Module closing exam, Final exam (BA)

MODUL CLOSING EXAM (BA programme) 

The stream (track) specialisations conclude with a two-credit modul closing examination. The examination consists of a written and an oral part. The written part of the exam is a seminar paper or home essay (or a self-sufficient chapter from the BA thesis) of 5-12 pages submitted by the student in the area relevant to the given track. The submitted paper, chosen by the student, will ideally give an accurate idea of the student’s main interest as well as his/her strengths. It is important that the submitted paper be a ’clean copy’ rather than the copy that bears the instructor’s corrections and comments. The purpose of the oral part of the examination is to get an idea of the student’s main interests, general level of knowledge as well as his/her familiarity with English Studies. The conversation, lasting about 15 minutes, takes as its starting point the text submitted by the student.

The stream (track) specialisations conclude with a two-credit final examination.
The examination consists of a written and an oral part. The written part of the exam is a seminar paper or home essay (or a self-sufficient chapter from the BA thesis) of 5-12 pages submitted by the student in the area relevant to the given track. The submitted paper, chosen by the student, will ideally give an accurate idea of the student’s main interest as well as his/her strengths. It is important that the submitted paper be a ’clean copy’ rather than the copy that bears the instructor’s corrections and comments.

The purpose of the oral part of the examination is to get an idea of the student’s main interests, general level of knowledge as well as his/her familiarity with English Studies. The conversation, lasting about 15 minutes, takes as its starting point the text submitted by the student.

BA FINAL EXEM

BA Final Exam requirements for students who began their studies before 2020/2021

BA Final Exam requirements for students who began their studies afer 2020/2021:

Overview of the Final Exam

  • I. Language Proficiency Assessment
    • I.1 Language Proficiency Assessment - written
    • I.2 Language Proficiency Assessment - oral
  • II. Professional Knowledge
    • II.1 American studies (oral)
    • II.2 British studies (oral)
    • II.3 Linguistics and Communication (oral)
  • III. Thesis defence

The candidate's performance is assessed by the committee in all cases using grades ranging from 1 to 5. The final result of the final examination is determined by the arithmetic average of the following six component grades: written language proficiency assessment, oral language proficiency assessment, British civilization, American civilization, linguistics and communication, and thesis defense. If any of these component grades is a fail, the final examination result is also considered a fail.

The written examination must precede the oral part; passing the written exam is a prerequisite for being allowed to take the oral exam. The result of the final examination is announced to the candidate by the chair at the end of the oral examination.

Details of the Final Exam

I. Language Proficiency Assessment

The purpose of the examination is to assess the language proficiency of English major students in topics related to their specialized training. Aligned with the C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the following aspects of functional language use are measured:

  • Reading comprehension (gathering information and identifying arguments): The examinee is able to fully understand a wide range of texts related to their field of study.
  • Written production: The examinee can write clear and well-structured texts on topics related to their field. They are able to highlight key and important issues, elaborate their views with supplementary ideas, arguments, and appropriate examples, and conclude effectively.
  • Spoken production: The examinee is capable of speaking clearly and relevantly about the given topic; they can connect subtopics and conclude the discussion. The examinee demonstrates a broad command of language, can choose appropriate linguistic forms and style for the communicative purpose, and maintains a consistently high level of grammatical accuracy even in continuous communication.

Listening comprehension is not assessed separately in the exam. However, during oral communication, the examinee must be able to follow the examiner and respond appropriately to the questions posed.

The language proficiency exam consists of two parts: a written task (I.1) (summary writing) and an oral exam (I.2).

I.1 Language Proficiency Assessment – Written

In the written summary task, the examinee receives a text related to the specialization they chose during the BA program and, within the English orientation, to the chosen track.

Specialization: American Studies

Tracks: British Literature and Culture; Linguistics and Communication

The examinee must summarize a 600–800-word text in 250–300 words. The assessment is based on an analytic scale using the following criteria: topic development, text cohesion, linguistic accuracy, and lexical sophistication.

Maximum score: 20 points

I.2 Language Proficiency Assessment – Oral

In the oral exam, the linguistic quality of the examinee’s oral performance, which is related to the topic of the BA final exam, is assessed separately by a dedicated rater. The assessment uses an analytic scale and considers the following criteria: coherence and fluency of the oral performance, ability to follow the conversation partner, linguistic accuracy, and lexical sophistication.

