The dynamics of family language policy (FLP) among Hungarians living in the United Kingdom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21030/anyp.2026.1.1Keywords:
linguistics, sociolinguistics, bilingualism, family language policy (FLP), language ideologiesAbstract
This study examines the dynamics of Family Language Policy (FLP) among Hungarian and mixedHungarian families living in the United Kingdom, with special emphasis on parental language
practices, ideologies, and the intergenerational transmission of Hungarian as a heritage
language. Drawing on survey data from 93 Hungarian-speaking mothers, the research explores
how Spolsky’s tripartite model of language practices, language ideologies, and language
management manifests in everyday family interactions within a migration context. Results
show that while mothers report high proficiency and strong emotional attachment to Hungarian,
children’s language skills – particularly in literacy – significant shift appears towards English
once schooling begins. Based on parents’ experience child-directed speech emerges as a central
factor: the more Hungarian parents use when addressing their children, the more likely children
are to initiate conversations in Hungarian. However, in mixed-language families, English gains
prominence in sibling interactions and communication with the non-Hungarian parent. Parents’
Anyanyelv-pedagógia XIX. évfolyam, 2026/1.
16
language ideologies are predominantly positive: they place importance on developing Hungarian
literacy, maintaining ties with Hungarian relatives, and recognising the benefits of bilingualism.
Yet the limited participation in weekend schools and the restricted availability of languagedevelopment resources reveal structural and practical constraints. The findings suggest that family
language policy constitutes a flexible, continuously evolving process, shaped jointly by parental
expectations, intra‑family interactions, schooling contexts, and wider sociocultural factors. The
study underscores the importance of consistent Hungarian language input, community support,
and the inclusion of children’s perspectives in heritage language maintenance within the diaspora.
References
Bartha, Csilla 2005. Constructing different ethnic identities: Symbolic values, linguistic ideologies and language maintenance in a Hungarian American immigrant community (New Brunswick, NJ). In: Cabeza Pereiro, Carmen – Lorenzo Suárez, Anxo M. – Rodríguez-Yáñez, Xoán Paulo (eds.) Bilingual Communities and Individuals: Proceedings from the First International Symposium on Bilingualism. Universidade de Vigo. Vigo. 21–33.
Blum-Ross, Alicia – Livingstone, Sonia 2017. “Sharenting”, parent blogging, and the boundaries of the digital self. Popular Communication 15(2): 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2016.1223300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2016.1223300
Bodó Csanád 2016. Nyelvi ideológiák és különbségek. Nemzeti Kisebbségkutató Intézet. Kolozsvár.
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan (ed.) 2013. Family language policy [Special issue]. Language Policy 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-012-9269-0
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan – Huang, Jing 2020. Factors influencing family language policy. In: Schalley, Andrea C. – Eisenchlas, Susana A. (eds.) Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors. De Gruyter Mouton. 174–193. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510175-009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510175-009
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan – Wei, Li – Hua, Zhu 2023. Pride, prejudice, and pragmatism: Family language policies in the UK. Language Policy 22(4): 391–411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09669-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09669-0
De Houwer, Annick 1999. Environmental factors in early bilingual development: The role of parental beliefs and attitudes. In: Extra, Guus – Verhoeven, Ludo (eds.) Bilingualism and migration. Mouton de Gruyter. 75–95. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110807820.75 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110807820.75
De Houwer, Annick 2007. Parental language input patterns and children’s bilingual use. Applied Psycholinguistics 28(3): 411–424. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716407070221 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716407070221
Deli Zsolt Pál 2021. A quantitative analysis of four linguistic variables in the language use of Hungarians in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Alkalmazott Nyelvtudomány 21(1): 18–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.18460/ ANY.2021.1.002
Deme Andrea – Gugán Katalin – Sass Bálint – Mády Katalin 2017. Towards capturing implicit innovative language attitude using an auditory Implicit Association Test. Finno-Ugric Languages and Linguistics 6: 3–40.
Fenyvesi Anna 1995. Language contact and language death in an immigrant language: The case of Hungarian. University of Pittsburgh Working Papers in Linguistics 3: 1–117.
