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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, reading 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 level 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 objectively 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 learners’ 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. + 99 +
