Immigrant Hungarian families' perceptions of new media technologies in the transmission of heritage language and culture

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Immigrant Hungarian families'perceptions of new media technologiesin the transmission of heritagelanguage and cultureTunde Szecsi a & Janka Szilagyi ba College of Education , Florida Gulf Coast University , FortMyers , FL , USAb Department of Education and Human Development , The Collegeat Brockport, State University of New York , Brockport , NY , USAPublished online: 17 Sep 2012.

To cite this article: Tunde Szecsi & Janka Szilagyi (2012) Immigrant Hungarian families' perceptionsof new media technologies in the transmission of heritage language and culture, Language, Cultureand Curriculum, 25:3, 265-281, DOI: 10.1080/07908318.2012.722105

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Immigrant Hungarian families’ perceptions of new mediatechnologies in the transmission of heritage language and culture

Tunde Szecsia∗ and Janka Szilagyib

aCollege of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA; bDepartment ofEducation and Human Development, The College at Brockport, State University of New York,Brockport, NY, USA

(Received 10 February 2011; final version received 20 July 2012)

The goal of this research was to explore thoroughly the perceptions of dispersedimmigrant professionals and their bilingual and bicultural children regarding the placeof new media technology in their lives. Open-ended interviewing and autoethnographywere used to explore families’ perceptions of the role of media technology in theirchildren’s development and maintenance of heritage language (HL) skills, relationshipswith relatives in the heritage country, and cultural identity. The voices represented arethose of two Hungarian immigrant professionals and their families. The families foundmedia technology beneficial in all three areas explored: the development andmaintenance of HL, relationships with relatives, and heritage culture. Adult familymembers also repeatedly pointed out the significance of their own active involvementin the process, and their responsibility in selecting appropriate resources and in beingavailable to support children in their optimal use of media technology. The studyprovides important insights for immigrant families and practitioners for nurturingchildren’s heritage language and culture.

Keywords: bilingualism; immigrant learners; language minorities; language attitudes

Introduction

Immigrant families in the USA often struggle with the maintenance of their heritagelanguage (HL) and culture. Research indicates that within three generations the HL inmost families is completely lost (Fishman, 1991). The consequences of HL loss are oftennegative, impacting immigrant children’s cultural identities, their relationship withparents and grandparents, and their academic accomplishments (Wong-Fillmore, 2000).

Among the factors that may positively affect HL maintenance are: (1) families’ positiveattitude towards the HL, (2) families’ efforts to maintain and use the HL, (3) regular visits tothe home country and/or extended visits from relatives, (4) proximity to ethnic community,churches, and schools, and (5) regular contact with institutions that appreciate the HL (Cho& Krashen, 2000; DeCapua & Wintergerst, 2009; Lao, 2004; Nesteruk, 2010; Park &Sarkar, 2007; Tse, 2001a). As a result, immigrant families with a high income, grandparentsand ethnic friends in close proximity, a nanny who speaks the HL, and access to HL schoolsseem to be at the successful end of the language transmission continuum (Nesteruk, 2010).

ISSN 0790-8318 print/ISSN 1747-7573 online

# 2012 Taylor & Francishttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2012.722105

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∗Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Language, Culture and CurriculumVol. 25, No. 3, November 2012, 265–281

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However, even a combination of these factors might not be sufficient for children’s HLdevelopment and maintenance (Kondo, 1998; Park & Sarkar, 2007; D. Zhang, 2010). Inparticular, based on a model of linguistic outcomes for first- and second-generation immi-grants (Portes & Rumbaut, 2006), the children of first-generation immigrant professionalswho live away from ethnic neighbourhoods are predicted to lose their HL and develop intoEnglish monolinguals.

During the past decade, technology has transformed our lives. The advancement andavailability of various media technologies have changed the way people live, work, andcommunicate. Media sources have also been found beneficial for HL development.Among those are television programmes in the HL (Cho & Krashen, 2000), cartoons onvideo or DVD from the heritage culture (Nesteruk, 2010), pop songs and audiobooks inthe HL (DeCapua & Wintergerst, 2009), video tapes for educational purposes, and the Inter-net (Park & Sarkar, 2007). In addition, media technologies such as email, social networkingwebsites, and Skype – a telephone and video calling service over the World Wide Web –carry new opportunities to connect immigrants with their families in the heritage country(Senyurekli & Detzner, 2009). As a result, through becoming a part of each other’svirtual lives, families have enjoyed a day-to-day relationship with relatives and friends inthe heritage country.

Extensive research of past decades has focused on the consequences of HL loss andmaintenance, especially on parents’ attitudes and role in language and cultural identitymaintenance. More recent research has offered additional insights on families’ literacy prac-tices in HL. However, most research has focused on strategies, practices, and resourcesapplied by immigrant Asian families (Hashimoto & Lee, 2011; Joo, 2009; G. Li, 2006).Only a few studies (S. Cho, 2008; Elias & Lemish, 2008; Rydin & Sjoberg, 2008) havefocused on parents’ strategies with media technologies and the role of such technologiesin supporting children’s maintenance of their HL and culture. Also, little attention hasbeen given to intergenerational efforts and strategies in media technologies, especiallyamong Eastern European immigrants (Nesteruk, 2010). Therefore, an investigation of dis-persed Hungarian immigrant professionals and their families’ perceptions regarding the rolemedia technologies play in their children’s development and maintenance of HL skills,relationships with relatives, and cultural identity was meaningful and needed.