Fishman, Joshua 1991. Reversing language shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33169466 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33169466
Gafaranga, Joseph 2010. Medium request: Talking language shift into being. Language in Society 39(2): 241–270. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404510000047 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404510000047
García González, Elisabet – Liu, Liquan – Lanza, Elizabeth 2024. Language in multilingual families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: A survey of challenges and opportunities. Multilingua 43(2): 163–190. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2023-0011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2023-0011
Gazsó Dániel 2016. A magyar diaszpóra fejlődéstörténete. Kisebbségi Szemle 1(1): 9–35. Hatoss Anikó 2024. Shifting ecologies of family language planning: Hungarian Australian families during COVID-19. Current Issues in Language Planning 25(5): 488–508. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.20 23.2205793 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2023.2205793
Kheirkhah, Mina – Cekaite, Asta 2015. Language Maintenance in a Multilingual Family: Informal Heritage Language Lessons in Parent–Child Interactions. Multilingua 34(3): 319–346. https://doi.org/10.1515/ multi-2014-1020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2014-1020
King, Kendall – Fogle, Lyn – Logan-Terry, Aubrey 2008. Family language policy. Linguistics and Language Compass 2(5): 907–922. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00076.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00076.x
King, Kendall – Fogle, Lyn 2013. Family language policy and bilingual parenting. Language Teaching 46(2): 172–194. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000493 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000493
King, Kendall – Lanza, Elizabeth (eds.) 2019. Ideology, agency and imagination in multilingual families [Special issue]. International Journal of Bilingualism 23(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006916684907 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006916684907
Kontra Miklós 1990. Fejezetek a South Bend-i magyar nyelvhasználatból. (Linguistica series A, Studia et Dissertationes, 5.) MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet. Budapest.
Kovács Eszter 2022. A diaszporizálódás mintázatai az egyesült királyságbeli új magyar kivándorlók körében. REGIO: Kisebbség Kultúra Politika Társadalom 30(1): 72–93. https://doi.org/10.17355/rkkpt.v30i1.72 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17355/rkkpt.v30i1.72
Kovács Magdolna 2004. Az ausztráliai magyarok nyelvvesztése: a kódváltás és nyelvváltás összefüggései. In: Kovács Nóra (ed.) Tanulmányok a diaszpóráról. Magyar világok I. Gondolat – MTA Etnikai-nemzeti Kisebbségkutató Intézet. Budapest. 74–86.
Kováts András – Papp Z. Attila 2016. Patterns of success amongst Hungarians living in the UK. Review of Sociology 26(4): 95–123.
Laihonen, Petteri – Bodó, Csanád – Gáspár, Judit – Jani-Demetriou, Bernadett – Fazakas-Timaru, Carina 2025. Seeing from the North: a Critical Family Language Policy study of a peripheral European minority community. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 28(3): 292–307. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/13670050.2024.2425659 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2024.2425659
Lanza, Elizabeth 2007. Multilingualism and the family. In: Peter Auer – Li Wei (eds.) Handbook of Multilingualism and Multilingual Communication. De Gruyter Mouton. Berlin – New York. 45–68. https:// doi.org/10.1515 /9783110198553.1.45 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110198553.1.45
Lanza, Elizabeth 2020. Urban multilingualism and family language policy. In: Caliendo, Giuditta – Janssens, Rudi – Slembrouck, Stef Van Avermaet, Piet (eds.) Urban Multilingualism in Europe: Bridging the Gap between Language Policies and Language Practices. De Gruyter Mouton. Berlin–Boston. 121–140. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503207-006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503207-006
Lanza, Elizabeth – Lomeu Gomes, Rafael 2020. Family language policy: Foundations, theoretical perspectives and critical approaches. In: Schalley, Andrea – Eisenchlas, Susana (eds.) Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors. De Gruyter Mouton. Berlin–Boston. 153– 173. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510175-008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510175-008
Li, Wei 1994. Three generations, two languages, one family: Language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Multilingual Matters.
Ligeti Anna Sára 2023. Magyarok az Egyesült Királyságban: Egy korszak vége? Tér és Társadalom 37(1): 132–156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17649/TET.37.1.3463
Luykx, Aurolyn 2003. Weaving languages together: Family language policy and gender socialization in bilingual Aymara households. In: Bayley, Roberts – Schecter, Sandra (eds.) Language socialization in bilingual and multilingual societies. Multilingual Matters. 25–43. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596377-005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.27710944.7
Papp Z. Attila – Kovács Eszter – Kováts András 2019. Az új magyar diaszpóra intézményesülése: Hétvégi magyar iskolák az Egyesült Királyságban. Regio: Kisebbség Kultúra Politika Társadalom 27(3): 209–248. http://dx.doi.org/10.17355/rkkpt.v27i3.279 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17355/rkkpt.v27i3.279
Papp Z. Attila – Kovács Eszter – Kováts András 2020. Magyar diaszpóra és az anyaország: Diaszporizálódás és diaszpórapolitika. In: Kovách Imre (szerk.) Mobilitás és integráció a magyar társadalomban. Argumentum Kiadó – Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont. Budapest.
