Missing mosaic in the teacher training of Hungarian as a foreign language teachers’ education: Who will teach the young children?

Abstract

Since 1982, several changes have occurred in the training program of Hungarian as a foreign language teachers. However, there is still a missing aspect in the selection of the programs offered in academic education: day-care, kindergarten, and primary school teacher trainees have no opportunity to access the HFL teacher training programs and acquire the profession. In 2009, a course named Methodology of Teaching Hungarian as a Foreign Language as well as an extended program called Hungarian Language for Foreign Children specialization were introduced at Kaposvár University, in an effort to provide for this missing piece. In this paper, a specific part of a never published research is introduced which proves that the teacher trainees of the lower education need at least a minimum knowledge of Hungarian language teaching methodology. Furthermore, detailed information is provided on the contents, the theoretical bases, the practical accomplishment and the success of these programs.