SWOT ANALYSIS
ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITON AND LANGUAGE SKILLS OF
THE TRAINING STAFF EMPLOYED IN ACADEMIC
TRAINING IN HUNGARY
In the following analysis we are going to explore the Hungarian situation concerning
language skills and competences possessed by the academic staff. Our statements are
mainly based on the legal environment in Hungary as well as on several publications
issued in the topic of foreign language skills requirement.
Our main aim with this analysis is to find out what conclusions can be drawn in order to
assist the work in the project „Improving the Communicative English Language
Competence of Academic Personnel within the framework of VET” (project number:
2013-1-TR1-LEO05-47528 - funded by the EU) as well as to make the outcome valid,
relevant and valuable.
On the following pageswe are using several references with footnotes. Unfortunately
some of the sources are accessible only in Hungarian. This is the reason why in the second
part of the present analysis we give you some summaries of the references in English so
that - in case you want futher information - we can provide it on request.
Although the project partnership have decided to apply a SWOT analysis, we must clearly
see that the present analysis is different in many aspects from the analysis used in the
business world.
These aspects are the following:
We are not planning to establish a business venture in which we want to explore the
business possibilities with the threats, potentials, weaknesses and strength. What we
want to achieve is to find out in what ways the Hungarian situation can help the present
project and what best practices can be taken over from the existing Hungarian policy.
That means we want to concentrate on the Strength and not so much on the weaknesses.
The other aspect is the Potentials - the potentials of the Hungarian situation can
contribute to the potentials of the project.
So let us examine the stregths of the Hungarian legal environment, best practices and
conditions.
STRENGTHs
1. Since 1998 no degree has been issued without the acquisition of minimum one
foreign language intermediate exam in Hungary with the exception of graduates over
45 in adult training – this is contained int he White Book.1
2. In 2005 – when Hungary introduced the European regulations (Bologna Process) –
language training and language competences evaluation have been unified (defined
11
The so-called White Book was issued by the Hungarian Ministry of Education in 2012
~1~
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
in details in the so-called Training and Output Requirements) and centrally monitored
by the Hungarian Accreditation Committe (MAB).2
In 2000 Hungary accepted the Common European Reference Framework of language
examination system, which defines in details the „can dos” of the six-grade language
exam scale (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) as well as introduced the unified language
examination requirements accredited updated and regularly monitored by the state.3
In 2011 an Act defined the input and output requirements of foreign language
competences for academic institutions. According to this the three levels of academic
training are clearly mirrored in this field: in bachelor training the input can be defined
by the academic institution but the output is an intermediate language exam (B2) of
minimum one foreign language (general). In master training (logically) the input is B2,
the output is the same. In doctorate training the output prescribes two foreign
languages (the level requirements depend on the schools’ internal regulation.4)
There have been several studies and surveys covering the issues of foreign language
acquisition (some of them „canonised”- that is used as the basis for introducing new
measures in the policy of foreign language teaching in Hungary)5The most important
one from our point of view is the „Study on the offer of professional language
training courses” by Kurtán Zsuzsa and Silye Magdolna6
As member state of the EU since 2004, there have been several international
cooperation and projects funded by the EU whose objetive – among others – has
been to explore and improve the situation of foreign language teaching and learning
in Hungary7
Since 2004 the mobility of foreign students 8 seeking academic training in
English/German in Hungary has greatly increased, which led to the growth of offer of
university studies in foreign languages. Thus created the need for academic training
staff that could provide instruction in foreign languages. This is the reason why –
2established in 1993
http://www.mab.hu/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224&Itemid=733&lang=e (short
history of MAB in English)
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages
(it
describes the six language levels covering all the written and oral competences
4 The so-called White Book clearly defines the requirements at the three levels
5 Metszetek 2012/4. szám – 2013/1. szám - articles on the bridge between academic education and the
labour market (some paragraphs deal with the foreign language competences
6
Kurtán Zsuzsa - Silye Magdolna: Professional language training in the system of the Hungarian academic
training - detailed info in the Appendix
7
In the so-called ADAM software we can access the summary of the EU funded project summaries among
which a lot have covered the issue of language teaching, teaching material design and development as well as
piloting and testing the outcomes. As far as we could find there is not one specific project whose aim was to
produce a specific course for improving the foreign language competences of the academic staff.
