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Hybrid identity of an ethnical group

Made by: Rkosi Adina Group: Romanian-English Year of study: II

INTRODUCTION This study traces the ways in which a Hungarian-speaking community positions itself in the community of practice of Romanian-speaking people. Through the observation of more Romanian language classes in Hungarian speakers schools I observed the difficulties of Hungarian speakers in learning Romanian language. The study demonstrates the particular implications of second language learning and use in the process of identity construction. This study is focusing on the linguistic practices of second language learners in the Hungarian speaking community of practice, and their construction of hybrid identity. If we belong to a hybrid community of practice we have to adequate our way of communication and behavior to the community of the target language speakers.
Adequation denotes the relation that establishes sufficient sameness between individuals or groups and allows for a transient partial identification rather than a recategorization of the individual from one social group to another.(Skapoulli, E.2004:247)

To pass in a community we have to be perceived as equal, but not identical with the social group we want to be in contact with. SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND USE The Hungarian ethnical group from Romania has to use Romanian language for intercultural communication. The individuals develop their second language in order to use it selectively according to their goals in social interaction. (Skapulli,E. 2004:248) Skapulli says that: Individuals who develop and practice new linguistic forms automatically create a new voice to express self in social interaction. (Skapulli,E. 2004:248) In this way those who learn a new language develop another way of expressing their ideas and their communication with the new community will be other than the communication with their original community. According to Wenger, E. the components of learning are: 1. Meaning: a way of talking about our (changing) ability individually and collectively
to experience our life and the world as meaningful.

2. Practice: a way of talking about the shared historical and social resources, frameworks,
3. 4. and perspectives that can sustain mutual engagement in action. Community: a way of talking about the social configurations in which our enterprises are defined as worth pursuing and our participation is recognizable as competence. Identity: a way of talking about how learning changes who we are and creates personal histories of becoming in the context of our communities. (Wenger, E. 1988:5)

METHOD In my paper I started from the premises: We are social beings, meaning that we live and communicate in a social group. In this aspect language is inseparable from our social life. Knowledge is a matter of competence, so not every people can learn easily a new language. Competence is the ability to make something easily, such as some of us have talent to painting, writing or anything else. The study is interested in the influence of the second language in the life of the local Hungarian community of speaking Romanian. Research questions that I am proposing to answer: 1. Which are the main problems of the Hungarian community in learning Romanian? 2. Second language learning influences the identity of the individuals from this community? During a semester I participated to many Romanian classes in a native Hungarian speaking school from Romania. During these classes I observed the ability of the pupils in speaking Romanian and their attitude to the language and to the Romanian nation in general. To notice the change of the attitude of the pupils I also observed their behavior in other classes too. After the semester I read the whole material again and I realized that the pupils were stressed in the first month of observation and for this reason I had to cut that material because it seemed to be irrelevant for my study. The most important problems of the children in learning the Romanian language are the accent and the usage of personal pronouns in singular and plural. They also have problems in

distinguishing the grammatical gender of the human and non-human objects. This problem occurs while Hungarian has no grammatical gender. I also observed that the children use Romanian words or expressions in their communication during the brake or in other classes, when they dont remember the Hungarian equivalent of that word or vice-versa, they use Hungarian terms to describe an object or action on a Romanian class if they dont remember the Romanian word. In this way they develop a dual identity. CONCLUSION To answer the first research question (which are the main problems of the Hungarian community members in learning Romanian?) we can say, concluding the data collected, that learners of the Romanian language as second language, have problems in expressing their ideas coherently and fluently. They make several grammar mistakes due to the fact that in the two languages are different grammatical structures and this aspect makes the pupils to confuse gender distinction in grammar. Another difficulty represents the accent in Romanian, while in Hungarian the accent is different than in Romanian. The answer to the second question (Second language learning influences the identity of the individuals from this community?) is that the pupils that learn Romanian as second language use Romanian words and expressions in their social communication. As a conclusion we can say that those who learn a second language, as in my case, unwillingly use it in their everyday communication. This fact leads us to the conclusion that, also the people who learn a second language deny their dual identity, those who learn a second language become unwillingly hybrid identities. REFFERENCES: Skapoulli, E. (2004), Gender codes at odds and the linguistic construction of hybrid identity? Journal of Language, Identity and Education. 3(4), pp. 245-260 Wenger, E. (1988), Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge University Press)

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