The goal of this research was to delve deep into the media-technology-related percep-tions of dispersed immigrant Hungarian professionals who are raising bilingual and bicul-tural children. This study aimed to answer the following research question: What are theperceptions of immigrant Hungarian professionals and their families about the rolemedia technologies play in their children’s development and maintenance of HL skills,relationships with relatives, and cultural identity? For educators and families, regardlessof their country of residence, this study provided new insights into strategies and practicesfor HL and culture maintenance as seen through the family members’ eyes.

HL and culture maintenance and media technologies

Theories and research related to the loss and maintenance of HL and culture served as theframework for the investigation of dispersed Hungarian immigrant families’ perceptions ofthe role new media technologies play in their children’s development and maintenance ofHL skills, relationships with relatives, and cultural identity. We conceptualised the HL as anon-majority language that is spoken and used by individuals who are considered to be alinguistic minority (Valdes, 2005). In addition, we approached HL maintenance as theprocess in which individuals’ HL proficiencies are growing and being continually used

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not only with the purpose of everyday communication, but also in cognitive academic con-texts (Cummins, 1994; Hakuta & D’Andrea, 1992).

When HL loss occurs, the individual, family, community, and society all suffer fromthe consequences (Tse, 2001a). The negative consequences of limited HL proficienciesinclude an inability to interact with relatives (Nesteruk & Marks, 2009), the avoidance ofcontact with speakers of the HL (G. Cho, 2000; Elias & Lemish, 2008), feelings of exclu-sion from the ethnic group (G. Cho, 2000), alienation within the immediate family (Wong-Fillmore, 1991, 2000), and a loss of power in conveying family cultural values and moralsthat embody intergenerational wisdom (S. Cho, 2008; Nesteruk, 2010). As a result, HL lossoften triggers the loss of cultural identity and a sense of belonging (Wang, 2009). Further-more, Bartolome (2008) argues that belittling children’s HL and culture can be hurtful totheir academic and psychological development. On the other hand, research has also uncov-ered numerous benefits of bilingualism and biculturalism, including strong intergenera-tional relationships in the family and the ethnic community (Elias & Lemish, 2008;Nesteruk, 2010; Tse, 2001b). For example, Elias and Lemish (2008) found that immigrantRussian families’ media-related activities in the HL generated close bonds with relatives.Furthermore, Spanish-speaking families in Canada have effectively immersed their childrenin the HL so that they easily communicated with family members (Guardado, 2008). Inanother study, Chinese immigrant families’ preference for speaking in Mandarin withtheir children contributed to an increase in the children’s HL skills (Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009).

Research shows that bilinguals tend to develop a well-balanced cultural identity (Portes& Hao, 2002). Therefore, the HL can be a tool or a goal in the preservation of cultural iden-tity. Because cultural awareness and cultural identity are tied to language, the HL is per-ceived as an important factor in forming strong cultural identities (Guardado, 2008;Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009). For example, autobiographical reports of well-respectedHispanic educators have journalised the difficult but uplifting journey involved in develop-ing a healthy cultural identity and biliteracy, even in an era when politics in the USA bannedthe use of Spanish in school (de la Luz Reyes, 2011). Similarly, Torres-Guzman (2004)noted that being bilingual represents an expression of self-determination for Latinos inthe USA. Furthermore, first-generation immigrant Chinese parents in the USA aimed totransmit ethnic identity to their children through teaching the HL by immersing childrenin cultural practices (e.g. vacation in China, ethnic activities in the community, and satelliteTV programmes). They believed that the Chinese language had the potential to remind chil-dren of their cultural heritage (Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009). In addition, immigrants’cultural heritage can be promoted and fortified through communication technologies. Inparticular, Russian immigrant families in Israel were reported to view TV programmesabout Russian history and culture with the purpose of transferring the cultural heritagebetween generations (Elias & Lemish, 2008).

Individuals who maintain the HL also gain benefits in cognitive and linguistic perform-ance (Bialystok, 2009). Although bilinguals may have a smaller vocabulary in one languagethan monolinguals, they perform better on memory tasks based primarily on executivefunction, more effectively carry out controlled processing, and are less exposed to age-related losses in certain executive processes (Bialystok, Craik, Klein, & Wiswanathan,2004). In addition, bilingual children’s second language acquisition can be promoted byusing the strong foundations of their HL (Bartolome, 2008; Cummins, 1989), and skillsin the HL can be transferred to a second language (Langer, Bartolome, Vasquez, &Lucas, 1990). Bilingual and bicultural people also enjoy the economic advantages ofbeing more marketable due to their unique skills (G. Cho, 2000), and society benefits

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from their expertise when they are employed in diplomacy, business, education, andnational security (Tse, 2001b). In addition, Bartolome and Leistyna (2005) advocate bilin-gualism to affirm the right to the maintenance of the HL, a basic human and civil rightwhich ensures that speakers of minority languages participate equally in a democraticsociety.

Research on HL loss has explored a variety of complex, often interrelated, societal andindividual factors that accelerate the disappearance of HL. Among societal factors, the com-munity’s appreciation or rejection of the HL appears to be significant (Kouritzin, 1999).School policies that require instruction in the English language with little or no consider-ation of the HL, along with some teachers’ limited awareness – or total lack of awareness– of the positive effects of bilingualism, have been found to increase the detrimental effectson HL maintenance (Bartolome & Leistyna, 2005; Cummins, 1994; Kouritzin, 1999;Schecter & Bayley, 1997; Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009). Lack of family and communityresources for promoting HL and culture skills also contributes to HL loss. For instance, thechildren of Eastern European professionals who resided outside of ethnic communities,with the consequent lack of access to community resources, exhibited a greater tendencyto experience HL loss (Nesteruk, 2010). The English language became dominant inthose families’ communication, regardless of the families’ strong intentions to maintainthe HL. Moreover, some parents avoided the HL with the intention of helping their childrento learn the new language and contributing to their academic success (Kouritzin, 1999;Schecter & Bayley, 1997).

