VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE OUTCOMES OF MULTILINGUALISM AND DIGITAL NATIVENESS AND THEIR EFFECT ON LINGUISTIC PRACTICES

Abstract

The study looked at the link between a speaker’s Digital Nativeness and their translanguaging practices among the Vojvodina Hungarians in the northernmost region of Serbia. With its main goal, the study aimed to explore to what extent Vojvodina Hungarians of all ages exhibit characteristics of Digital Natives, while also analyzing how an individual’s level of digital competence influences and shapes their linguistic practices, mainly their language choices and their overall attitudes towards translanguaging in digital spaces. The study adopted a quantitative approach, and collected data using an online questionnaire shared on social media platforms (including Instagram, Reddit, and Facebook). The final sample consisted of 600 stratified random participants from the Vojvodina Hungarian community out of a total of 693. The extent of one’s Digital Nativeness was assessed using an adapted version of Helsper and Eynon’s (2010) test, which was built into the questionnaire and aimed to collect data on both linguistic and digital habits. The questions related to Digital Nativeness measured two main components alongside age: the nature of one’s experience with technology and the breadth of their online activities across various digital platforms. The results showed that there are notable differences based on age: as participants got older, their self-perceived confidence in digital skills, their ability to multitask, and the variety of online activities and errands all became lower. While younger individuals (under 35) exhibited more characteristics of Digital Natives, they also demonstrated higher flexibility and open-mindedness towards multilingualism, and also translanguaging. The study concludes that higher degrees of Digital Nativeness do have an effect on linguistic practices, linguistic choices, and how translanguaging is perceived among Vojvodina Hungarians. This could be seen in the strong link between digital competence and linguistic habits and choices: as one’s confidence in their digital skills increased, they were more likely to share and consume English language media and content alongside Hungarian and Serbian, indicating that the participants are highly exposed to multiple languages online. Consequently, those who exhibited higher degrees of Digital Nativeness were found to display greater openmindedness and flexibility, resulting in them being more accepting of translanguaging practices. Although the results showed that there is increased presence of English in the lives of Vojvodina Hungarians, their answers also demonstrated that Hungarian remains a crucial aspect of their identity and communicative practices.