Summary

As a result of the Bologna Process and Hungary’s accession to the European Union, it is of primary importance for future graduates to possess high levels of communicative competence in at least two foreign languages, intercultural competence as well as an ability to learn languages in an autonomous way. The initiation described in this case study took these challenges as a starting point, and below is the description of the major elements of and the strategic and pedagogical considerations behind the language policy which was developed at Kodolanyi University College, Hungary during the 2003/2004 academic year and has been implemented since then. The three major components of the foreign language teaching programme at present are (1) teaching LSP exclusively to all undergraduate students, (2) introducing subject-specific courses in foreign languages, and (3) the development of an independent learning centre. The language policy has made it possible to focus on the following learning outcomes during the language programmes: (1) successful language examination by the end of the study programme, (2) communicative competence for academic and for occupational purposes based of needs analyses, (3) development of skills related to independent learning so that students are able to further develop their language competences in their free time and after graduation, and (4) development of intercultural communication skills. An important success factor of the language policy is that our Hungarian students, together with Erasmus students, can also study towards their degree in a multilingual and multicultural learning environment at the university. A major lesson to be learned relates to the question of how the experience gained during the monitoring of language courses can be used for revising the language policy.

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