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CHAPTER 8 OVERALL SUMMARY
and second-generation speakers’ collective code-switching patterns as they
form two sociolinguistically distinct groups. Therefore, the socio-cognitive
notion of Optimality cannot be shared by the two subcommunities, and, thus,
the community specific ranking governing the interaction of constraints
cannot be shared, either.
We have seen that Hungarian language competence as well as language
use significantly declines in the second generation (Chapter 7). Also, I have
demonstrated (Chapter 7) that second-generation speakers have a more
pragmatic attitude to cherishing the Hungarian language as well as to the
act of code-switching. As a result of their declined Hungarian competence,
I have shown that for second-generation speakers code-switching serves the
function of complementing their reduced Hungarian competence (Chapter
7). As instances of code-switching prompted by the lack of Hungarian
competence have been excluded from Bolonyai and Bhatt’s model, they have
also been excluded from my investigation. Therefore, the qualitative analysis
of code-switching patterns — with a view to testing the ranking of constraints
governing the interaction of code-switching proposed by Bolonyai and Bhatt
— has been conducted only in the first-generation group.
Relying on the results of the sociolinguistic analysis, the examined
Hungarian-American immigrant community (Chapter 7) has been
characterized as an aging community of high socio-economic status in the
host society. The importance and the practice of cherishing the Hungarian
language and culture are shared among members, mostly because the culture
of their mother tongue is seen as some prestigious cultural heritage. They are
keen on attending Hungarian cultural events and organizations mainly because
they can meet their fellow Hungarians. At the same time, there is a pragmatic
attitude to the English language as a means of becoming fully integrated in the
host society. Hungarian language use is prevalent in Gl group, however, their
children, G2 members tend to use Hungarian only with their parents. This
community is in the phase of gradual language loss, where the first generation
makes all the efforts to pass on Hungarian language and traditions to their
children, but with the exception of some families who can afford to spend
half a year in the USA and half a year in Hungary, these efforts are hardly
efficient. Second-generation speakers preserve some traces of their Hungarian
cultural and linguistic heritage, but language is not central in expressing their
identity and is least likely to be passed on to their children. Rather, they view
bilingualism and biculturalism as the most appropriate means of expressing
their identity. That is the reason why they have a more natural, less judgmental
attitude to code-switching than their G1 counterparts.
Having analyzed the code-switching practices of Gl speakers, I have
demonstrated that the sociopragmatic functions related to Perspective-taking
is the most prevalent followed by Faith-related functions (Chapter 7). As the
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