2. BILC Professional Seminar „Authenticity in training and testing: Making it real”
Introduction of the English Training in the HDF
Host Nation Perspective
HUN MoD DS J7
Col Zsolt MIKUSI HUN A
Head of Education Branch

4. The Purpose of Military Language Training
Prepare cadets, officers, NCOs and civilian employees of the armed forces to communicate and operate in a multinational environment at home and abroad.
Concept of special language training, its content and purposes
“Special language equals special terminology.”
“Special language is a functional style.”
“Special language is a peculiar use of certain grammatical means and organization of determined vocabulary for the text.”
“Special languages are certain parts of national languages.”
“Special languages are only branches of a unified language but they aren’t separate languages.”
These and other definitions confirm my conviction that military language training is a special form of training during which the students acquire military terminology.
We have to underline that special language training does not mean that students acquire only their military speciality in English, it means that learning basic vocabulary and proper grammar lay the foundation for future growth in the language.
We also have to stress that special military language training is essential for professional preparation and progress, but it is impossible without appropriate general language knowledge.
The most important purpose of military language training is to prepare soldiers, officers, NCO-s and military employees of armed forces to communicate and operate with their NATO and PfP Partners and to fulfill their peacekeeping and peacemaking missions.
Now let’s look at the topics ours students have to be familiar with to take a successful STANAG 6001 or military state language exam.

5. HDF PSTC – received NATO PTEC status in JUL 2016
Currently two educational institutions conduct centralized language training within the HDF:
- FLTC MSOTF NUPS
HDF NCO Academy
HDF PSTC – received NATO PTEC status
in JUL 2016
Regional language courses are also available with the aim of keeping or refreshing language skills.
With the full membership of Hungary in NATO, our international contacts in the sphere of defense and military cooperation at all levels have widened and intensified. The effective communication of the personnel in English and French - the official languages in NATO, is of great importance for the national commitments by providing capabilities for the needs of NATO and for the adequate and successful performance of the official positions of the Republic of Bulgaria at international events of different scale and character.
In this regard, one of the commitments which Hungary took to implement in the "NATO Capability Targets 2013" is CT E 1101 N "English Language Proficiency". The mere fact that NATO Command have paid such great attention on the importance of mastering the militaries’ English language competence shows how important it is for the adequate interoperability of forces, which consist not only of equipment and machinery but also of well-trained and motivated personnel able to communicate effectively during missions and operations abroad.
For the last 10 years Hungary has invested a huge amount of efforts and resources for attaining interoperability in the field of English language competence. First we worked for the fulfillment of E0356, which in 2013 was transformed into E 1101 N.

6. Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training NUPS
FLTC
Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training NUPS
Budapest
Ms Gabriella KISS, PhD
Director

7. Teachers and Staff FLTC has 28 full-time teacher positions
part-time teachers (their number is in accordance with the needs)
2 administrators
All teachers are highly-qualified professionals with great experience

8. Types of Language Training 1.
LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR CADETS
Requirements for graduation
for cadets: STANAG 2222 exam
Number of lessons for cadets:
180 contact lessons in 3 semesters
Special courses (20-30 lessons per term) from the fifth semester
Types and different formats of language training
Language training at the center includes preparation of cadets, university graduates and course students for military language exams.
Graduates’ language training
The requirement for receiving diplomas for cadets is a state language exam at intermediate level or STANAG 2222 exam. In certain field of studies (e.g. Defense and Security policy studies) and in most university branches the students have to take language exam at advanced level or STANAG 3333 exams.
The cadets during 5 semesters get 360 contact hours, while university students’ number of contact hours vary from different branches from