Among the factors that promote HL maintenance, parents’ positive attitude (X. Li,1999) and families’ efforts to create opportunities for children to learn and use the HLseem to be the most crucial (DeCapua & Wintergerst, 2009; Kondo, 1998; Nesteruk,2010). Family efforts to preserve the children’s HL skills included reading children’sbooks and folk tales from the native culture (Cho & Krashen, 2000; Nesteruk, 2010),reading the Bible in the HL (Park & Sarkar, 2007), and utilising support within theethnic community: churches, schools, and peer groups (Guardado, 2002; Kondo, 1998;Park & Sarkar, 2007). In addition, the diverse use of technology, which included television,videos or DVDs, pop songs, and audiobooks in the HL, appeared to positively impactchildren’s HL skills (DeCapua & Wintergerst, 2009; Hashimoto & Lee, 2011; Nesteruk,2010; Rydin & Sjoberg, 2008). Considering the widespread use of media technologies inimmigrant families, it would be useful to have a more in-depth understanding of the strat-egies and practices that grandparents and parents employ in using new media technology tofacilitate children’s HL and culture development and maintenance.

Methodology

This qualitative study explored our own perceptions and those of our family members con-cerning the role that new media technologies play in the maintenance of the HL and culture.It used a unique mix of interviewing and autoethnographic interviewing. We found autoeth-nography to be a powerful tool for enquiring into our own families’ experiences, allowingus to connect the personal experiences of the authors to the social and cultural context(Reed-Danahay, 2009). Autoethnography provides an opportunity to describe andanalyse the characteristics of a culture from an insider perspective, through the lived experi-ences of members of that culture (Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011). Kouritzin (2000)emphasised the significance of firsthand accounts of raising bilingual children written bymothers or family members. However, in her reflection on doing autoethnographic researchon family members, Ellis (2004) noted that: ‘As much as an author may want to give voice


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to family members, that’s a goal that can never be fully achieved, unless family membersbecome coauthors’ (p. 287). We felt that interviewing the members of our families wouldhelp us to represent their ideas authentically, supplementing ours. In addition to the jointconstruction of knowledge (Mann, 2011) among family members, there was a secondlevel of co-construction of knowledge between us, the two researchers. Because weserved as interviewee and interviewer, we were able to experience and negotiate eachother’s perspectives. We are aware that our thinking and our data interpretations havebeen influenced by our experiences as mothers of bilingual children struggling to maintaintheir HL. We consider the way our personal experiences shaped our research an asset. We,both mothers of bilingual immigrant children and researchers, started this research with theintention to explore our families’ perception about media technologies from an insider’spoint of view through in-depth interviews. Our role and reflexivity as an insider and aresearcher are articulated through providing descriptions about our personal context.

Participants

Family 1

The mother (35) in this family is the second author of this article. She is Hungarian, and sheimmigrated to the USA 11 years ago for educational purposes. She received a PhD in edu-cation and works at a four-year college in a small town in Western New York. The father(35), who is American, works as a salesman. The two boys, Samuel1 (5) and Patrick (18months), are exposed to two languages in the household. The mother speaks to the childrenexclusively in Hungarian, while the father converses solely in English. The mother consist-ently expects the children to communicate in Hungarian with her, even in the presence ofEnglish-speaking individuals. Although the mother and the father communicate with eachother in English, the mother pretends not to understand when the children mix in Englishwords while talking to her, encouraging them to respond to her only in Hungarian.Although the father only understands a few words in Hungarian, he is supportive ofthe maintenance of the boys’ HL and culture. Every summer the mother and thetwo boys spend two months in Hungary. The Hungarian grandmother (62), a retiredcollege professor, and the grandfather (63), a retired engineer, usually visit once a yearfor a few weeks.

Family 2

This family immigrated to the USA 11 years ago with the purpose of furthering the edu-cation of the mother, who is the first author of this article. At that time the children (7and 8) and the father only spoke Hungarian, while the mother spoke both Hungarian andEnglish. Currently, the mother (47) holds a PhD in education and works at a universityin a small city of the southern USA while the father (47) works as a technology networkadministrator. The children, Viola (17) and Vilmos (18), attend a public high school.Family communication occurs only in Hungarian. The mother and the children usuallyspend the two-month summer break in Hungary. The grandmother (75), who lives inHungary and is a retired school teacher, visits the family once a year for five weeks. It isimportant to note that at the time the family immigrated to the USA the children had emer-gent literacy skills in Hungarian due to their exposure to written text in the form of Hungar-ian books in preschool and first grade. Thus, Viola was not able to read or write, and Vilmoswas just learning to read and write.


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Our families shared the following characteristics: (1) one or both parents are first-gen-eration immigrants from Hungary and speak Hungarian as their native language; (2) theyhave resided in the USA for over 10 years; (3) the children use the HL for communicationwith family members who are native speakers of Hungarian; (4) the children and the immi-grant parents are bilinguals; (5) the grandparents are retired professionals living in Hungary;and (6) the families have purposefully utilised media technologies in the maintenance of HLand culture.

It is important to note that our families also differed on three important levels: (1) theage of the children, (2) the immigrant generation the children belonged to, and (3) the lin-guistic background of the father. With respect to the different immigrant generations,according to Zhou (as cited in J. Zhang, 2009) it is meaningful to combine one-and-a-halfand second-generation children because they share many experiences, especially if theyarrive in the USA at an early age. Although we agree that linguistic intermarriages poseadditional challenges for HL transmission and maintenance, Family 1 emphasised the prac-tices DeCapua and Wintegerst (2009) described as instrumental in promoting and maintain-ing the HL, such as consistent parental practices and the promotion of positive attitudestowards the HL.

