Country Report Hungary Final
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COUNTRY REPORT HUNGARY Ministry of Education, Hungary Language Education Policy Profile 2002 - 2003 Introduction In 2002 the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe set out the principles and methods for the production of Language Policy Profiles in member states. The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Hungary was the first to begin drafting a Language Policy Profile, and it called on the Council of Europe for assistance in the completion of this task. In the summer of 2002, the advisers to the Language Policy Division, Michael Byram and Jean-Claude Beacco, together with Joseph Sheils, Head of Language Policy Division, visited Budapest to make preliminary arrangements. After this visit, the Ministry of Education commissioned a Hungarian working group to prepare the Country Report necessary for the production of a Language Education Country Profile . This task was promptly completed within a month. This document served as a basis for discussion with the six-member Council of Europe expert group, during their visit in October, when they met language education policy deciders, experts and representatives of civil society. The Council of Europe expert group will produce an Experts‘ Report at the beginning of 2003, which together with the Country Report, will be the subject of a roundtable discussion during a subsequent visit with the participation of language education policy deciders and experts, and the representatives of civil society. Following this spring visit, the Hungarian authorities, in close cooperation with the Council of Europe expert group, will complete the final version of the Language Education Profile of Hungary. This Country Report is published separately as a complementary document providing necessary information on the context and framework for the Language Education Policy Profile. Members of the Hungarian working group commissioned to prepare the Country Report: Zsuzsánna Darabos Senior official of Kiss Êrpád National Public Education Institute Katalin Forray R. Professor at the Faculty of Humanities of the Pécs University of Sciences Zsuzsanna Horváth Official of the National Public Education Institute Zoltán Poór Senior lecturer at the Teacher Training Faculty of the Veszprém University Péter Rádai Teacher at the English Teacher Training Centre of Eötvös Lóránd University of Sciences Êgnes Vámos Senior lecturer at the Pedagogical Institute of Eötvös Lóránd University of Sciences 2 In the course of preparing the basis for the Language Policy Profile of Hungary the following questions have risen: • What is the definition of language, language competence and language education? • What should be considered as the context and environment of language education? • To what extent should we take into account the social, historical, cultural, economic, legal and international circumstances? Furthermore, although we did not have to prepare a language policy analysis, the interpretation of language policy and the determination of umbrella terms were essential for the foundations as set out in this report. Due to the limited time available, the edited version of the studies for the Country Report as a starting point for Language Education Policy Profile of Hungary does not rely on a uniform theoretical and conceptual basis, clarifying all details. When describing the various subjects of language education, the authors followed the recommended structure to facilitate international comparison, but they worked autonomously on the content. Members of the working group were free to decide which reference books, background materials, manuscripts, sources, documents, databases, interviews and opinions expressed during conferences would be used to describe different components of language education in Hungary. It was not a requirement to resolve all disputed theoretical issues or all the differing views of groups of researchers and policy developers; therefore the final version is mainly based on the opinions held by its authors, and thus provides a diversity of views. Although the authors wanted to gather the maximum amount of information possible for the analysis of language education policy, it has to be admitted that they could not contribute equally fully to all parts of the Country Report. Variations in coverage do not necessarily reflect the importance of various problems and language education areas, but simply reflect the quantity and depth of information available for the authors in the areas concerned, as no original research could be conducted. The authors do not refer to developments after the completion of the Country Report in September 2002, such as the amendment of the Public and Higher Education Act and the World-Language Program, because their report applies to language education before 2002. The final document - Language Education Policy Profile œ will contain a reference to these changes, which are the result of regulations concerning language education and strategic initiatives. The authors of the Country Report would like to express their gratitude to all those whose background materials, professional opinions, recommendations and collections of necessary data and sources contributed to making the final version of this document more precise, professional, detailed and comprehensive: Mr. Gábor Boldizsár, Mr. BenB Csapó, Ms. András Deli, Ms. Márta Fazekas, Ms. Êgnes Garay-Madarász, Mr. László Gremsperger, Ms. Zsófia Jánvári Lux, Ms. Johanna Kapitánffy, Ms. Krisztina Kolosy Bene, Mr. István Kraszlán, Ms. Zsuzsanna Kurtán, Mr. Tamás Légrádi, Ms. Marianne Nikolov, Mr. Tamás Nyitrai, Ms. EnikB Öveges, Ms. Gabriella Papp, Mr. Antal Paulik, Ms. Andrea Perlusz, Ms. Judit Sárvári, Ms. István Simon and Ms. Edina Vándorffy Lancz. 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2 1 General background to Language Policy in Hungary .................................................... 6 1.1 Language use ...................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Human, minority and language rights ................................................................ 7 1.3 General features of minorities ............................................................................ 8 1.4 Non-Hungarian citizens living in Hungary ...................................................... 10 2 Regulations on education and language education policies ......................................... 11 2.1 The legal framework of language learning in public education ....................... 11 2.2 Acts concerning language education in higher education ................................ 14 3 Language learning opportunities in public education .................................................. 15 3.1 Facts and trends in Hungarian language teaching ............................................ 15 3.2 Facts and trends in foreign language education................................................ 16 3.3 Fact and trends in minority nursery school and school education.................... 19 3.4 Roma children in public education................................................................... 22 3.5 Foreign languages as languages of instruction in public education ................. 23 4 Foreign language education in higher education.......................................................... 28 4.1 Before 1990 ...................................................................................................... 28 4.2 After 1990......................................................................................................... 28 4.3 Teaching Hungarian in higher education.......................................................... 33 5 Adult language education............................................................................................. 35 5.1 Activities of language schools.......................................................................... 35 5.2 Teaching Hungarian as a foreign language for adults ...................................... 35 6 Results in language education ...................................................................................... 36 6.1 Functional indices of performance in public education.................................... 36 6.2 Language examinations .................................................................................... 40 6.3 Hungarian and international surveys and diagnoses about Hungary................ 40 6.4 Development..................................................................................................... 42 6.5 Language competence of adults ....................................................................... 44 7 Language use of the deaf: sign language in Hungary................................................... 46 8 Teacher training, teacher supply................................................................................... 47 8.1 Language teacher training ................................................................................ 47 8.2 Professional development of language teachers............................................... 53 9 The role of the civil society in language learning and teaching................................... 54 9.1 The role of non-government organisations and movements in the protection and cultivation of the Hungarian language....................................................... 54 9.2 Associations of teachers ..................................................................................