All the three groups
3.4 Study 3: Interviewing the children
3.4.2 Research design: the interview guide
Similarly to the interviews conducted with the parents, the interviews with children were also based on a pre-planned set of parallel questions in Hungarian and English.
Originally, a semi-structured interview guide of 17 items was outlined which was completed with eight more items after piloting (Appendix 26). The following central themes were intended to be examined:
1. Languages cultures (concepts, approaches):
a) mother tongue b) foreign language
c) countries and nationalities
(Sample Questions: 1. Do you speak Hungarian?, 2. Does everybody speak Hungarian here?, 3. Which country is X from? 5. Do you know where X’s country is? 7. Have you been abroad? 8. How did you speak there?, 18. Who speaks English? Where?)
2. Activities and relations (among children):
a) linguistic b) social
(Sample Questions: 10. Who do you like to play with? 13. Do you understand each other? 20. What do you like to do in English best? 21. Do you play in English? Do you sing in English? Do you speak English? 24. Which language do you like playing: in Hungarian or in English?)
The carefully structured interviews have been converted into less formal conversations, where not the previously planned questions were asked literally, but the major topics were touched upon; often with supplementary remarks and questions. In this way, the outcome of some interviews was more similar to the think-aloud technique (Dörnyei, 2007;
Brown Rodgers, 2002) than to the semi-structured interviews. This shortcoming of the interview with the children could not be foreseen during piloting as the piloted interviewees belonged to the elder kindergarteners who managed to concentrate on the questions and did not tend to stray from the interview line to such an extent as the actual subjects of the interviews. The items were phrased in short and simple questions which focused on children’s concrete and tangible experience instead of eliciting abstract opinions and views on sociolinguistic questions.
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3.4.3 Methodology
In comparison with what is described as interviewing methods (e.g. compiling the interview guide, using different tools and analysing results), very little is said about interview sampling strategies. In this respect, literature on research may be called defective. For instance, I soon realised that interviewing children cannot be compared with interviewing adults from many aspects (Figure 31). First of all, the length of attention span is much shorter than in the case of adults. Therefore, the interviews were relatively short, especially the one with the 3-year-old Chessa, whose attention could be very easily distracted by external factors (e.g. an open door or a spider). Then, conducting an interview might be boring and monotonous for a kindergartener. Last, but not least, a personal face-to-face interview cannot be carried out because of some artificial nature of this research method. To solve these problems, the interviewer has to be much more creative with children. A lot of extra questions should lead the research to the actual items, which requires creativity and spontaneity.
Flexibility is another key word: if the children feel more comfortable in their kindergarten teachers’ or friends’ company, the interview schedule has to be altered on the spot. A structured interview is deemed to failure: in the interview with kindergarteners the researcher has to give enough time and space so that children could tell their own thoughts and ideas, even if they are not in connection with the original questions of the interview. Researchers
Figure 31. Major differences between interviewing children and adults
129 In spite of all these drawbacks, I agree with Pinter Zandian (2014) who emphasise that it is neither worth falling back nor underestimating the relevance of the interviews with children, because they can have several benefits due to the interviewees’ original viewpoints and their age-appropriate way of thinking.
Piloting was done with two children: one of them is a Hungarian girl (6 years old), and the other one is the American daughter (5 years old) of the same American mother with whom the piloting of parents was carried out (cf. 3.3.3). As a result of piloting, Questions 17-24 were added to the preliminary interview guide. Finally, a 24-item interview guide was applied with Hungarian and English questions (Appendix 26).
In the end, ten children were interviewed, out of which I use eight in the finalised study. Two of them were so much distracted from the topic that the interviews cannot be used.
Out of eight children five were Hungarians, two American and one of them is Bulgarian (cf.
3.4.1). Children were selected with the help of the kindergarten teachers who chose the children on a voluntary base and according to their communicative competence. The interviews were made on two days in June 2011. In two cases, children came in pairs (Emily
Anastasiya; Éva Bence). With the youngest ones also the kindergarten teacher was present, who did not ask or interrupted the interview. Similarly to the interviews with the parents, an Agreement in English and Hungarian was read and signed by the parents (Appendices 27 28) who also gave their consent for using a Dictaphone.
3.4.4 Results
3.4.4.1 Background to mother tongue and L2 in the family
Two American children, Emily (5) and Chessa (3), and a Bulgarian child, Anastasiya (4,5) were interviewed. One of the American girls and the Bulgarian kindergartener go to the same group, while the other American little girl goes to another one. Emily’s and Chessa’s mother tongue is English, and Anastasiya’s mother tongue is Bulgarian. Besides their mother tongue Anastasiya can speak English as Emily is her best friend in the kindergarten and they communicate in English. I also interviewed two Hungarian boys, Csabi (3) and Bence (4), and three Hungarian girls, Évi (5), Zita (6) and Luca (4). They go to three different kindergarten groups. All the Hungarian children’s mother tongue is Hungarian.