Data collection

To answer our research question, we conducted interviews with members of our familiesand each other. The interview questions addressed perceptions of practices related tomedia technologies in order to maintain the HL, the native culture, and social-emotionalties with family and friends in the native country. Interviewees were asked to describe indetail how they employed media technologies and how they perceived the use of suchtechnologies.

First, the second author (Family 1) conducted a total of four interviews: with her olderson Samuel, her husband, her mother, and her father. Patrick, her younger son, was notinterviewed due to his young age at the time of the study. Simultaneously, the firstauthor (Family 2) conducted a total of four interviews with her two children, herhusband, and her mother. Then, to provide a richer and more thorough account we followedthe example of Hannon and Bretag (2010) and employed autoethnographic interviewing:we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with each other. The interviews witheach other and with the grandparents were conducted via Skype, while the interviewswith spouses and children were conducted in person. Each adult-participant interviewlasted approximately one hour, and the child interviews lasted 30 minutes. The interviewwith Samuel (5) was conducted over a course of three days, with a minimum of two-hour breaks between questions to be able to gain his full attention. All interviews were con-ducted in Hungarian, except for the interview with the father in Family 1 who only speaksEnglish. Only the data from these interviews were used for this study.

Data analysis

The process of qualitative data analysis followed the ‘data analysis spiral’ as described byCreswell (1998, 2003). The model suggests the following sequence of steps: (1) data man-agement; (2) initial reading and memoing; (3) coding, describing, and interpreting data; (4)data presentation and interpretation. Following Creswell’s model, data analysis consisted offirst organising and preparing the data by transcribing the tape-recorded interviews. Thetranscription involved recording words and sentences with no change. Intonation, pauses,


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speaking modes, and speaker noises were not noted because our focus was on meaningrather than on fluency. The transcripts were translated into English by the researchers.The data were then coded, keeping the research questions in mind. This process led tothe emergence of three main themes: (a) perceptions about the role technology plays in chil-dren’s development and maintenance of HL skills, (b) relationships with relatives, and (c)cultural identity. The findings and discussion are organised around these themes.

Findings

Technology as a pathway to HL skills

Participants perceived that the children’s HL skills – speaking, listening, reading, andwriting – were positively affected by the regular use of various media technologies.However, the family members emphasised that the effects of technology could be optimisedonly by the adults’ creative and dedicated participation.

Enhancing speaking and listening skills

Both families recognised that the children’s use of Skype enriched speaking and listeningskills in the HL. In Family 1, with the purpose of increasing exposure to communication inHungarian, Samuel started to use Skype at the age of two. He spent a half-hour almost everymorning talking to his grandparents. His vocabulary expanded quickly as he became moreconfident in his speech. However, when he started kindergarten, Samuel’s languageexposure changed: he was exposed less to the Hungarian language due to fewer callswith grandparents, and more to the English language in the classroom environment.Decreased opportunities for the HL automatically led to an obvious decline in Samuel’sHL proficiencies:

I could notice gradual changes in Samuel’s Hungarian. When we spoke, he tended to ask forclarification. . . . Because he often asked me to repeat what I had said, I found myself speakingslower so he understood me. (Grandmother, Family 1)

The grandfather noticed that Samuel started to code-switch when speaking with him, eventhough he knew the grandfather spoke only Hungarian. Reflecting on this decline, themother emphasised the effort that was needed on her part: ‘We need to try even hardernow to keep up the regular calls, and it takes a lot of extra effort.’

Parents and grandparents equally realised the benefits of other media technologies forchildren’s speaking and listening skills in the HL. In particular, when children watchedand/or listened to the same folk tales and songs on a regular basis, the vocabulary ofthose literary works became an integrated part of the children’s language. To illustratethis process, the mother in Family 1 shared a story of her son who used the poeticexpression from a folk tale, ‘Dark clouds are gathering in the sky!’, to express the possi-bility of rain. She cherished the richness of Samuel’s vocabulary, but she pointed outSamuel’s lack of awareness of the proper context for using such poetic expressions. Simi-larly, adolescents and their parents perceived listening to songs on the computer as a greatresource for expanding HL vocabulary and listening skills:

Last summer we saw a Hungarian musical in Budapest with my parents. Though I loved thestory and the music; in the theatre I did not completely understand the lyrics. The next day I


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checked the songs on YouTube, and for days I listened to them, until eventually I memorizedthe lyrics. (Vilmos, Family 2)

Although both families acknowledged the benefits of movies, audiotapes, Internet sites, andinteractive games in promoting children’s listening and speaking skills in HL, they alwaysdrew attention to the significance of adults’ active involvement. They repeatedly empha-sised that parents were essential in selecting appropriate resources, as well as in scaffoldingthe process. Therefore, these families perceived media technology with HL input more as asupplement to the parents’ efforts in maintaining children’s HL than as a substitute forparents’ participation in the process.

