English and German teachers’ language awareness in the Hungarian school context

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the language use of English and German teachers in the school context. The teachers’ questionnaire has been conducted at minority primary schools and normal primary schools between 2019 and 2020. Quantitative data given by 28 teachers were analysed. German teachers working at minority schools used the target language more than teachers working at regular schools. English participants employed their mother tongue more than German respondents. German teachers used more translation than their English peers. Teachers working at minority schools used less translation than teachers working at normal schools. Most of the foreign language teachers made connections between the languages but only a few teachers exploited frequently the opportunity of prior language knowledge.