Dél-alföldi tanítók metanyelvi nézetei a nyelvjárási beszédről
Metalinguistic views of teachers in the Southern Great Plain, Hungary, concerning dialectal speech

Summary/Abstract: The case study presents partial results of research conducted within the project Patterns of Language Regard in the City of Szeged, Hungary and Vicinity: A Study in Perceptual Dialectology. The analysis focuses on Balástya, a settlement located in the dialectal region surrounding Szeged, Hungary. The study’s respondent group consists of five primary school teachers, and the data collection was based on structured sociolinguistic interviews lasting approximately one hour. The analysis examines the respondents’ metalinguistic views on the local dialect, specifically addressing the question: Can a teacher speak in local dialect during lessons? This topic is of particular importance, as multiple studies have shown that during the early school years, children’s metalinguistic attitudes are significantly shaped by their school environment. The analysis of the responses reveals that: a) there is no unified stance among the teachers on this issue; b) none of them consider the use of dialect by teachers in the classroom fully acceptable without restrictions. The respondents support their opinions with various typical arguments: 1) The language of reading and writing is not the dialect, yet teaching these skills is their primary responsibility. 2) Textbooks are written in the standard language rather than in dialect.3) Students from different dialectal backgrounds may not understand the teacher.

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