9. Types of Language Training 2.
Intensive courses
5-month intensive courses (English)
500 lessons – 6 lessons / day
aim: successful STANAG level 1, level 2 or level 3 exams
5-month intensive course (Hungarian as a foreign language)
aim: good communication skills in Hungarian
3-month/5-month intensive courses (English) PfP/MD, DEEP
300 lessons – 6 lessons / day
multinational and multiservice students from NATO, PfP MD, ICI and PATG countries
aim: successful STANAG 6001 exam at level 1, 2 or 3
Course students’ training
Language courses are another way of teaching a language at the Institute. Within the courses, we can distinguish between intensive and ‘non-intensive’ courses.
The intensive courses are 10-month courses of 1200 hours, and students are exempted from work. They have 6 lessons per day, and they have to study 2 hours per day individually to attain the intermediate level state exam. These students at the beginning of the course do not have any command of the language, so they have to push themselves very hard. In these courses, from the year 2004/2005, the standard became to achieve the STANAG NATO exam, which is the equivalent to the intermediate level military professional exam.
From the year 2005/2006, instead of the 1200 hour courses, the Chief of Staff has ordered a 500 hour course. The students can only continue their studies if at the end of the 500 hours they achieve the defined STANAG level. After the first 500 hours of learning STANAG level 1, and after the second 500 hours of STANAG 2.
Within the intensive courses, another language course exists; the 3 month 300 hour course, which prepares the students for the STANAG 6001 exam. At present, this is the course which most students attend.
In these courses, students from countries study together with Hungarian students. The advantage of mixed nationalities is that they can practice the target language during breaks and in the afternoon as well.
We can say that in all of our English language intensive courses students prepare for STANAG level 1, 2 and 3. The goal is to enable the students of any NATO and PfP country to cooperate within NATO by the command of English standardized by the common requirements, no matter where they have studied or sat for the exam.
The ‘non-intensive’ courses usually last 2 years and provide 300 hours. After the first year, the requirement is to achieve the basic professional exam, and after the second year, the intermediate level exam.
To reach a certain level, contact hours are necessary, so it is clear that these students must spend the majority of their free time studying to pass the exam. Therefore, these courses are less effective compared to the intensive courses.
From the year 2005/2006, the ‘non-intensive’ courses are 500 hours

10. Types of Language Training 3.
Non-intensive courses
English
300 lessons per year
Aim: successful STANAG 1 and STANAG 2 exams
French
Aim: successful Arma exam at Basic and/or Intermediate levels
German
We can say that in all of the English language intensive courses students prepare for STANAG level 1, 2 and 3. The goal is to enable the students of any NATO and PfP country to cooperate within NATO by the command of English standardized by the common requirements, no matter where they have studied or sat for the exam.
The ‘non-intensive’ courses usually last 2 years and provide 300 hours. After the first year, the requirement is to achieve the basic professional exam, and after the second year, the intermediate level exam.
To reach a certain level, contact hours are necessary, so it is clear that these students must spend the majority of their free time studying to pass the exam. Therefore, these courses are less effective compared to the intensive courses.
From the year 2005/2006, the ‘non-intensive’ courses are 500 hours long, which provides enough hours for the students to study the language.

11. NATO Accredited Special Courses
Staff Officers’ Military Terminology Course
2 week courses, 3 times a year
Military Terminology Teacher Training Seminar
2 week courses, one Basic level, one Advanced level per year
Participating Nations
NATO: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Portugal, Germany
PfP: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Mongolia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine
MD: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco
ICI: Qatar
Present and future Staff Officers intended to take part in NATO operations; civilian employees of national MoDs
Ranks between Capt and Col working on strategic and operational levels
Language requirement: STANAG
From NATO, PfP, MD, ICI countries
SOMTC provides:
Content
Language
Practice
The possibility to work together in a multinational and multicultural joint coalition environment
Networking

12. Other Special Courses ICAO courses
intensive language training for air-traffic controllers 60 lessons – 6 lessons / day
aim: successful ICAO exam
Prep. Course for NATO Assignment
- intensive language training for those who are to be assigned for NATO positions
intensity is to be designed by MoD/HDF
ERASMUS (English; Hungarian as Foreign Language)
- English: 30 lessons per term
- Hungarian: 60 lessons per term

13. Mrs Tünde Jávor Rozorné
ELTB
HDF NCOA
Szentendre
I would like to intruduce you the English Language Training Branch of the HDF NCO Academy.
Their Department is a relatively small unit, there are eight language teachers, including the,Head of the Branch. Everyone has the necessary qualification and the required number of credits.
This year, apart from the Native Speaker program, in the framework of which our students have the opportunity to meet a native speaker, recruited by the American Embassy, every second week, the language education at the Academy is also supported by the presence and efficient contribution of an American  English language teacher. Colin Vandergraaf.
Mrs Tünde Jávor Rozorné
Head of Branch

