextualized interventions that positively discriminate against groups at riskRESUMENEsta investigación analiza las diferencias en salud en función de la pertenencia a una etnia originaria chilena en la región de Arica y Parinacota. Se trata de unas de las primeras investigaciones en Chile y en Sudamérica que analizan esta dimensión en el proceso de envejecimiento. Se trata de un estudio cuantitativo y transversal. La muestra está conformada por 493 personas mayores chilenas que residen en el extremo norte de Chile. La aplicación del cuestionario se realizó a través de entrevista personal. El estudio fue realizado en zona urbana y zonas rurales, incluyendo poblados del altiplano chileno. Se aplicaron escalas internacionalmente reconocidas en la investigación geriátrica para medir la presencia de síntomas de deterioro en salud, dependencia y depresión. Los resultados obtenidos en el análisis de datos muestran diferencias estadísticamente significativas en depresión y salud en función de la pertenecía étnica, estableciendo una desventaja para las personas mayores indígenas. Los hallazgos confirman la heterogeneidad del proceso de envejecimiento y la relevancia de los aspectos culturales a través de la pertenecía a una etnia originaria. Para el campo de las ciencias sociales este estudio confirma la necesidad de realizar intervenciones gerontológicas contextualizadas que discriminen positivamente a los grupos en riesgo social.


Author(s):  
Irene Korkoi Aboh ◽  
Busisiwe P. Ncama

Introduction: There is evidence of the inability of older people in Nigeria, Ghana and other developing countries to sustain themselves through savings, assets or pensions. This situation highlights the minimal benefit of pensions, savings or assets as income sources for older people; old age very often brings poverty and disability. Methodology: A qualitative interpretive design informed the study. The study area was categorized into three distinct ecological areas namely urban, periurban and rural areas. Twenty interviews and three focus group discussions with 68 elderly persons were conducted in ten sub-districts in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. The forty-eight elderly individuals were put into groups of 8, 20 and 20 for the focus group discussions. Data was thematically analysed.Results: Four major themes and subthemes were identified to reflect the pertinent issue of exploring and defining the preparedness of people for their retirement and ageing. There was evidence that preparing for old age is not an active precedent for the people of Cape Coast and they still believe in the traditional system of caring where it is the sole responsibility of the family to care for its own aged members.Conclusion: It is evident that formal care is not practiced in Ghana and that the aged therefore find the idea bewildering. They want to experience this care, but existing norms expect the family members to single-handedly provide care for their aged.


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