Exploring the motivation of international students to learn Hungarian: A qualitative study

Abstract

In today's globalized, multicultural and multilingual world, diverse social processes and macrocontextual factors are influencing people's motivation to learn a new language. According to OECD, the students' mobility to study abroad has increased more than two times during the past 2 decades, which plays a significant role in the world's future development. This paper aims to obtain a deeper understanding of international students' motivation for learning Hungarian in Budapest, Hungary. To achieve this aim, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 international students who were awarded the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship and have achieved between A1 and B1 level in Hungarian as a foreign language. The interview guide was adapted from Dörney's L2 Motivational Self System and Taguchi, Magid, and Papi scales. The collected data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed that international students have integrative and instrumental motivation for learning Hungarian. However, their integrative motivation purposes are more common than their instrumental motivation.

Japanese language learning motivation through interaction with native speakers: A case study

“…More recently, Tatjana, Carlos and Janos [11] implemented a research study to learn about m o v a o n s fo r l e a r n i n g H u n ga r i a n fo r interna onal students in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. In-depth interviews were made t o fi n d o u t t h a t b o t h i n t e g r a v e a n d instrumental mo va on inspired the students to study Hungarian.…”

Exploring degree-seeking international student satisfaction through the example of a Hungarian university

“…Integration is more challenging because domestic and international students are fully segregated in and outside the classroom (Stamenkovska, Llerena, & Gordon Győri, 2022). The integration challenges and the feeling of inadequate well-being also affect educators, who have experienced numerous negative instances of incomprehensible behaviour and habits of international students (Gong, Gao, Li, & Lai, 2021).…”

“…For this reason, within the framework of the student self-governments of higher education institutions (HIEs) in Hungary, there is an ongoing discussion between senior university administrators and mentors of international students. Due to this, for the academic year of 2020 in Hungary, an attempt was made for the first time to fully integrate international students by mandating a Hungarian culture and language course to provide multiple benefits for students receiving a government scholarship in Hungary (Stamenkovska et al, 2022).…”