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Vocabulary acquisition of English as a foreign language in the Hungarian public sector. / Andrea Erzsebet Orosz

Swansea University Author: Andrea Erzsebet Orosz

Abstract

The research in this dissertation is the first attempt in Hungary to reveal language learners' language proficiency in the public education sector through a vocabulary size test as an alternative method. Based on the assessment of vocabulary in learners' coursebooks, the analyses of teache...

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Published: 2014
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42477
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Abstract: The research in this dissertation is the first attempt in Hungary to reveal language learners' language proficiency in the public education sector through a vocabulary size test as an alternative method. Based on the assessment of vocabulary in learners' coursebooks, the analyses of teacher talk and the answers in learners' informal strategy questionnaire reveal the possible sources through which the learners' can get an access to new vocabulary and also what they do themselves in order to acquire new words in- and outside of the classroom. The results of this research can prove that even the Hungarian language learners' English language knowledge can be at a considerably good level. The starting point for the research was that both language teachers and students have been evaluating the Hungarian learners' English language knowledge as insufficient, despite the relatively many English classes in the public education. This negative assumption has been supported by the data of Eurostat (2009) statistics, which says that the Hungarians are the last ones in Europe concerning their foreign language knowledge. There has also been guessing that the Hungarian learners' English knowledge does not meet the international standards and like this it is falling behind foreign students' English language knowledge. The results show objectively how Hungarian learners' knowledge compares with other learners in other countries from the point of view of English as a foreign language. The current dissertation is hoped to be a substantial contribution to the field of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Hungary, in particular, and to the field of second language vocabulary acquisition, in general.
Keywords: English as a second language.;Language arts.
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences