Abstract:

Spelling skills are not abilities born with us. The formation of this competence is not a small problem neither for educators nor for students. The improvement of the spelling skill is an important task in all types and levels of school. The foundation of spelling needs to be conveyed in the first level of primary school, since this is the basis which the knowledge gained later can be built on. In Hungarian minority regions, thus in Slovakia as well, educators have the chance to improve and expand students’ knowledge of spelling only within the already narrow time frame of the grammar lessons; the curriculum does not specify a single lesson which should be dedicated to the improvement of spelling skills.

A uniform spelling practice ensures the uniform written code for all members of the Hungarian speech community in Slovakia. In this study I briefly introduce the subject regulation of spelling and then – in light of the finals of the most well-known spelling competition of Hungarian secondary schools in Slovakia, the Spelling Competition of József Implom Secondary School – I outline the mother tongue educational field which improves spelling skills. The Slovak finals are traditionally held at The Faculty of Central European Studies of the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. The competition is arranged by the Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Literary Science. The competition was originally launched in 1988 at the Ferenc Erkel Secondary Grammar School in Gyula by a Hungarian language teacher of the school, Magdolna Szabóné Nagy, and it has grown into a competition covering the Carpathian Basin. In the first years the competition only extended to Békés county, however, within five years the finals were held with Hungarian secondary school students coming from outside the border. 1992 is an important date in the history of the competition: on the one hand, the previously unnamed competition was named József Implom competition, and on the other, we organized the first competition in Slovakia (in Galánta) in this year, whose winner took part in the first Carpathian Basin finals. Here in Upper Hungary the competition was organized 33 times this year. Through introducing the types of spelling tasks, in my study I discuss one of the most important tasks of a Hungarian language teacher: the improvement of spelling competencies. There is a great need for a methodological renewal and a fresh motivation and transmission of the curriculum, so that the spelling knowledge of the mother tongue together with the skills received in school would help students in their lives.

Keywords:

Spelling skills, Hungarian minority, József Implom competition.