Примењена лингвистика у част Ранку Бугарском - Језик у

György Szépe: MOTHER TONGUE COMPETENCE AND SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL...
Can MT competence be measured?
Competence in MT can be measured only if its components are well defined. The
difficulty lies in the ‘triggering type’ it may have a perceptible effect after 10 or
20 years of school activity. Nevertheless, there are very good examples of largescale
educational assessment actions, e.g. that of IEA (International Educational
Achievement), where achievement in reading and in writing is measured on a
worldwide comparative basis. (The learning of English and French was also measured
within the same system.)
LSP in MTE?
In foreign language learning LSP [Language for Specific Purposes] has gained a
certain importance. Is the same true of MT education?
In Hungary about 70 per cent. of 14 to 17- year-olds know what profession
they will practise: they attend special high schools or vocational training schools.
Not much in MT education reflects this proportion. They get mostly (at least in
vocational training schools) a kind of post-literacy training (plus some literature,
which is OK).
I am not advocating an exclusive LSP in MTE as a solution, of course. But
we should find a middle way. Learners should be confronted with possible language
problems to be solved during their future activities (including typical written
communication genres). But here again, a general enabling is more efficient
in the long run than a very precise equipping process.
Kind of conclusion
Several small conclusions cannot be lumped together under a general conclusion. I
acknowledge that I have advocated the necessity of several changes and innovations,
without coordinating them in a precise way. This is due to the nature of the subject.
Really great changes (as far as I can see) are not planned, they just happen
in a situation where those who should make changes cannot handle the issues any
more, and those whose circumstances should be changed will not live in these
circumstances any more. This is, so to speak, a revolutionary situation.
The next “revolution” will not be signalled by demolishing bastions and
palaces but by learning to read and write, by communicating via electronic means,
by coping with the challenges of ever growing knowledge.
REFERENCES
Bright, William (1984). The virtues of illiteracy. In: American Linguistics and
Literature (W. Bright, ed.). Berlin/New York/Amsterdam : Mouton, 149-
159.
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