Pávai Gyopár – Rakitai Réka 2017. Anyanyelvünk megélése Manchesterben. Betekintés a Zsigmond Király Magyar Kulturális Klub és Iskola életébe. Anyanyelv-pedagógia (10)1: 101–111. https://doi.org/10.21030/ anyp.2017.1.9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21030/anyp.2017.1.9
Piller, Ingrid 2001. Private language planning: The best of both worlds? Estudios de Sociolinguistica 2(1): 61–80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v2i1.61
Piller, Ingrid – Gerber, Livia 2021. Family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24(5): 622–635. https://doi.org/10 .1080/13670050.2018.1503227 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1503227
Porter, Gina – Hampshire, Kate – Abane, Albert – Munthali, Alister – Robson, Elseth – Tanle, Augustine, Owusu, Samuel – de Lannoy, Ariane – Bango, Andisiwe 2018. Connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa 88(2): 404–424. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000973 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000973
Ren, Li – Hu, Guangwei 2013. A comparative study of family social capital and literacy practices in Singapore. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 13(1): 98–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411429 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411429934
Schwartz, Shalom H. 2010. Basic values: How they motivate and inhibit prosocial behavior. In: Mikulincer, Mario – Shaver, Phillip R. (eds.) Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: The better angels of our nature. American Psychological Association. Washington DC. 221–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/12061-012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/12061-012
Sevinç, Yeşim 2016. Language maintenance and shift under pressure: Three generations of the Turkish immigrant community in the Netherlands. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2016(242): 81–117. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2016-0034 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2016-0034
Siklósi Beáta 2019. Családi nyelvpolitika a horvátországi magyarok körében. In: Boda Attila (szerk.) Interdiszciplinaritás a Kárpát-medencében I. Külhoni magyar doktorandusz hallgatók konferenciaelőadásaiból. ELTE Márton Áron Szakkollégium. Budapest. 127–144.
Spolsky, Bernard 2004. Language policy. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Spolsky, Bernard 2007. Towards a Theory of Language Policy. Working Paper in Educational Linguistics 22(1): 1–14.
Spolsky, Bernard 2012. What Is Language Policy? In: Spolsky, Bernard (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/ CBO9780511979026.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511979026.003
Spolsky, Bernard 2021. Rethinking Language Policy. De Gruyter – Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474485487 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474485487
Szabó T. Annamária 2025. Családi nyelvi menedzsment a nyugati magyar diaszpórában. In: Baukó János – Presinszky Károly (szerk.) Egyszerű és szervezett nyelvi menedzselés kétnyelvű környezetben. Nyitrai Konstantin Filozófus Egyetem Közép-európai Tanulmányok Kar. Nyitra. 133–146.
Stavans, Anat – Jessner, Ulrike 2023. Multilingualism Is Not Bilingualism +1: An Introduction. In: Stavans, Anat – Jessner, Ulrike (eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Childhood Multilingualism. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108669771.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108669771.001
Tuominen, Anne 1999. Who decides the home language? A look at multilingual families. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 1999(140): 59–76. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1999.140.59 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1999.140.59
Vajnai, Viktória – Fehérvári, Anikó – Széll, Krisztián 2025. Family additional language policy and planning in Hungary. Hungarian Educational Research Journal 15(4). https://doi.org/10.1556/063.2025.00388 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/063.2025.00388
Varga Nóra Borbála 2014. A magyar mint származási nyelv tanítása az Egyesült Királyságban. Anyanyelvpedagógia (7)3: 99–101. https://ojs.elte.hu/anyanyelv-pedagogia/article/view/11576 (2025. július 25.)
(1) Magyarok Angliai Országos Szövetsége. https://maosz.org.uk/ (2025. július 25.)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Zsófia Fülöp, Szilvia Bátyi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The copyright of articles published in the journal belongs to the author. The journal has the right of first publication. The published work is licensed under Creative Commons License “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International" (CC BY-NC 4.0). This means that copying, redistribution, remixing, transformation and building upon the published work is allowed for any purpose except commercial purposes as long as proper credit is given to the author, a link to the licence is provided, and any changes made to the original work are indicated.
The journal Anyanyelv-pedagógia [First Language Pedagogy] does not charge authors any fees for the processing, submission, or publication of articles. All writings published in the journal become freely accessible immediately after their publication.