8
http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf (p.10-11-15) - the tendecy of Erasmus
students’ mobility by countries
~2~
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
besides the legal environment – more and more academic staff have a really good
command of (mainly) English.910
Since 2004 there has been a steady increase in mobility aiming the EU countries –
naturally among job-seekers at all levels11, which naturally adds to the motivation
level of language learners as well as the motivation level of language teaching
providers.
In the recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of mobilities
among the academic teaching staff12 - where English is the number one language and
5 days is the most common duration of the stay.13
More and more course books have been appearing on the market - many of which
aims specific language competences (e.g. presentation tehniques).14
Due to the market demands on the language teachers and training places (language
schools, public education, academic institutions, private teachers), the teachers’
motivation to use renewed resources, books and non-traditional tools have greatly
increased, which has led to the growing number of EU projects in which Hungarian
educational institutions, companies have either participated as partners or have
planned and coordinated projects in the form of European consortiums to meet their
needs and the market demands. This way the pedagogical approach and
methodology have more or less successfully followed the latest trends and technical
solutions.
One of the above-mentioned projects was „Trainers English” coordinated by the
Hungarian partner of the present project (Trainers’English – The Development of IT
Teachers’English Language Competences – Leonardo LdV, 2007), in which the
consortium – after the preparatory phase when the situation and the needs of the
partner countries were mapped up – the main task was to design and develop an
English course (interative, with a lot of multimedia elements) for the teaching staff of
vocational schools covering the main topics of ICT English (internet, HardwareSoftware, Programming, IT jobs, Mobility etc.). This way a lot of experiences gained
during this project work can be profited from and used in the current tasks.
9Peter Lang: International Student Mobility and the Bologna Process (in the Journal of International Mobility,
nr. 13/2013)
10
Rédei Mária – Telbisz Erzsébet – Nemes-Nagy Anna: Erasmus oktatói mobilitás
Magyarországról kiutazó oktatók jellemzése kérdőívek alapján (2005/2006) - a study on the Erasmus mobility
for teachers in the academic education (Tempus Foundation online Hoppá füzetek 14 - 2008)
11
HVG (journal)2014/5. on the Hungarian workers abroad with statistical data
http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf - chart 49 p. 41
13
http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf - chart 52 (page 42)
14
http://www.beta-iatefl.org/cogitoergosum/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Newsletter_September-October2013.pdf#page=30
http://www.google.hu/books?hl=hu&lr=&id=0aLcAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Presentation+skills+course+
book&ots=w52x2dOlvk&sig=QLtqrWVTp1fkcSkf1pK078BTwTo&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Presentation%20ski
lls%20course%20book&f=false - book on how to teach presentation skills to teachers
12
~3~
The issue of teaching and learning professional languages is in the focus of interest both
from the demand and the offer sides. On 31st March, this year, Tempus Foundation, which
is the Hungarian Agency of EU projects as well as a kind of center for monitoring and
forerunning the latest issues in the Hungarian education palette, organized a conference
entitled"The role of professional language teaching for increasing employability"15The
conference materials can be accessed from the direct page of the conference.16
WEAKNESSES
1.
The outcome cannot give sufficient answers as
o A lot of statistical data provide numbers where there is no
distinction
made
between teachers working in lower or higher level of education,
o There is no difference made between language competences
in the field of
general and
specific language skills (e.g. business, legal, technical, medical etc.),
o There is no such specific language competence area which
would clearly cover
the
needs of teachers - thus we cannot know - based on research - what we
mean by „educational language skills”.
o Although there is a clear definition of language requirements
regulated by law,
there is little mention of language competences for specific purposes (e.g. medical,
technical etc.) and even if there is some – as I have mentioned before – the field of
„pedagogical foreign language competences” has
not been elaborated so far (if
there scientifically is anything well-defined at all!)
o Although the issue of foreign language teacher training for specific languages is
evident, the policy to answer the
increasing need is still in the form of directives. It
means language teachers mostly acquire their skills in this field in the form
of
short in-practice courses (in most cases provided
abroad and funded by the EU in
1718
the form of teacher mobility grants.
