Attitudes And Difficulties of Hungarian Students in Slovakia Regarding State Language Learning Based on The Opinions of Language Teachers

Abstract Book of the 10th International Academic Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education

Year: 2026

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Attitudes And Difficulties of Hungarian Students in Slovakia Regarding State Language Learning Based on The Opinions of Language Teachers

Peter Toth, Dr. Kinga Horvath

ABSTRACT:

There is a significant Hungarian-speaking minority in the Slovak Republic. Confident acquisition of the state language is a task in primary and secondary schools. The aim of this research was to map the attitudes of Hungarian students towards learning the Slovak language and the difficulties in acquiring it, based on the opinions of teachers who educate the Slovak language. In the representative research some self-developed questionnaires were applied. The research revealed that the greatest difficulties in developing students’ Slovak language competences occur in the field of productive language use, primarily in the development of vocabulary, grammar, and speaking and writing skills. Receptive skills and pronunciation are less problematic areas. Although teachers strive for communication-focused education, institutional conditions and the language environment outside of school are less conducive to the development of confident, spontaneous use of Slovak by students. Secondary school teachers considered the exclusive use of Slovak language, the increased number of lessons, the focus on literature, and the organization of joint activities with Slovak-language schools to be significantly more important than the primary school teachers. Based on the results of the Chi-square test applied to examine regional differences, it can be stated that the most significant differences occurred in listening comprehension (χ² = 15.417; p = 0.001), creative communication (χ² = 13.825; p = 0.003), and the frequency of using Slovak in everyday life (χ² = 15.865; p = 0.001). Based on the results of the research, there is an opportunity for methodological in-service training of Slovak language teachers.

Keywords: Creative And Receptive Language Use; Primary and Secondary School Teachers; Regional and School Type Differences; Representative Research; Slovak Language Competences