C1 (COMPETENT USER) LEVEL

This examination is based partly on the Effective Degree and partly on the Mastery Degree specifications worked out by the Council of Europe and assesses whether the candidates can approximate the linguistic and cultural performance of native speakers in a Hungarian language environment. The candidates must have a sophisticated vocabulary, a rich variety of stylistic appparatus and must be familiar with different language registers. Passing the examination requires 900-1000 hours of studying, depending on the circumstances, and a certain period of time spent in a Hungarian language and cultural environment. At present, this is the highest level in the Hungarian examinations of ITK.

 

INFORMATION TABLE - COMPETENT USER LEVEL

	Time	Type of task	Length	Points
Oral exam	20 minutes	Guided conversation	about 5 min.	*65 points
		Talking about a certain topic (based on a picture stimulus)	about 5 min.
		Situation	about 5 min.
		Interpretation of a text (based on a short text stimulus)	about 5 min.
	40 minutes	Listening comprehension: - (edited) texts adapted from the audio-visual media (information transfer exercise, multiple choice tests, multiple cloze, cloze tests)	(3000-3400 characters)	25 points
Oral exam ('A' type):				90 points
Written exam	240 minutes	Reading comprehension: - one longer or two shorter written (edited) texts (information transfer exercise, multiple choice tests, cloze, multiple cloze)	(3600-4000 characters)	20 points
		Guided composition - writing skills	20-25 lines (about 200 words)	20 points
		Interpretation of a text (based on a written stimulus)	20-25 lines (about 200 words)	20 points
		Tasks assessing use of the language	40 items	20 points
Written exam ('B' type):				80 points
Total ('C' type):				170 points

 

*The number of points at the oral examination:

The areas of evaluation at the oral examination:	Number of points:
communicative value, pronunciation:	20 points (4 x 5 points for each task)
vocabulary:	20 points (4 x 5 points for each task)
accuracy:	20 points (4 x 5 points for each task)
listening comprehension:	5 points (measured by another task as well)
Total:	65 points

 

The examination assesses the language skills in the following way:

READING COMPREHENSION

The candidates must understand (not specifically technical) texts, including any functions and content, broadly and in detail, as well. They must be able to distinguish opinions from facts and recognise the communicative intention in the phrasing of the text. The text(s) are followed by a series of tasks consisting of 20 units (information transfer exercises, multiple choice tests, multiple cloze and other tasks).

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

The candidates must understand rather long, formal or informal dialogues and informative (not specifically technical) texts taken from the audio-visual media or announcements, the facts and the communicative intention in the text and must be able to distinguish opinions from facts. The text(s) are followed by a series of tasks consisting of 20 units (information transfer exercises, multiple choice tests, multiple cloze, cloze tests and other tasks).

SPEAKING

The candidates can perform all the important communicative functions verbally: talking fluently about general and personal topics, giving information, giving an account of both personal and public events, expressing their views succinctly and asserting their interests in a verbally complex way. They can converse and argue about timely issues at a rather abstract level as well. They also have the necessary Hungarian socio-cultural background knowledge. In the oral examination the examiners first have a conversation with the candidates about general issues, then there is a role play about a situation involving one of the examiners on the basis of Hungarian instructions on a sheet chosen at random. After that the candidates express their impressions and views concerning a picture or some other visual aid and may also respond to the examiner's questions. Finally, based on a short, written text input, the candidates interpret a text in interaction with the examiner and express their views on the issues raised by the text.

WRITING

The candidates can perform the following complex written functions: giving detailed information, giving an account of events, expressing their own views and others' views adequately, using language structures pertaining to the whole text correctly.
One of the tasks is to write a continuous, descriptive or narrative text of about 200 words, which is complex in its language and content, on the basis of the instructions. The candidates can choose between two topics. The other task is to interpret a short written text input in writing and comment on the issues raised in it in an argumentative manner.

USE OF THE LANGUAGE

The candidates prove their proficient knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and style through solving a series of tasks consisting of 40 items and different types of tasks (multiple cloze, cloze, transformation exercise, etc.).

THE WEIGHTING OF THE DIFFERENT SKILLS IN THE EXAMINATION

The weighting of the four basic skills are approximately the same at this level and the examination is supplemented by a series of task measuring the use of the language in a receptive way.

RESULTS

The examination is evaluated on a pass/fail basis. The examination centre issues an official certificate both in the case of failure and of passing, and mails it to the candidate.