Promoting reading and writing skills

The use of media technologies was perceived as facilitating children’s reading and writingskills in the HL. As the mother in Family 1 shared, they started to use a Hungarian websiteoffering learning opportunities for young children. Samuel’s (5) interest in online stories,songs, poems, and cartoons soon led to his interest in print. He started asking about theletters on the screen, noticing how some letters were different from the ones he hadlearned at school. The mother found these online experiences invaluable for Samuel’s emer-ging reading in the HL:

I wanted to wait with introducing the Hungarian alphabet to Samuel until he was confident withthe English letters. However, his curiosity made me change my mind. . . .When we visited thewebsite with Hungarian folk tales and songs, Samuel started to ask about the letters. Althoughwe read stories in Hungarian every night, he never asked about the letters in the books beforethese virtual experiences. (Mother, Family 1)

Simultaneously, Family 1 also witnessed Samuel’s emerging interest in writing in the HL onSkype. First, Samuel and his grandmother exchanged the emotional icons, then she typedshort one-word messages and Samuel copied them on the keyboard. As a result, Samuelwas soon able to read and write a few words in Hungarian. The mother added thatSamuel only experimented with writing in the HL on the computer, with the purpose ofcommunicating with his grandparents in Hungary.

With entertainment and educational purposes in mind, the father in Family 2 intro-duced 11-year-old Vilmos to Hodıto, a Hungarian online game. In this game, in orderto make strategic decisions Vilmos had to first read and analyse information about the rel-evant political and economic context, which required higher-order thinking skills and aca-demic language. As he recalled his two-year passion, he pointed out that reading theinstructions in Hungarian was demanding. The father commented that this computergame contained texts similar to daily newspapers on economic and political matterswhich not only facilitated the young adolescent’s ongoing conceptual and vocabularydevelopment, but also offered numerous contexts for the use of newly acquired academicvocabulary: ‘I remember that I often needed to explain to him concepts such as the metricsystem, medieval European history, and armory.’ In addition, Vilmos admitted that due tohis poor HL writing skills, he shied away from communicating with other players in theForum which was part of the game. While both father and son found the interactive com-puter game in the HL beneficial for language development, they also highlighted thecrucial need for the presence of the parent in scaffolding the child’s comprehensionof the HL.


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In terms of HL writing skills, chatting online, texting with cell phones, and writingemails and Facebook messages were all utilised and perceived as beneficial by themembers of Family 2. As the mother noted:

They [children] often ask questions about spelling and punctuation, or they use the Hungarianspell check.. . . I feel they have improved their spelling more through chatting on the computerthan during the long paper-and-pencil practice sessions with me. (Mother, Family 2)

Children in Family 2 preferred the HL for both oral and written communication. As Viola inFamily 2 commented, ‘I never speak with my brother in English, so why would I text him inEnglish? It is just natural to “talk” to him in Hungarian, whether in person or duringtexting.’ The mother perceived the children’s texting as a sign of comfort with the HL,although she also pointed out the challenge of using a keyboard with English letters fortyping Hungarian vowels that do not exist in the English language. To enable the childrento use the correct Hungarian spelling when writing emails or Facebook messages, the fatherpurchased a keyboard with the Hungarian alphabet. After that, whenever Vilmos wasunsure about Hungarian spelling, he drafted letters in a Word document and asked hisparents to check the spelling for him before pasting it into an email. To some extent thishindered the frequency of Vilmos’ written communication in HL. Overall, both childrenand parents felt that with little direct instruction in writing, the children were developingwriting skills in the HL through authentic and engaging contexts offered by media technol-ogies, although mainly in the field of conversational language rather than in academiclanguage use.

Technology as a road to building and maintaining relationships

Participating families used numerous media technologies to maintain frequent contact withfamily and friends in the heritage country, which included Skype, email, chat rooms, andsocial networking websites. The regular communication with grandparents, cousins, andfriends resulted in close bonds that may have otherwise been difficult to develop and main-tain. While describing how Skype and other media technologies enabled them to remainpart of each other’s lives, participants also emphasised that these experiences often requiredmuch effort and creativity from adult members.

Using Skype was helpful in strengthening the relationship between the grandparentsand the newborn baby in Family 1. During the grandfather’s extended visit, he sang tra-ditional Hungarian songs to the infant Patrick. Upon his return to Hungary, he often sangPatrick’s favourite songs over Skype. When the call ended, Patrick (10 months old at thetime) looked for the grandfather in the room where he used to sleep, not realising thatthe grandfather was only virtually present.

The grandmother also used to sing Patrick a song about a hammer that goes clang-clangand a clock that goes tick-tock on a daily basis. In that song the singer uses gestures thatimitate a hammer and a clock. The grandmother fondly recalled Patrick gesturing thehammer, encouraging her to sing through the camera. She believed that Skype singing ses-sions created warm ties with Patrick. Moreover, she found Skype instrumental in providingan opportunity for meaningful participation in their infant grandson’s life.

Similarly, the children in Family 2 would call their grandmother once or twice a weekvia Skype to tell her about what had happened at school. As Viola stated, ‘When I am reallyhappy or really upset about something, I will call grandma.’ These regular conversationsallowed the grandmother to remain a participant in the children’s lives. As she noted,


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‘These weekly chats on Skype keep me in touch with my grandkids. Even if we lived in thesame country or the same town we might not talk more often.’

In addition to Skype, writing emails and using social networking websites appeared tofoster friendships regardless of distances. The children in Family 2 exchanged frequentemails and Facebook messages with their Hungarian friends, especially after the summerbreak. Both parents and children found these channels important in remaining connected,especially due to the extended time between visits.

