ELTE - DELP

You will see that, among other things, you will have to submit a CV and a motivational letter in English. Here are a few guidelines for the motivational letter:

The motivational letter should

- not be more than one page;

- elaborate the applicant's (personal) reasons for becoming a teacher;

- give the reader an idea of the applicant's ability to write in English.

The entrance exam consists of the following parts:

Part 1.

An introductory conversation on the basis of the CV and the motivational letter (approx. 3 minutes).

Part 2.

A discussion about a text of one paragraph in the area of language pedagogy. Questions concerning the content and language will be asked (approx. 10 minutes). To give an idea of what to expect, here are two sample texts with questions:

Sample 1:

Imagine we walk down the corridor of a school and hear much noise coming from a classroom. We might at first assume that it is the result of the teacher having lost control of the class (or some other plausible explanation). On arrival and entrance to the classroom, we find the students engaged in an activity which involves animated discussion, in groups, with the teacher participating as a monitor in the activity.

Wright, T. (1992). L2 classroom research and L2 teacher education: Towards a collaborative approach. In: J.

Flowerdew, M. Brock, and S. Hsia (Eds.). Perspectives on second language teacher education. Hong Kong:

City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. (p.194) [This is also quoted in Bailey, K. & Nunan, D. (Eds.) (1996). Voices

from the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.]

Content questions:

What do you think of the ‘noisy classroom’?

In your own experience, what different things can ‘noise’ in a classroom imply? Were your classes ever noisy? Why?

What language activities do you know that require a lot of student talking? What is their purpose? In your opinion, are they good activities? Why?

Language questions:

What structure is at the start of the second sentence, “On arrival … ”? Rephrase it to include a subject.

What other words can you make from the base form of the following? assume, explanation, involves, participating

Sample 2:

We might even suggest that one characteristic of the ideal second language class is one in which aptitude will not predict differences in student achievement because efficient acquisition is taking place for all students.

Krashen, S.D. (1981).Second language acquisition and second language learning. (pp.38-39)

Retrieved on 25 April, 2009 from: http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index.html

Content questions:

What do you think contributes more to success in language learning – motivation or talent?

Do you think there is such a thing as talent for language learning?

Have you even been in a language class where the level was very mixed? How did the teacher deal with this?

Language questions:

How can the word suggest behave in other situations?

What could you say instead of taking place?

Try to find chunks or collocations in the passage, i.e. small groups of words which often appear together.

Explore the word families of these words: achievement, acquisition, characteristic

The texts used in this section of the exam are available for downloading from here.

(The document is in .pdf format. When you click on the link above, it will appear in a new window. Depending on the settings of your browser, you may have to save/download the file before opening it.)

Part 3.

A short reaction to a statement concerning teaching and learning processes. (approx. 3 minutes) These texts will not be available before the exam but here are two sample statements:

Statement 1:

Mistakes are best corrected as soon as the student makes them.

Statement 2:

You should always explain grammar in Hungarian.

The main criteria of assessment are:

- Language use

- Language awareness

- Interest and motivation shown in language pedagogy