The comprehensive exam (szakmai zárószigorlat) consists of a written and an oral part.
1. Written part Language Test Construction and Evaluation
2. Oral part Compulsory for all: Teaching British Culture and Society
Students can choose two out of the following three courses
- Teaching Contemporary American Culture and Society
- Teaching British Literature
- Teaching American Literature
The topics for the Language Teaching Methods and ELT Methodology exam, which is part of a separate final exam (tanári zárószigorlat), can be found at the end of this page.
List of exam topics:
Teaching British Culture and Society
1. Major developments in the history of the four nations of the British Isles up to 1485 The history of conquests 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. Empire & Commonwealth. Britain and the European Union
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
Set readings:
- McDowall, D. An Illustrated History of Britain. London: Longman, 1991.
- Oakland, J. British Civilization. London: Routledge, 1992.
- Sked, A. - Cook, C. Post-War Britain. London: Penguin, 1990.
Recommended readings:
- Bromhead, P. Life in Modern Britain. London: Longman, 1991.
- Irwin, J. Modern Britain: An Introduction. London: Allen and Unwin, 1994.
- Jenkins, P. Mrs Thatcher’s Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1988.
- Marwick, A. British Society since 1945. London: Lane, 1982.
- Oakland, J. A Dictionary of British Institutions. London: Routledge, 1993.
- O’Driscoll, James. Britain. Oxford UP, 1995.
Teaching Contemporary American Culture and Society
1. The geography of the United States. Geographical regions and natural landscapes. American regionalism. Cultural regions in America.
2. The American system of government. Federal and state institutions. The U.S. Constitution. Political parties and the election system. Lobbyism.
3. The ethnic composition of the American population. Major ethnic groups and minorities. Civil rights movements in America. From “melting pot” through “cultural pluralism” to multiculturalism.
4. A comparative survey of the American and Hungarian systems of education.
5. Factors contributing to cultural stability: belief systems and myth structures. Ideologies of American destiny and identity. American ethnocentrism.
6. Women in American society.
7. Entertainment and the mass media in the U.S.A. Major television networks. The printed media: major American newspapers and magazines. Popular culture. Advertising.
8. The survey of a historical period of your choice. Choose one of the following six historical periods for your presentation: the American Revolution, the Civil War decade, the “Gilded Age,” the “Progressive Era,” America between the two world wars, or the U.S.A. since 1945.
9. Hungarian-American links and contacts. The Hungarian contribution to the making of America.
10. Everyday life in the U.S.A.
Set readings:
- Fawcet, Edmund and Tony Thomas, America and the Americans. Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1983.
- Chapter 1: “Rich and Varied Sameness”: Regions and People (pp. 11-47)
- Chapter 4: “Democracy and Its Discontents”: Politics and Government (pp. 129- 164)
- Chapter 5: “Limping Donkeys and Lumbering Elephants”: Democrats and Republicans (pp. 165-183)
- Chapter 9: “Tomorrow’s Americans”: Schools (pp. 274-307) Chapter 10: “The Knowledge-Industrial Complex”: Universities and the Arts (pp. 308-332)
- Chapter 11: “Rule of Lawyers”: The Legal System (pp. 333-365)
- Chapter 12: “Soft Soap and Hard News”: Television and the Press (pp. 366-383)
- Luedtke, Luther S., ed., Making America: The Society and Culture of the United States. Washington, D.C.: USIA, 1987.
- Magyarics, Tamás and Tibor Frank, Handouts for U.S. History: A Study Guide and Workbook. Budapest: Panem-McGraw-Hill, 1995.
- Mittleman, Earl N., An Outline of American Geography. Washington, D.C.: USIA, 1986.
- Schroeder, Richard, An Outline of American Government. Washington, D.C.: USIA, 1986.
- Tindall, George B. and David E. Shi, America. New York: Norton, 1989.
- Walberg, Herbert J., American Education: Diversity and Research. Washington, D.C.: USICA, 1978.
Recommended readings:
- Boyer, Paul S. et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Lexington Mass., 1994.
- Brinkley, Alan, The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York, 1993.
- Evans, Sara M., Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America. New York, 1989.
- Fiedler, Eckhard et al., America in Close-Up. London, 1990.
Language Test Construction and Evaluation
1. Basic concepts in language testing: validity, reliability, washback, test types
2. Guidelines for classroom testing
3. Test specifications
4. Internal and external ways of test validation
5. Assessment of young learners
6. Techniques for testing listening
7. Techniques for testing reading
8. Assessing speaking (task design considerations, assessment scales)
9. Assessing writing (task design considerations, assessment scales)
10. Testing vocabulary (task types and task effects)
11. Testing grammar (task types and task effects)
12. Classical item analysis: item level analysis (facility value, item discrimination, distractor analysis); whole test level analysis (measures of central tendency, SD, range, split-half reliability index)
Set readings:
- Alderson, J. C., Clapham, C. & Wall, D. (1995). Language Test Construction and Evaluation. CUP.
- Heaton, J. B. (1988). Writing English language tests. Longman.
- Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for Language Teachers. CUP.
- Weir, C. J. (1990). Communicative Language Testing. Prentice Hall International.
