The Two Years of MAMI: A Complex Multicultural and Hungarian as an L2 Kindergarten Programme

Kajdi, Alexandra (2025) The Two Years of MAMI: A Complex Multicultural and Hungarian as an L2 Kindergarten Programme. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION, 26. pp. 378-394. ISSN 1987-9601

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Abstract

The aim of the paper is examining a unique multicultural and Hungarian as a foreign language pedagogic programme offered in the eleven kindergartens of the 8th district in Budapest, Hungary. In the academic year of 2023/24, the kindergartens of the 8th district of Budapest known as Józsefvárosi Óvodák, which serve more than 120 children with foreign background, launched the development of a complex multicultural and Hungarian as L2 programme, titled MAMI1 . This programme is examined by three research questions from the aspect of multicultural education: What elements does this programme possess? How do the pedagogues inside this programme evaluate it? and How easily can it be adapted to other institutions? First, the programme and its initiatives are presented in both institutional and group level. The results for the evaluation of the programme were obtained by a qualitative way by conducting interviews with pedagogies and filling a questionnaire by those kindergarten professionals who conducted playful Hungarian as a foreign language lessons for almost 100 children in small groups every week between October 2024 and May 2025. The present article also reflects on a vocabulary test that was fulfilled in October 2024 and in May 2025 to record and statistically measure the improvement of the children. Finally, the overall evaluation of the MAMI programme is provided including the necessary refinements and the limits of its adaptability both within and beyond Hungary.

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