2. This survey has been made in the Hungarian environment based on the Hungarian
conditions and historical background. As the project mainly faces the challenges in
Turkey and tries to find answers for the Turkish problems, it cannot give satisfactory
answers without considering the outcome of the similar analyses made by all the
partners – and mainly that of the Turkish partners.
15http://www.tpf.hu/pages/eventarchive/index.php?page_id=812 - the aim of the conference was to give an
insight into the present situation, discuss the best practices - with a special emphasis on the employers
expectations from the new job-seekers in this field as well as with focus on methodology issues - and map up
the future potentials.
16http://oktataskepzes.tka.hu/pages/content/index.php?page_id=1204 unfortunately only in Hungarian.
17 see table 52 on page 42 of http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf (it shows
that most study mobilities for teaching staff cover a short period of 5 days)
18
Annual report of Tempus Public foundation –accessible from the website of the National Agency:
http://www.tpf.hu/document.php?doc_name=konyvtar/tka/2012/TKA_eves_jelentes_2012_web.pdf
Table 57 on P. 86:
~4~
3. The present analysis does not have the task to answer issues covering:
o Pedagogical and methodological questions (e.g. evaluation, proportions between
lexis and language accuracy, duration, e- tutoring etc.)
o Contextual questions (topics to include, numerical data – e.g. the deepness and
area of lexis, number of multimedia elements)
o Technical details (learning platform, storage of data etc.)
o Potential differences between the needs of the partner countries (if there are
such?)
OPPORTUNITIES
As professional language teaching/learning is in the focus of interest in Hungary,the
objectives of the present project are very important for us, which means we are willing to
contribute to the success with further study or information - should the need arise in the
course of the next stages of the joint efforts of the consortium.
Hopefully with the help of this analysis the present project partners will be able to make
decisions that will turn the outcome of the project valid, useful, effective and practical for
all the partners.
Prepared by the Hungarian partner,
Számalk-Szalézi Post-Secondary Vocational School
in April 2014
~5~
APPENDIX (1)Footnotes-related explanations
Footnote1.
WHITE BOOK on the Strategy of the development of foreign language teaching from the
primary school to the university in Hungary between 2012-18 was issued in December,
2012. Its main objective is - besides providing an insight into the present situation and
exploring the problems - to define the main tendencies and principles of language
teaching and language competence development in the near future.
The book first describes the situation in the different educational levels (primary,
secondary, tertiary). From our view point the most important part is where the foreign
language input and output requirements are described in academic training (bachelor
degree, master degree and doctor degree - see Strength nr 4.) Unfortunately these
regulations include only general language exam requirements, professional language
training is present in very few academic programs - and even there mostly in the first
(bachelor) level. This fact involves that professional language teaching methodology still
needs a lot of impetus (both legal and practical) in the near future.
The most important part of the White book for us is where the future measures to be
introduced are described:
- specific input and output requirements to be elaborated and introduced in the field of
professional language competence training output,
- provision of subjects to be elected in foreign languages
- the increase in the offer of specific language courses (both abroad and Hungary) for
in-practice language teacher training.
- professional language teacher training in the teacher training academic institutions.
Footnote 6 :
Kurtán Zsuzsa - Silye Magdolna: „Professional language training in the system of the
Hungarian academic training” (Kurtán Zsuzsa participated in the conference organized by
Tempus Foundation in March, 2013 with her presentation on the same topic with the
same title).
In this presentation she gives a detailed picture - among others - (with tables) about the
different fields of specific languages (not only English) and about foreign language
training (page 6). From the table we learn that the offer in the so-called pedagogic
specific language courses is about 2% in English and German - whereas the offer in e.g.
business language courses is over 21%.
Another interesting information from this presentation shows us the background
competences of the language teachers involved in teaching professional languages. It
shows that most of them possess a general language teaching graduate (about 75%) and
only about 13% possess some kind of professional language degree.