14. Main focus areas of training
Intensive courses for NCOs
500-lesson STANAG and STANAG courses
seven groups, 5/2 autumn semester/ spring semester.
The groups are between 10 – 12 students.
Training of NCO Cadets
316-lesson course for the NCO cadets who are admitted to the Academy only if they meet different requirements
The third area
each February is assigned  for their own personnel to refresh and maintain their English language skills.
Their activities focus on three main areas:
We provide 500-lesson STANAG and STANAG courses for NCOs of the  HDF. Every  academic year there are seven groups, five in the autumn semester and two in 
      the spring semester. The strenght of the groups is between 10 – 12.
     
      Before the courses start, the candidates take part in an interview, (in case of STANAG students, or an entrance examination in case of STANAG students).
 In  the 2016/2017 academic year, between – we also have one   STANAG and four STANAG groups with 50 students and we are planning to start the  second semester with two STANAG groups, between
Moreover, we provide 316-lesson military language courses for the NCO cadets who are admitted to the Academy only if they meet different requirements, for instance, they have basic complex English language examination.
The 316 contact lesssons are divided into two parts, 256 lessons are given in the second part of the first academic year and 60 lessons are taught in the first semester of  the second year. The  cadets are expected to take STANAG examination at the  end of the first year. However, those who fail their exams, may retake them during the second year.
     This year, officially  we provide English language classes for  the second year cadets  between  – but we  started consultation for them on 29. Their examination  is   scheduled for
The third area we focus on, is providing one month language courses, each February  for our own personnel to refresh and maintain their English language skills.

15. HDF PSTC
Szolnok
Capt. Dezső Darabont
SO Training Cell

16. Two focus areas Traditional language courses
2-4-week intensive courses, CR environment,
6 lessond/ day
pre-deployment language training, preceding missions in various theatres
Blended e-learning courses
3-day long contact period
four-week e-learning period
2-day contact period again
No certificates, these courses are aimed at refreshing students’ language skills.
The Practice of Language Training at the Hungarian Defence Forces Peace Support Training Centre
Roughly speaking, the language training courses fall into two basic categories at HDF PSTC:
First of all, they carry out traditional language training courses, where students have lessons in a classroom environment supervised by language teachers. These can be described as 2-4-week ‘intensive’ courses since students spend approximately 6 hours in the classroom and apart from that they normally receive homework assignments for the afternoon. These courses serve the purpose of pre-deployment language training, preceding missions in various theatres.
Then, earlier this year they introduced the so-called blended e-learning courses. (So far they have carried out two of them; the third one is going on right now.) These courses are divided into three different phases.
The first phase is a 3-day long contact period. Students take part in lessons aiming at speaking skills development at HDF PSTC, where, in addition to traditional classroom sessions, they learn about the ILIAS system, and the various activities they are going to be required to do during the e-learning phase.
It is followed by a four-week e-learning period. Students are required to spend between 2 and 3 hours a day doing their assignments. They receive the learning material, quizzes and additional exercises, videos, sound bites etc. on ILIAS; they download the worksheets, do their assignments, and upload them again. (They normally receive detailed feedback from their language instructors.) Other than that, they also take part in Skype sessions, where they can communicate with their teachers ‘face-to-face’ via Skype in order to improve their oral skills.
Finally, there is a 2-day contact period again at the end of the course. Again, they take part in traditional classroom lessons, complete their final exams, and are provided with the opportunity to give their overall assessment of the course (Lessons Learned).
It is important to note that for the time being, they can provide this type of blended course on approximately B2 level (intermediate) and the core training material is based upon the Campaign 2 English for the Military course book. The preparation for an advanced level edition of the course has already started and supposedly will not be available until early next year.
It is also necessary to emphasise that, not being an accredited language examination centre, PSTC normally does not hand out certificates, since all our courses are aimed at refreshing students’ existing language skills.

