Tertiary-level language instructors’ opinions about waiving foreign language proficiency related exit requirements at Hungarian universities: A pilot study

Abstract

In its March 2020 response to the COVID-19 situation, as of a termination date of 31st August 2020, the Hungarian government waived the former stipulation that all Hungarian university students must meet the minimum requirement of passing a B2-level language proficiency exam; otherwise, their university degrees cannot be issued. As a result, Hungarian higher education institutions issued nearly 100,000 degrees that had previously been non-issuable. Even if, through this act, the number of non-issuable degrees declined, the root cause of the problem has not been solved. In this context, the present study seeks to describe how foreign language instructors at universities respond to the waiver. To this end, a quantitative questionnaire-based pilot study (N=40) was conducted. Our preliminary results show that, based on professional considerations, the majority of language instructors are not in favour of the government decree granting the waiver, and many also question the social justness of the act. Our paper introduces the empirical research conducted in the scope of the pilot study and its results. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the professional discussion about the waiver and the topic of
previously non-issuable degrees.