While acknowledging the positive role of media technologies in maintaining strongbonds with family and friends in Hungary, the adult family members discussed the effortsrequired to generate worthwhile and engaging communication opportunities for the children.Parents and grandparents in Family 1 reported that they often found it difficult to maintain theinterest of their young children while conversing on Skype, especially as more and more timehad passed since the last face-to-face visit. To increase Samuel’s involvement the grand-mother initiated ‘Grandma-TV’. Once or twice a week she would read a story to Samuel:

Soon some of the characters in the stories became part of our daily conversations, and Samuelstarted asking me about them. However, his curiosity slowly disappeared. Now I feel like I con-stantly have to improvise to keep Samuel’s attention. As soon as I sense his interest diminish-ing, I have to come up with something new. For example, we pretend to be these characterstelling about our day to each other. (Grandmother, Family 1)

An additional challenge in Family 1 was the father’s lack of Hungarian language skills. Hedisclosed how difficult it was for him to support his wife and children in maintaining alanguage he did not understand. As he reflected on his experiences, he shared: ‘I used tofeel left out while they were having fun because I did not understand anything unlessmy wife or Samuel translated.’ Although it took much patience and commitment, heexpressed pride in his sons’ ability to speak two languages.

Technology as a bridge to heritage culture

The findings of this study indicated that listening to and watching folk tales and movies onDVD led to a deeper understanding of the heritage history. In addition, chatting on Skypeand using emails offered avenues to explore cultural norms and customs, which seemed tomould children’s cultural identity, and made them feel more ‘at home’ in the heritageculture.

Fostering knowledge about Hungarian history

Movies on DVD were found to be indispensable resources for sharing knowledge aboutHungarian history and traditions. Although initially the families used movies and DVDsfor entertainment, they soon recognised additional benefits. The mother in Family 1exposed Samuel to Hungarian history through age-appropriate DVDs. For example, thefolk tales about King Matthias not only were entertaining, but they also taught Samuelabout a famous king and life in Hungary during the fifteenth century. In Family 2, theparents tried to use classical Hungarian literature to familiarise the children with major his-torical events and traditions. However, due to the children’s lack of background knowledgein history, and the novels’ extremely sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structure,the children struggled to read these novels in Hungarian. To alleviate this challenge,the movie version of these novels was presented to the children. In order to facilitate the


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children’s engagement with these DVDs, some parental initiative was required, as themother in Family 2 revealed: ‘Often we needed to stop the DVD and clarify words andreferences to culture or history unknown to my children.’

Enriching cultural understanding

Chatting on Skype, emails, and/or on social networks not only led to strong bonds with distantfamily members, but also engendered an understanding of the Hungarian culture, includingholidays and norms. For example, on Skype the grandmother in Family 2 told stories toVilmos about All Saints’ Day, when according to the tradition she visited cemeteries,placing flowers and candles on gravestones. Vilmos noted that he had forgotten these tra-ditions because he was too young when the family had left Hungary. ‘Her stories showedme the differences between All Saints’ Day and Halloween that we celebrate here’, he said.His sister Viola also mentioned that her cousins often shared stories about school-relatedevents, name day celebrations, and the dress-up parade in February, experiences she did nothave in the USA. She felt that these conversations on Skype supplemented her knowledgeof Hungarian culture. Both parents in Family 2 noted the disappearance of Hungarian holidaysfrom their life in the USA due to the physical absence of a larger Hungarian community.However, adults in both families recognised the potential for preserving Hungarian traditionsthrough media technologies. In particular, the children in Family 1 always await the arrival ofthe Hungarian New Year with excitement. Due to the six-hour difference in time, it is a perfectopportunity for the extended family in Hungary to sit down for a midnight meal and say cheersto the New Year together with the children in the USA through Skype. The grandparentsalso embraced this event as the grandfather expressed, ‘Never would I have imagined that Iwould have the opportunity to clink glasses with my grandsons who are thousands of milesaway.’ Similarly, the Father in Family 1 enthusiastically spoke about this:

Not only do we get a chance to celebrate with my wife’s family, but we also follow the Hun-garian traditions. We first listen quietly to the Hungarian anthem at midnight, and then wewatch my wife’s family bring their traditional foods on the table, wishing we were there.(Father, Family 1)

Through Skype, Family 1 also participated in the celebration of Saint Nicholas Day onDecember 6, and Christmas Day in Hungary. The grandparents noted how much theyappreciated the opportunity of seeing Samuel and Patrick find their winter boots filledwith goodies that Saint Nicholas had brought overnight. Similarly, on the 25th of DecemberSamuel loved the many gifts presented to him through the Skype camera:

The Baby Jesus brings me gifts to my grandma and grandpa’s house in Hungary. My grandmaalways teases me; she pretends to hand me the gifts, but I cannot open them on the computer! Ilove going through their suitcase when they visit after Christmas. (Samuel, Family 1)

Both families emphasised that Skype enabled them to take part in each other’s celebration.Such experiences ultimately resulted in the children having a more authentic internalisationof Hungarian traditions.

Beyond holiday traditions, cultural norms and behaviours were also learned with thehelp of technology. As the children acquired the HL, they not only mastered vocabularyand grammatical structures, but also developed their sociolinguistic competence.However, the limited exposure to a variety of authentic social situations seemed to


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hinder the full development of age-appropriate sociolinguistic awareness. In particular, withno exposure to the formal language, which differs from the informal in conjugation and sen-tence structures, the children are limited to the use of the informal version acquired fromfamily and friends. The parents pointed out that the lack of sociolinguistic awarenessheld up the development of the children’s fluency in the formal language, which oftenresulted in them ‘avoiding greeting people when they presumed that the formal languagewould be needed’ (Mother, Family 2). She commented on the fact that knowledge of‘visible’ culture, such as holidays, foods, historical events, and folk costumes, is easierto transmit using media technologies than the less tangible components of culture, suchas values, behaviours, and sociolinguistic awareness.