17. Current „extracurricular” activities and collaboration
ODC - Conversation Club - supports FLTC
ELF - English Language Fellowship – supports FLTC/ NCOA
DASA - Defence Attache Support Association – supports NCOA

18. Ms Gabriella Szebenyi, PhD
The Language Testing Centre Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training NUPS
Budapest
Language testing within the Hungarian Defence Forces is conducted by the Language Testing Centre, which operates as part of the Faculty of Military Sciences and Officer Training of the National University of Public Service.
The Language Testing Centre was established in 2001 and it functions completely independently of language training.
Ms Gabriella Szebenyi, PhD
Head of the Centre

19. The Staff of the Language Testing Centre
7 permanent members:
5 testers
2 administrators
40 testers (on a contractual basis)
The Centre has a permanent staff of 7 including 5 testers and 2 administrators. In addition to the permanent staff, as many as 40 testers participate in the testing of the target population on a contractual basis. The number of candidates tested is approximately 1,000 per year.

20. Types of language examinations
NATO STANAG 6001 monolingual military language examinations in English
ARMA bilingual military language examinations in 9 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak and Ukrainian)
ORIGÓ bilingual general language examinations in 5 languages (English, French, German, Italian and Russian)
The Language Testing Centre conducts language exams in 3 different language examination systems. Candidates can take
NATO STANAG 6001 military language examinations in English,
ARMA bilingual military language examinations in 9 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak and Ukrainian) and
ORIGÓ bilingual general language examinations in 5 languages (English, French, German, Italian and Russian).
The most popular language examinations are the NATO STANAG 6001 exams: more than 90 per cent of the candidates take STANAG exams. STANAG testing is conducted at three levels (level 1, level 2 and level 3) in four exam sessions per year. Hungarian STANAG exams are single level and monolingual exams.

21. The number of candidates tested in 2015
72%
67%
57%
LEVEL 1: 247
LEVEL 2: 486
LEVEL 3: 160
Avarage success Rate
in 4 skills
Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing
In the slide you can see the number of candidates tested in 2015 at the three proficiency levels. At STANAG level one 247, at level two 486 at level three 160 candidates were tested.

22. State Accredited Language Examinations
Open to the public
Fees
Nationwide recognition of the certificates
No time limit on the validity of the certificates
Highly standardised exams
Professional supervision conducted by the Language Examination Accreditation Board
In Hungary we have a unique system as our STANAG exams are state accredited exams and the Language Testing Centre is one the 24 state accredited centres in the country.
Because of the accreditation all exams conducted by the Centre are open to the public, which means that anybody over the age of 14, including civilians can register for an exam.
The exams have a fee and paying the exam fee is a condition for registration. (For example, currently a full level 3 exam costs 95 euros.) There are certain test takers who are exempt from paying a fee: for instance if somebody is sent by the MoD to a special STANAG exam preparatory course, his or her end-of-course STANAG test is free. (However, if the person fails the end-of-course test and has to retake it, he or she has to pay the fee for themselves.) The exam fees paid by the candidates constitute part of the university’s budget.
Due to the accreditation the Language Testing Centre is entitled to issue state accredited certificates which are highly valued as they are recognized everywhere in the country – not just within the military – without a time limit.
STANAG testing is highly standardized and is conducted under the supervision of the Language Examination Accreditation Board, which is the main professional supervisory body of all accredited language testing centres in Hungary.
The Board imposes the rules and regulations that are mandatory for all accredited testing centres.
The accreditation has to be renewed every two years. The renewal is a lengthy process and it includes a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Centre’s testing practices. During the review period testing experts of the Accreditation Board visit the Centre: they observe exams, request the Centre to submit certain exam documents, test papers, statistical analysis and they finalize their findings in a report.
The last such review of the Testing Centre took place at the beginning of 2016 and it ended successfully. In April the Centre was officially awarded authorization to continue its testing activities for further two years.

23. Questions?

24. On behalf of the DS J7 Department
I wish you a professionaly challenging seminar
and
a very pleasant stay in Budapest!

25. For future coordination and collaboration: HUN MoD/ DS BILC POC
DS Training and Education Department
Branch Head Education
Zsolt MIKUSI COL (OF 5) HUN A