Through the Eyes of Students - the Learning Environment in the ESP Courses of the NTCA

Absztrakt (kivonat)

The aim of this thesis is to explore the perspectives of the special target group of the ESP courses at the National Tax and Customs Administration on effective learning environment in order to draw the appropriate conclusions and to be able to satisfy the increased needs concerning ESP courses provided by the Foreign Language Division of the organisation. To obtain real authentic data, the views of students served as a basis for the survey. In the preparation phase of the research participants of the future focus group interview were requested to outline their interpretation on the term learning environment in the form of a ‘mind map’ during a half-an-hour brainstorming. The questions for the interview were compiled on the basis of students’ drawing. On the basis of the results of the qualitative research the hypotheses could be formulated. The verification of the hypotheses took place by a quantitative survey with 50 respondents. Findings verified that the initial assumptions formulated in the hypotheses are true. As a consequence, the following statements can be made: In creating the most effective learning environment for the special language courses of the labour force of the NTCA, the social-psychological aspects of the learning environment take precedence over the physical aspects. The teacher’s and the students’ motivation and the positive learning atmosphere are of major importance in the success of language teaching/learning. Regarding physical aspects, though there are factors of physical environment that can contribute to the efficiency of the learning environment, the applied teaching material plays on the whole a more significant role in creating an effective learning environment than physical environment.