Recommended readings:
- Into Europe series, Kiadó: Teleki László Foundation & the British Council
- Alderson, J. C. & Cseresznyés, M. (2003). Reading and Use of English
- Csépes, I. & Együd, Gy. (2004). The Speaking Handbook
- Fehérváryné, H. K. & Pizorn, K. (2005). Listening
- Tankó, Gy. (2005). The Writing Handbook
Reading and Teaching British Literature
1. Definitions of poetry, its main features and function
2. Rhythm, rhyme and their use in teaching
3. Figures of speech in everyday discourse and in poetry
4. Children in poetry
5. Animals in poetry
6. Major Tendencies in British Poetry between 1945-1980
7. The basic literary forms: poetry
8. The basic literary forms: fiction
9. Approaches to History in Post-War British Literature (focusing on D.M. Thomas)
10. Social and Political Issues in Post-War British Literature (focusing on John Fowles)
Set readings:
Novels
- John Fowles. The French Lieutenant’s Woman
- D.M. Thomas. The White Hotel
Critical literature:
- Walder, Dennis, ed. Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents. Oxford: OUP, 1993.
- Fejezetek: „Interpretation”, „Form and Genre”, „Englishness”, „Literature and Ideology”
- Charles Tomlinson. “Some Aspects of Poetry since the War”. In: The Pelican Guide to English Literature 8. 450-470.
- Taylor, Richard. “Narrative Fiction and the Printed Word”, “Primary Modes of Poetic Expression”. Understanding the Elements of Literature. London: Macmillan, 1981. pp. 39-100, 153-163.
- Tamás Bényei. “Seduction and the Politics of Reading in The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies 1995. 2. 121-139.
- Rowland Wymer. “Freud , Jung and the ‘Myth’ of Psychoanalysis in The White Hotel”. Mosaic 22. 1. Winter 1989. 55-69.
Teaching Contemporary American Literature
1. The American Dream challenged in post WWII American Jewish fiction.
2. African American short fiction: Ernest J.Gaines
3. Americanness and Chicano/a identity.
4. Americanness and African American identity.
5. Sandra Cisneros and the Bildungsroman.
6. Post WW II American poetry: ethnic voices.
7. Encounters between cultures: Bharati Mukherjee’s short fiction.
8. Americanness and post ethnic identity: Junot Diaz’s short fiction.
9. The use of literature in the language classroom.
10. Teaching the literary text.
Suggested reading:
- Brumfit, C. J. and Ronald Carter, eds. Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986.
- Carter, Ronald and John McRae, eds. Language, Literature & the Learner: Creative Classroom Practice. London: Longman, 1996.
- Kramsch, Claire. Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993.
- Országh, László és Virágos Zsolt. Az amerikai irodalom története. Budapest: Eötvös József, 1997.
Language Teaching Methods and ELT Methodology
1. Language teaching methods (relationship between approach, design, and procedure). The Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method and the Audio-lingual Method.
2. New methods in English language teaching (person-centred teaching, humanistic approaches). The principles of suggestopedia, its effect on language learning; the „Silent Way”, the „Total Physical Response, „Community Language Learning”.
3. Theoretical background to the communicative approach; issues of feasibility. (Notion of communicative competence, the most significant features of language programmes in a communicative framework, criticism of the communicative approach.) Language teaching strategies in the 21st century (A language teaching approach based on cognitive, affective and linguistic macro-strategies.)
4. Developing communicative competence 1. The role of pronunciation teaching in the process of language learning. (The importance of realistic aim setting, factors affecting pronunciation learning; sounds, stress, intonation in accordance with the principles of the communicative approach.)
5. Developing communicative competence 2. Teaching vocabulary. (Selecting lexical items, methods of teaching words, advantages and disadvantages of various methods.)
6. Developing communicative competence 3. The role of grammar in communicative language teaching. (A communicative approach to the presentation and practice of new structures. Advantages and disadvantages of deductive and inductive approaches, task types.)
7. Developing oral and written communication skills on the various levels of language learning. (Communication strategies, their teachability; speaking and writing tasks built on realistic situations.)
8. Language use. Receptive skills. Developing listening and reading comprehension skills on the various levels of language learning. (Efficient reading and listening skills and strategies, using authentic and non-authentic texts.)
9. Accuracy vs. fluency. Error treatment in CLT. (Teachers’ attitude towards various errors, strategies and methods of error treatment in teaching speaking and writing.)
10. Teacher and learner roles, managing FL classes. (Organising communicative language classes, increasing efficiency of teaching, maximising language practice for learners.)
Set readings:
- Brown, H. D. 1994. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall.
- Brown, H. D. 1994. Teaching by Principles. Prentice Hall.
- Davies, P., & Pearse, E. 2000. Success in English Teaching. Oxford University Press.
- Harmer, J. 1994. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
- Hedge, T. 2000. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. OUP.
- Larsen-Freeman, D. 1986. Techniques and principles in language teaching. OUP.
- Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. 1986. Approaches and methods in language teaching. CUP.
- Scrivener, J. 1994. Learning Teaching. Heinemann.
- Swan, M. 1985. A critical look at the Communicative Approach I-II. ELT Journal, 39(1), 2-12; 39(2), 76-87.