From Monopoly to the Barrier: High-stakes Language Testing in the Hungarian Printed Press Between 2000 and 2019

Abstract

Due to its importance in public and higher education, high-stakes language testing has played a significant role
in Hungary. Consequently, it has become a recurring topic of public discourse and debates beyond the sphere
of education. This media analysis studies articles published in Hungary between 2000 and 2019 that contain
comments on or opinions about high-stakes language testing, aiming to explore and interpret the elements
and the connections thereof in the public discourse on high-stakes language testing. The analysis covers 53
articles published in the weeklies 168 óra, Élet és Irodalom, Heti Válasz, Magyar Demokrata, Figyelő,
Köznevelés and Pedagógusok Lapja. After using a multi-phase discourse analysis method, three separate but
interdependent spheres of topics were found: (1) the meaning, objective and use of high-stakes language
testing in Hungary, (2) teaching and learning foreign languages in Hungary, (3) losers and winners – parties at
fault and victims. The analysis sheds light not only on possible narratives of high-stakes language testing and
those of learning and speaking foreign languages but also on social issues and beliefs related to these, such as
the problems of the public and the higher education system in Hungary, the assumed causes of these
problems, and the objectives, impact, losers and winners of education and social policy.