Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes (Mar 2022)
MEDIZINISCHE FACHSPRACHE UNGARISCH FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHE MEDIZINSTUDIERENDE – ERGEBNISSE EINES FRAGEBOGENS ZUR EVALUIERUNG DES UNTERRICHTSKONZEPTES/ HUNGARIAN FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS – RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Abstract
At the Medical Faculty of the University of Pécs, Hungary, several hundreds of foreign students from more than 50 countries around the world are studying medicine in English and German. The largest group is made up of students with German as their mother tongue. Like the native Hungarian students, these students receive clinical teaching according to the concept of bedside teaching from the 5th semester onwards, i.e. they will have interactions with Hungarian patients. This presupposes knowledge of Hungarian, which enables a successful interaction with them in the professional situation. The educational objective must be achieved with students who may not be motivated to learn the Hungarian language. Learning subjects is also a heavy burden for medical students. In recent years, we have strived to teach the Hungarian medical language as effectively as possible in the given teaching and learning environment, to prepare students for clinical patient encounters. After adapting the language teaching to the needs of the students and the given circumstances, we wanted to know what the students think about Hungarian and Hungarian teaching. Do they perceive the content and methods of teaching as intended? A questionnaire survey was conducted with 134 medical students to find out how satisfied the students are with the content and methods of Hungarian language teaching and examination, what their motivation is for learning Hungarian, and how much time they devote to learning. Their opinion has been interrogated regarding to what they think is good about teaching, what they would change and what other suggestions they have. An important question was whether the students would like to learn something other than the language for special purposes with clinical content, and to what extent they are involved in the mother tongue environment. Our study announces the results of the survey including the students’ responses that can help improve Hungarian language teaching.
