The following prerequisites must be met for the final examination:

• a thesis with a pass grade
• completion of all courses required by SEAS and the Faculty (recorded in the pre-degree certificate/‘abszolutórium’ in Hungarian)
• completing all the prerequisites at least 3 days before the final examination (the final examination is your final examination)

The purpose of the Final Examination is for the candidate to show

• the ability to defend (argue intelligently for) their views expressed in the thesis against an expert in the field
• the extent of knowledge acquired during their studies
• the ability to use English in a formal academic environment in front of a committee

The BA final examination consists of three parts:

• defence of the thesis,
• elaboration of a question covering one aspect of the main topic and
• elaboration of a question covering one aspect of the subsidiary topic

The examiners also assess the candidate’s language proficiency.

The main topic was duly recorded on the thesis title submission form by the Head of Department. It can only come from the subjects areas available in the candidate’s track (English or American) and must come from the (broad) subject area of the thesis. There are 12 questions in any one of the subject areas. The question that comes closest to the topic of the thesis may be removed from the pool of questions.

Note that all 12 questions of a subject area must be covered in the preparation for the Final Examination as it is the luck of the draw which decides which question will have to be elaborated upon. The topic that you draw may coincide with the subject matter of your thesis.

The subsidiary topic has to be put on record in the semester in which the candidate plans to take their final examination. Theoretically, the subsidiary topic can come from any of the subject areas of the two tracks (English and American), but we strongly suggest the candidate should choose from the track in which they have pursued their studies.

The MA final examination consists of two parts:

• the defence of the thesis by the candidate, based on the referee’s report
• a discussion of a topic the candidate draws and presents without preparation, the topic is from the general subject area approved by the relevant department and specified on the candidate’s thesis title submission form, approved by head of the relevant department

The final exam consists of the defence of your thesis and the exam in Methodology.

The exam topics for the ELT Methodology component of the final exam are based on two main sources.

1 Compulsory background reading

You are expected to have read thoroughly at least one of the basic EFL methodology publications:

• Harmer J. (1991/2007/2015). The practice of English language teaching. 2nd ed. London: Longman.
• Scrivener, J. (1994/2005/2011) Learning Teaching. Macmillan Heinemann.
• Ur, P. (1996/1999/2012). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(The alternative dates indicate the different editions available in the SEAS Library.)

The reason for asking you to read (or re-read) one of these books is to give you a chance to review your experience in the light of what you read. At the examiners will be interested to hear about the basic principles described in the literature, but just as interested in your views on these principles with regard to your teaching experiences.

2 An article of your choice

This may come from readings set for the Methodology and Testing lecture series, Language Pedagogy options, Individual studies and your previous studies in this area. Please prepare to discuss one of these articles in part 2 of the exam.

Part 1: You will be asked to draw one of the 13 topics. The examiner will then ask you specific questions or invite you to reflect on principles, concepts and practice.

In part 2 you will be expected to talk about the article of your choice, highlighting key issues, explaining why you found them particularly insightful and relating them to your experience.

The committee ascertains how adept the candidate is at forming opinions on academic matters in fluent and stylistically appropriate and adequate English in a formal environment. The grades are awarded by the head of committee on the recommendations of the members of the committee.

If any of the grades is insufficient (a fail, ‘1’), the final examination will be declared as failed. The final examination in the failed component(s) may be attempted the following semester at the earliest.

• grade of the thesis (the referee’s grade is thus made official by the Committee)
• defence of the thesis (the defence is based on the questions and remarks of the referee)
• main topic
• subsidiary topic
• language proficiency

• grade for the defence of the thesis
• grade for the discussion of the topic

The degree certificate states the scale of achievement attained at the final examination. The average is calculated by the committee on the basis of the following 5 grades:

1. thesis
2. defence
3. main topic
4. subsidiary topic
5. language proficiency

The degree certificate states the weighted average of the grade received on the final examination (F) and the grade for the thesis (T) according to the following formula: (F × 0.45) + (T × 0.55). The average is calculated by the Registrar, NOT the Examination Committee. Some sample calculations follow:

The average of your grades in converted to the final grade as follows:

The cumulative (or any other) average of the individual semesters is not taken into account for the grade of the degree certificate. The average will, however, show up in the detailed transcript of records that you will get alongside your degree certificate and diploma supplement.

The degree can only be conferred on those

• who have returned all University property (this is recorded using this form)
• who have no outstanding financial obligations (such as tuition fees) towards ELTE

MA students must also be

• in possession of a certificate for the required foreign language examination

The candidate will receive a degree with honours if the following conditions are satisfied (as set out in par. 84, sec. 9 of the Organisational and Operational Regulations of ELTE):

• the result of the final examination is 5.00
• the result of the thesis, as well as the teaching practice/internship, proficiency examination(s), comprehensive examination(s) is 5 (excellent)
• the average of grades for all practical classes (seminars) and lectures in every semester is at least 4.51 and
• no grade received is below 4 (good).

In case of retakes attempted in the same semester, the original grade will be disregarded.

The BA degree in English and American Studies is equivalent to proficiency exam in English (‘felsőfokú C’) according to law (required for application to MA in English/American Studies).

btk.elte.hu/en → Education → Graduation information

• BA: btk.elte.hu → Oktatás → Alapképzés → Záróvizsga-beosztás
• MA: btk.elte.hu → Oktatás → Mesterképzés → Záróvizsga-beosztás