130 Speaking about languages, Anastasiya illustrates her Bulgarian command with a Bulgarian word which means ‘cup’. Additionally, Emily mentions that she knows a few words in Bulgarian. She also informs me that ‘гъба’ means ‘mushroom’ and ‘Чао!’ means
‘Bye!’ in Bulgarian. Anastasiya understood my questions in English and also answered in English with an American accent: e.g. ‘talk’ t:k or ‘because’ bı’k:z. Both Emily and Anastasiya said that they understood Hungarian, but they preferred to answer in English:
Interviewer: “Do you speak Hungarian?”
Emily: “Yes.”
Interviewer (switching into Hungarian): “Akkor mondd meg, honnan jöttél?”1 Emily: “From America.”
Both Anastasiya and Emily talk about their friendship with pleasure. Emily says that they often meet either in their homes or in the kindergarten. When I ask them whether they speak Bulgarian, too, when they are together, Anastasiya gives a definitely negative answer.
However, when I want to know which language they prefer to use while playing, English or Hungarian, Emily replies: “Hungarian and English.” Chessa, the other American girl, also has a Hungarian friend in the kindergarten who speaks English, so they use the English language among themselves.
Children also speak about their family member’s language command. Csabi says:
“... my Daddy doesn’t speak English”. According to Zita, her mother speaks English, and Bence mentions that his parents speak Italian and Hungarian. Évi’s mother seems to be in closer connection with foreign languages:
Évi: “My mum is in France now. She’s an airliner2.”
Interviewer: “A guide?”
Évi: “Yes.”
Interviewer: “Does she speak French?”
Évi: “I think so. She speaks both French and English.”
1 ”Then tell me where you are from?”
2 The Hungarian word was ’utasszállító’ (= someone/ something that carries passengers). In Hungarian it refers to airplanes.
131 3.4.4.2 Foreign language speaking children in the kindergarten
Most of the children are aware of the fact that there are children in their groups who speak languages different from Hungarian:
Interviewer: “Do you know that there are children in your group who don’t speak Hungarian?”
Zita: “Yes, Anastasiya and Emily.”
Interviewer: “And where are they from?”
Zita: “From abroad.”
Interviewer: “From which country? For example Emily?”
Zita: “From abroad.”
Interviewer: “And Anastasiya?”
Zita: “Bulgarian.”
Interviewer: “And Luboslaw?”
Zita: “Polish.”
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Interviewer: “Does everybody speak Hungarian in the kindergarten?”
Évi: “No. Not everybody.”
Interviewer: “Is there anybody who doesn’t?”
Évi: “Emily can speak Hungarian, too, but she’s not Hungarian, anyway.”
Yet, Csabi does not seem to know about other children’s languages:
Interviewer: “Do you know that there are children here who don’t speak much Hungarian?”
(Csabi is shaking his head.)
Interviewer: “Didn’t you realise while playing?”
Csabi: “No.”
Interviewer: “How does Chessa speak?”
Csabi: “English.”
Interviewer: “And who else speaks English here?”
Csabi: “I don’t know.”
Interviewer: “Why do they speak another language?”
Csabi: “I don’t know... But my Daddy doesn’t speak English.”
Children, on the other hand, have also observed that some of their foreign mates or their family members speak quite good Hungarian:
132 Interviewer: “Where is Luboslaw from?”
Zita: “From Poland.”
Interviewer: “And what language does he speak?”
Zita: “Polish, but he already speaks very good Hungarian.”
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Bence: “I met Joseph in the thermal spa.”
Interviewer: “And how did you greet him?”
Bence: “In Hungarian.”
Interviewer: “Does he speak Hungarian?”
Bence: “He does. And so does his sister, Mandy.”
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Évi: “Mandy and Joseph’s mum can speak all kinds of things in Hungarian.”
Interviewer: “Did she learn Hungarian so well?”
Évi: “Yes, she did. So well that I thought she was Hungarian even if their children aren’t!”
3.4.4.3 Children’s notions about languages and countries
Emily calls the English language ‘American’ (“Anastasiya speaks Bulgarian and American.”) and both Emily and Anastasiya use the word ‘Magyar’ instead of ‘Hungarian’.
Anastasiya and Emily can name their country while Chessa answers in an enigmatic way:
Interviewer: “And where are you from?”
Chessa: “I’m from home.”
Anastasiya speaks about her Bulgarian memories with pleasure:
“I come with the car to my Sofia and then I was not having car when I did a baby. My daddy didn’t drive a car, because now it’s too late... When I go to Sofia I will have a baby dog. And I have a mummy cat. Three baby cat and one mummy cat.”
When the interview turns to other foreign languages in the world, Emily mentions
“Magyar”, “English”, and “Norwegian”, while Évi says “Greek”, and adds that she has also heard about the French language. Anastasiya knows that people in Bulgaria speak Bulgarian and adds that this is their language at home. Luca knows someone who speaks German.