Discussion

This research aimed to explore the perceptions of dispersed Hungarian immigrant pro-fessionals and their families about the role new media technologies play in their children’sHL development and maintenance, bonds with relatives, and cultural identity. These threeareas are interconnected and fuelled by each other. In particular, HL skills play a role ‘in thepersonal, cultural and societal aspects’ of bilingual immigrants’ lives (Joo, 2009, p. 94).Three generations of two Hungarian immigrant families shared stories about the use ofmedia technologies, and the role of supporting adults in shaping children’s media prefer-ences. Although the two families differ on many levels, including the age of the children,the nationality of the fathers, and the level of the children’s immigrant generation, the inter-generational participants found media technologies beneficial in all three areas. However,they also emphasised that adults’ effort and commitment played a crucial role in the chil-dren’s growth in HL, culture, and healthy relationship with distant family members.

Literacy development in HL

In the improvement of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in the HL, the partici-pating family members found media technologies such as Skype, interactive websites,videos, and chat rooms valuable and motivating. J. Zhang (2009) also found evidence forusing ethnic media mainly for entertaining purposes rather than for the maintenance ofspeech and literacy, although noting, ‘they [HL media] constitute an ecology that is condu-cive to such a purpose’ (p. 207). Both the oral and written HL literacy skills of Samuel,Vilmos, and Viola appeared to expand in a virtual environment, which offered authentic,meaningful, and purposeful contexts for using the HL. These authentic virtual environmentsfilled a gap because both participating families lived in a community with no access to Hun-garian schools or churches (Nesteruk, 2010). In these families, the virtual environments (e.g.communicating with friends on Skype, or playing computer games in the HL) had the poten-tial to generate intrinsic motivation and purposeful goals for the children to use the HL. Simi-larly, Hashimoto and Lee (2011) found that Japanese children became interested in usingtheir HL when activities such as reading the instruction manual for Game Boy created a‘more meaningful, relevant, and entertaining context’ (p. 172). Furthermore, the HLappeared to be revitalised through using the Internet to communicate or play games inKorean or to visit Korean websites (S. Cho, 2008). In a meaningful and engaging virtualenvironment in the HL, children’s interest seemed to be maintained, and their literacyemerged and developed, which ultimately led to the children’s biliteracy (Tse, 2001a). Con-sidering the two younger children, Samuel and Patrick, biliteracy is still a goal towards whichthey have made their first steps with the use of technology. On the other hand, Vilmos and


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Viola can be described as biliterate teenagers; however, in their case technology was only atool for building on their emerging HL skills from the time of their immigration.

Numerous studies (e.g. Elias & Lemish, 2008; Guardado, 2008; D. Zhang, 2010) found thatchildren, especially adolescents, were often resistant to learning and maintaining the HL andculture. In this study, such resistance did not surface. The children in this study appeared to par-ticipate comfortably in both cultures, and expressed their pride in being ‘at home’ in both. Thisstudy therefore supports the enrichment hypothesis, which proposes that children who feel equaland well adjusted in the majority society are more committed to using the HL (D. Zhang, 2010).In these families, the Hungarian language was consistently used for communication with thefamily members who were native speakers of Hungarian. In particular, in Family 1 Samueland Patrick spoke only Hungarian with their mother, and switched to English when speakingwith their father. The father’s patience and enthusiastic support for the Hungarian language prob-ably impacted the process. In Family 2, Viola and Vilmos used only Hungarian when commu-nicating with each other, contrasting the findings of other studies that documented siblings’preference for using English (Nesteruk, 2010; J. Zhang, 2009). This might be attributed todiverse factors, such as their strong foundations in the Hungarian language, including their emer-gent literacy skills in Hungarian at the time of immigration, the conscientious avoidance of evenoccasional code-switching, the use of academic language in Hungarian when helping withhomework in English, and the extended summer visits to Hungary.

Bonds and relationships

The findings of this study support the notion that media technologies can enable families tobe a part of each other’s life through shared experiences. Children in this study used Skype,chat rooms, and Facebook to communicate with family and friends in the heritage country,which was perceived to strengthen the emotional bonds. Through continuously beinglogged on the computer, family members experienced an ‘extended home’, which satisfiedthe need for belonging, similar to the case of immigrants in Sweden (Rydin & Sjoberg,2008). In the virtual activities, these Hungarian families used technology to communicatein authentic situations, which included sending emails and messaging with relatives andfriends through Facebook and Skype. All of these experiences fuelled the need and motiv-ation for using HL in real-life situations. This was in contrast to sending pretend emails forthe sole purpose of practising writing (Hashimoto & Lee, 2011).

It is important to note that the strong bonds maintained in these Hungarian families aretypical of other Eastern European families. Nesteruk and Marks (2009) reported thatEastern European families rely heavily on grandparents’ support in childrearing, and theymaintain strong intergenerational ties. In these Hungarian families, the distant grandparentswere able to stay involved through their annual month-long visits, and the frequent communi-cations through Skype and emails. Ultimately, these media technologies were perceived as abridge that fortifies formerly established relationships with family and friends. However, theHungarian family members testified that, especially in the case of young children, being cog-nisant of children’s interests and needs, and designing creative communication topics andpresentation methods seemed to be the determining factors for successful communication,without which technology might fail to strengthen family bonds.