Maximum score: 20 points

The minimum passing score on both the written and oral parts (each scored out of 20 points) is 60% (12 points). The grading scale is as follows:

  • 0-11 Fail
  • 12-13 Pass
  • 14-15 Satisfactory
  • 16-17 Good
  • 18-20 Excellent

II. Professional Knowledge

II.1 American studies (list of topics)

  1. The geography of the United States. Geographical regions and natural landscapes.
  2. Cultural regions in the U.S.A. Culture- and region-specific icons, emblems and images of America. Stereotypy. The contributions of literature and popular culture to the iconography of the U.S.A.
  3. The American system of government (1). Federal and state institutions. Checks and balances. The American Constitution and civil liberties. Constitutional amendments. The judicial system: the courts and the law.
  4. The American system of government (2). Political parties and the election system. The process of electing a president and the electoral college. Lobbyism.
  5. Race and ethnicity in America. The ethnic composition of the American population. Major ethnic groups and minorities. Civil rights movements in the U.S.A. The concepts of the melting pot, cultural pluralism, and multiculturalism.
  6. The US, the nation of immigrants. Immigration history and federal immigration policies—past and present.
  7. The empowerment of American women. Waves of feminism, the intersections of gender, race and class.
  8. Factors contributing to cultural stability: belief systems and myth structures. Ideologies of American destiny and identity. Manifest Destiny and New Manifest Destiny. Mission. Redeemer Nation. American ethnocentrism. Civil religion. Recent challenges to cultural stability.
  9. The survey of a historical period of your choice. Choose one of the following historical periods for your presentation: (1) the American Revolution; (2) the Civil War decade; (3) the "Gilded Age"; (4) the "Progressive Era"; (5) America between the two world wars; (6) the U.S.A. since 1945.
  10. Everyday life in the USA. Holidays in the United States. International, religious, and patriotic holidays. Iconic patriotic shrines in America. Entertainment and the mass media in the U.S.A. Television in U.S. culture. Popular culture. Advertising and the film industry.
  11. Regionalism and multiculturalism in North America.

II.2 British studies (list of topics)

  1. Major developments in the history of the four nations of the British Isles up to 1485 (The history of conquest and settlement. Wars in France. The first stages of the unification process.)
  2. Britain in the Early Modern period (1485-1800) (The Reformation. The Elizabethan religious settlement. The causes of the Civil War. The Glorious Revolution. The Hanoverians.)
  3. Britain’s changing role in the world (Foreign policy. Britain's wars, 1485 to the present. Empire and Commonwealth. Britain and the EU.)
  4. The British political system (Constitutional development. The electoral system. The party system. Parliament. The government.)
  5. Economy and society (Economic history. Economic policies. Social classes. Race relations.)
  6. The Educational system  (School history. The state school system. Public and other independent schools. The universities.)
  7. Religion in Britain (Religious history. The Church of England. Other religions, churches and religious movements.)
  8. Welfare (The origins of the welfare state. The NHS. The NHS reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. The benefits system.)
  9. Post-1945 political history up to 1970
  10. Post-1945 political history from 1970 to 1997

II.3 Linguistics and Communication

Linguistics topic list for students who began their studies in 2020 or later:

  1. Fundamentals of language and linguistics
  2. The basics of speech production   
  3. Phonological processes and variation
  4. The structure of words
  5. Cross-linguistic variation in morphology
  6. Word classes
  7. Sentence structure
  8. Variation in syntax
  9. Basic concepts of semantics
  10. Word meaning
  11. Gricean implicature
  12. Stages of acquiring a language and the critical period
  13. From L1 to L2
  14. Socially conditioned variation
  15. Brain, mind and language

Detailed version of the topic list, with recommended literature (for students who began their studies in 2020 or later)

Linguistics topic list for students who began their studies before 2020

III. Thesis defence

The chair of the final examination committee asks questions related to the thesis, with the aim of ensuring that the thesis is indeed the candidate’s own work and that the candidate is adequately informed about the specific field of the thesis. The examinee is not required to give a PowerPoint presentation.

Last update: 2025. 05. 29. 13:35