133 As it can be seen, making connection between countries and languages is not always easy for children. Some children can connect a language to a country or place: for example Zita knows that one of the boys in the kindergarten is from Poland and he speaks Polish. Évi finds connection between Paris and French. However, Luca’s connection between German and Norway is not so clear:
Interviewer: “What kind of other languages have you heard about?”
Luca: “German.”
Interviewer: “Do you know someone who speaks German?”
Luca: “Andreas.”
Interviewer: “And where is he from?”
Luca: “From Norway.”
Interviewer: “And did he speak German?”
Luca: “No.”
About Hungary both Emily and Anastasiya mention how much they like Hungarian food:
Interviewer: “Do you like being in Hungary?”
Emily: “Yes, I certainly do, because you have beautiful, delicious foods here.”
Interviewer: “What do you like eating here?”
Anastasiya: “In the restaurants I like chicken and broccoli pizzas.”
When I ask where people speak English I get several answers: Luca mentions America and Australia, while Évi mentions England. Here again, the age shows: older girls have more extended information about languages and countries.
Some children even have a liking to a foreign language that they might learn later:
Interviewer: “Are there any other languages you would like to learn?”
Zita: “Yes. Spanish.”
Interviewer: “Have you heard Spaniards speaking?”
Csabi: “No, but I am very much interested in it.”
Interviewer: “Why just Spanish?”
Csabi: “Because I’ve never heard such a language and I am curious to know what it is like.”
Évi: “I want to learn Greek, because Jorgos and Jimmy live in Greece.”
Interviewer: “Are they your friends?”
Évi: “Yes.”
An elder child, who will go to school, wants to go on learning English at school, too, which means that she already likes the language and is planning to go on learning it:
134 Interviewer: “Which school will you go to?”
Zita: “To the Lutheran school.”
Interviewer: “Will you study English there?”
Zita: “Yes, I’d love to.”
Some young interviewees have already visited or are going to visit foreign countries.
Évi is soon off to Greece and Luca to Croatia. She thinks that in Croatia people also speak Hungarian. Csabi tells me that he has been on the sea, but does not speak about people who live there only about activities: “We were swimming.” Zita has not been abroad. She speaks about foreign countries in connection with their mates in the kindergarten: she informs me that Luboslaw and Magnus come from Poland.
When I ask children if they understand their foreign mates, Zita says that she does not understand the Polish boys, but sometimes she plays with the American girl and they speak English while playing:
Interviewer: “Do you understand them when they speak another language?”
Zita: “No.”
Interviewer: “And when you play with Emily?”
Zita: “Yes, sometimes.”
Interviewer: “And which language do you and Emily speak to each other?”
Zita: “English.”
To a more abstract question, “What’s that English language?” (Item 17), Csabi cannot give a reply, while Évi finds connection between speaking and English:
Interviewer: “What’s that English language?”
Csabi: “I don’t know.”
Interviewer: “What’s that Hungarian?”
Csabi: “I know that.”
___________________________________
Interviewer: “What’s that English language?”
Évi: “That we speak English.”
________________________________________________
Interviewer: “And why is it good to know a foreign language?”
Évi: “Because we can speak another language.”
135 Bence likes counting in English and he enumerates the numbers in English from 1 to 19. Évi also counts when I ask “How does one speak English?”. Zita gives another direct answer:
Interviewer: “And how does one speak English?”
Zita: “Well, ‘sit’.” She says the word in English.
Interviewer: “Does Miss Hajna the kindergarten teacher say so?”
Zita: “Yes, she does.”
Interviewer: “And what do you do when she says so?”
Zita: “We sit down.”
Interviewer: “And what does she say when she wants you to stand up?”
Zita: “‘Stand up!’” She says the expression in English.
Interviewer: “Do you understand what Miss Hajna tells you in English?”
Zita: “I do.”
3.4.4.4 English language activities in the kindergarten
As far as English language activities are concerned, children especially like to mention singing. Évi sings two songs without asking (“Jingle bells” and “One, two, three, four five...”) and she hastily adds that she knows even more. Luca also starts singing the song
“Teddy bear...” spontaneously (Appendices 29, 30 31):
Interviewer: “That’s really nice. And what is this song about?”
Luca: “About a bear.”
Some children mention different activities, e.g. children games in English:
Interviewer: “What do you like doing best in English?”
Évi: “Hide-and-seek.” Then she tells me the rules.
Interviewer: “And what is English about it?”
Évi: “Well, it’s an English game.”
Interviewer: “Don’t you play hide-and-seek in Hungarian as well?”
Évi: “No!”
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3.4.5 Brief summary
Although children’s interviews are shorter and it causes more difficulty for the researcher to conduct and discuss them, this chapter sought to see kindergarten life through children’s eyes. After depicting family background, I examined how children saw their foreign language peers in the kindergarten and considered what their ideas about languages and countries were. In the end, I was curious to know what kinds of activities were connected to the English language in the kindergarten groups. The detailed analysis of children’s interviews, together with the discussion with the other parts of research, will be provided in the Overall discussion of results chapter (Chapter 4). The next part will deal with the interviews with the children’s kindergarten teachers.
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