In this study, the participants mentioned numerous times that the annual visits toHungary were vital, and technology was used as a tool to effectively bridge the timebetween visits. This perception is in concert with the findings of previous research that dis-cussed the benefits that trips to the heritage country had for HL maintenance and bonds withrelatives (S. Cho, 2008; Nesteruk, 2010). In particular, the two-month long summer visits to


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Hungary allowed Vilmos and Viola to establish new friendships with Hungarian-speakingyouth, and offered opportunities for all four children to spend extended time with familymembers. These opportunities were perceived as beneficial for improving language and cul-tural skills, and for enduring motivation generated by shared memories. For example,Vilmos and Viola exchanged more frequent emails and Facebook messages with Hungarianfriends in order to keep in touch. Without those visits the successful role of technologycould be undermined. However, without the use of media technologies to connectfriends and family together between visits, the quality and the positive effects of thesummer visits could also be jeopardised. For example, without maintaining these relation-ships, the teenage participants would be more reluctant to leave their American friendsbehind to spend an extended amount of time in Hungary.

Cultural awareness and identity

The adults in this study recognised that media technologies can offer innovative ways forchildren to learn about the heritage culture, traditions, and norms. Similarly to other bilin-gual families, these families used activities such as listening to and watching folk tales andmovies on DVD to familiarise children with the heritage history and traditions (S. Cho,2008; Decapua & Wintergerst, 2009; Elias & Lemish, 2008). The accumulated knowledgeof Hungarian literature, history, and traditions was perceived as an essential building blockin children’s cultural identity. Between the summer trips, media technologies seemed toprovide for the children opportunities for deepening a feeling of belonging to their Hungar-ian heritage, something that otherwise might have been diminished due to the dominantAmerican culture and the lack of the Hungarian community in their surroundings.Echoing other themes in this study, the adults emphasised their role in maximising thebenefits of media technologies in shaping children’s cultural identity.

Parent efforts and support

A major finding of this study was parents’ and grandparents’ perceptions of their role andresponsibilities in using media technologies with the children. While acknowledging thepositive impact of media technologies, both families repeatedly pointed out the significanceof adults’ active involvement. The adults noted their responsibility in selecting appropriateresources, guiding children in the optimal use of media technologies, and being creative inmaintaining children’s interests. Similar to this study, others have described families wherefathers and grandparents significantly contributed to the process (Elias & Lemish, 2008;Hashimoto & Lee, 2011) while some emphasised the mother’s dominant efforts(DeCapua & Wintergerst, 2009; Kondo, 1998). Specifically, these Hungarian familymembers provided scaffolding for the children (e.g. the father in Family 2 assistedVilmos in using a strategic online game in Hungarian). Immigrant Russian families inIsrael took part in similar shared activities where fathers assisted the improvement oftheir children’s technology and HL skills (Elias & Lemish, 2008).

The adults in these Hungarian families perceived media technologies as a complementto their efforts in maintaining children’s HL and culture, and their relationships with rela-tives. The crucial role of parents, in particular the time and money invested by the parents,was closely related to HL maintenance (S. Cho, 2008; Elias & Lemish, 2008; Guiberson,Barrett, Jancosek, & Yoshinaga, 2006; Park & Sarkar, 2007). The well-orchestratedefforts in these two Hungarian families might be attributed to the family composition:the mothers were professors in education, and the grandmothers were retired educators


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who were likely to have creative ideas for maintaining children’s interest in HL and culture.However, studies also indicated that parents’ efforts alone would not guarantee success(Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009). In this study, the creative and authentic use of mediatechnologies supplemented the adults’ efforts. For example, when Samuel started kinder-garten and his HL began to decline, the grandmother’s consistency and creativity withintroducing ‘grandmother TV’ through Skype seemed to counterbalance the dominanceof English language (Cummins, 1991; Tse, 2001a; Wong-Fillmore, 1991). Moreover, inFamily 1 the American father’s unrestricted support for his children’s use of Hungarianwith the mother and other Hungarian relatives was essential.

Conclusions and implications

Although the scope of this research was limited to our families, two Hungarian immigrantprofessional families, some thoughts for parents and teachers can be offered. The study pro-vides many practical ideas for parents of immigrant children, identifying creative, authentic,and optimal uses of media technologies such as Skype, Internet websites, and email in themaintenance of the HL and culture. It is important for parents to know that if they are trulycommitted to their child’s maintenance of HL and cultural identity, media technologies cansupport this process, although they will never substitute for the parents’ involvement andscaffolding. Parents need to be prepared for hard work and utilise family and communityresources and support. These findings can also be extended to immigrant parents in othercountries. Considering the widespread use of new media technologies, even though thisstudy was conducted in the USA with a particular population in mind, the findings of thestudy might be relevant to people who live in other countries or speak a different HL.

Teachers of immigrant children might also find the results of this study useful. Thisstudy shows that HL maintenance takes hard work and much time, even with the supportof available media technologies. Considering the benefits of bilingualism and the extensiveand lengthy process it takes to maintain the HL and culture, teachers may play an importantrole in providing support through showing appreciation of these values. Teachers’ acknowl-edgement and praise about bilingual and bicultural skills of children might reinforce theparents’ efforts and assist the process of learning about the HL and culture.

Further research on the role media technologies play in HL and culture maintenance isrecommended to explore how socio-economic status and race/ethnicity might impact thefamily members’ perceptions and media use. It is important to note that in this studyboth families represented highly educated individuals (mothers holding PhDs in education)with strong dedication to assisting their children in the maintenance of their HL throughproviding access to various media technologies. In addition, the grandparents and theAmerican father showed much interest in and support of the children’s HL and culture.Therefore, further studies with a larger sample size, which involve more Hungarian immi-grant families that have similar characteristics (e.g. family structure, age, immigration gen-eration), may offer findings with new insights and generalisability to a larger population.

Note1. All the children in this study are presented with pseudonyms.

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Documents

Immigrant Hungarian families' perceptions of new media technologies in the transmission of heritage language and culture