~6~
Footnote 7:ADAM Software - europe.eu/adam/project/search.htm#.U1zPZVdlsbsThis is a
very useful database on the Leonardo projects in which the final products as well as the
summary of the funded projects can be found (thousands on language competences
development).Footnote 10:Rédei Mária – Telbisz Erzsébet – Nemes-Nagy Anna: „Erasmus
oktatói mobilitás”
Magyarországról kiutazó oktatók jellemzése kérdőívek alapján (2005/2006) - a study on
the Erasmus mobility for teachers in the academic education (Tempus Foundation online)
Hoppá füzetek, 2008. The survey is based on questionnaires filled in by academic teaching
staff about their mobility in the school year 2005-2006 (unfortunately there are no more
recent data available). We learn that over 600 teachers participated in funded mobilities,
and interestingly about 23% chose Germany and many Austria, the UK not even
mentioned - only among those below 5%). About 21% of the teaching staff were involved
in linguistics and language teaching, and one third of the teachers involved in teacher
training and pedagogy chose a German destination. At the same time it is interesting to
note that 54% of the teachers used English as their teaching tool, which probably suggests
that some of the courses were delivered in English even in Germany! (p 19, diagram nr.
9).
~7~
APPENDIX 2. - Tables and charts
1. White Book – the following two tables show:
i. the percentage of students studying for the language exam after their
final academic exams in order to achieve their degree (30%)
ii. rates of the students of academic training participating in language
courses organized by the institution (blue: overall percentage, red:
learning a foreign language, green: majoring in foreign languages
~8~
II. White Book: about the academic training programs and the
requirements of language exams (at the level of Masters degree)
First column: number of training programs. Second column: language exam regulations
first line (second column): intermediate, complex
second line:
intermediate, complex + basic (A or B)
third line:
intermediate complex
fourth line:
advanced complex
fifth line:
advanced complex + intermediate complex
sixth line:
advanced complex
III. White Book: About the academic training programs and the
requirements of language exams (at the level of Bachelors’ degree)
Number of training programs
First line:
Second line:
Third line:
Language exam requirements
intermediate complex
professional intermediate complex
professional intermediate complex
~9~
IV. White book: table about the language exam requirements at the
doctorate training programs
Input requirements
(Only the last row):
Intermediate general complex
Output requirements
proof for the possession of two
foreign languages –
defined in the regulations of
the training institution
V. Erasmus publication on Erasmus mobilities - it shows the length of
Erasmus study tours(http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf)
~ 10 ~
VI. Erasmus publication on Erasmus mobilities - it shows the number of
academic staff according to the different EU countries – outbound and inbound
(http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/erasmus1112_en.pdf)
VII. Rédei Mária – Telbisz Erzsébet – Nemes-Nagy Anna: Erasmus
oktatói mobilitás
Magyarországról kiutazó oktatók jellemzése kérdőívek alapján (2005/2006) - a
study on the Erasmus mobility for teachers in the academic education (Tempus
Foundation online) Hoppá füzetek, 2008.
Table one:
The participation of Hungarian academic staff in the Erasmus mobility according to the
three levels (bachelor, master, doctor)
45%: bachelor
44%: master
11%: doctor
~ 11 ~
Table two: Participation of academic training staff in mobility programs according to the language of
the program
English: 54%
German: 23%
French: 10%
Italian: 5% …
~ 12 ~
Table three: Motivation – why did you decide to take part in the mobility program?
5: the least important
1: the most important
columns: exchange of experiences
contact keeping and building
research project
professional career building
language development
VIII.There isanother chance for the Hungarian academic staff to improve their
English professional language skills in the program called Campus Hungary.
About the program information can be accessed
http://www.campushungary.hu/about-us#.U2J3MVfInMk
in
English
at
IX. Annual report of Tempus Public foundation –
accessible from the website of the National Agency:
http://www.tpf.hu/document.php?doc_name=konyvtar/tka/2012/TKA_eves_jelentes_201
2_web.pdf
~ 13 ~
The rate of Outbound (lighter) and Inbound (darker) teacher mobility in 20102011
~ 14 ~