Oldal 101 [101]
STUDY Two
Table 15. Results of independent samples t-tests investigating
the differences between students having at least
a B2 level English language exam certificate and students not having one
Yes (n=86) | No (n=239)
EE activities t P d
M SD M SD
6. EE reading websites 4.29 | 92 | 3.87 | 1.19 | 3.38 | .001* | .38
11. EE reading books 2.30 | 1.28 | 1.90 | 1.24 | 2.55 | .011* | .32
13. EE reading posts on Facebook | 3.65 | 1.49 | 2.96 | 1.59 | 3.51 | .001* | .44
18. EE reading news 3.60 | 1.31 | 3.15 | 1.48 | 2.48 | .013* | .31
Note. Statistical significance level of t-tests: *p<.05
It is also apparent from the table that participants with a foreign language
exam certificate engage in relatively more time-consuming EE activities, such
as browsing English-language websites, reading English-language books, read¬
ing English-language posts on Facebook, and reading English-language news.
This may be due to the fact that those having a B2 foreign language exam
certificate will not only have a certificate, but it may also reflect a certain lev¬
el of L2 proficiency, as these exams are carried out by external foreign language
exam centers, i.e., authorities independent of the secondary school students
attend, which aim to measure learners’ foreign language proficiency as objec¬
tively as possible. From the data, it may be concluded that the B2 level foreign
language exam requirement in Hungary may have a positive impact on learn¬
ers’ English language proficiency, as learners are externally obliged to achieve
a B2 level foreign language proficiency (cf. Novak—Fénai 2020).
Another background variable was also connected to foreign language exam
certificates. This time it was measured whether participants had any Cl level
foreign language exams. Consequently, statistically significant differences
between students who have C1 level foreign language exam certificates and
those who do not were sought. Of all the participants, only 23 students had
C1 level foreign language exam certificates, and the other 302 students did not
have such certificates. Similar to the B2 level foreign language exams, the same
trends were identified; these are summarized in Table 16.
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