Péter Medgyes
The National L2 Curriculum in Hungary

Before 1989
•	Before World War II, German, French, English and Italian were taught 
•	After the Communist takeover in 1949 all foreign languages were banned except for Russian  it became the compulsory foreign language in all types of schools
•	Russian teaching was nothing but ineffective
•	From the late 1960s: - other foreign languages crept back into the curriculum, but 
       their availability were limited   	
•	Early 1970s: - the International Association for the Evaluation of Education   
      Association (IEA) conducted a survey investigating the teaching &
      learning of English in 10 countries, including Hungary
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Results of this study revealed that Hungarian 17-18 year-olds occupied the bottom part of the European scale
Results: - foreign-language proficiency of adult population was low
	  - less than 15% of Hungarians claimed to know at least 1 foreign language
	  - English was spoken by only 1.1% of Hungarians and Russian by only 1.2%
During the 1970s: - the importance of Western foreign languages had been increasing
		      - despite this the number of students learning other foreign languages 
		        didn’t rise significantly
In 1981: - private & cooperative language schools were permitted to admit adult learners
	   - the most sought-after languages were English and German
BUT the situation could not improve until the entire political & economic system underwent change  Education Act of 1985 &the 1990 Amendment reduced the heavy administrative &
	      political control over education
Foreign Languages in State Education (after the changes in 1989)
a)	Primary Education (6-14 years)
•	Foreign-language teaching normally begins at Grade 4 (9 years) and children have 2-3 lessons a week
•	There was a shortage of English & German teachers
•	The number of English learners tripled in 2 years
b)	Secondary Education (15-18 years)
•	Grammar school students are required to learn 2 foreign languages
•	In vocational schools only 1 foreign language is compulsory
•	These schools have difficulties in recruiting English and German teachers
•	In these schools there are only 2-3 lessons a weak for each language
•	BUT students communicative activities have improved in a few years
•	Bilingual schools were introduced  the 1st students graduated in 1992  the entry exam is highly selective, so only the most gifted applicants could gain entry
Teacher Education
•	Traditionally secondary-school teachers have been trained in 5-year language & literature course of study
•	Primary-school teachers have been trained in a 4-year college curriculum
BUT
Both types of training have an academic rather than a practical bent
•	Changes: - Russian ceased to be the compulsory 1st language  a huge supply of
English & German teachers was required  new teacher training 
1990: - teacher-training centres were established  the emphasis shifted toward the practical 
	aspects of teacher education
         - Centre of English Teacher Training and its German counterpart have become a 
	national workshop exploring innovative approaches to teacher education
What’s more, a Russian re-training program has been introduced by the Hungarian Government: - this program offers Russian teachers the opportunity to become teachers of 
		Another foreign language (usually English or German)
	         - during the 1992/1993 academic year 1,000 Russian teachers participated
Private Language Schools
•	After the appearance of the 1st private language schools the demand for them increased
The State Language Examination
•	Foreign language certification is based on the state language examinations administrated by the Foreign Language Examination Board
•	The Board has exclusive rights in Hungary to grant foreign-language certificates
•	In 1991 the Board changed its previous system  its aim was to set greater store in the candidates’ communicative abilities & to apply examinations imported from Western Europe & the US
•	There are 3 levels: 1. basic; 2. intermediate; 3. advanced
•	The basic level exam only has an oral component 
Supporting Agencies
•	The government has realised that the only way “to catch up with Europe” lied in the knowledge of foreign languages (particularly English & German)  the government invests large amounts of money in language-in-education policies
•	Financial assistance & expertise are provided by several foreign sources  British Council with the respect of teaching English
•	Since 1987 the Soros Foundation provided the possibility for Hungarian EFL teachers to attend in-service training courses in the US
•	In 1989, the United States Information Service (USIS) set up an English-teaching office (e.g. it provides English-teaching material support)
•	German: Goethe Institut’s recent project, called Pedagogische Verbindungsarbeit
The New Educational Law and the National Core Curriculum
•	Educational support appears to be low on the Hungarian government’s priority list
•	The National Core Curriculum consists of 11 cultural domains & each domain has 2 levels: elementary (6-12 years) and basic (13-16 years)