Hungarian for specific purposes: Agricultural science

Abstract

This paper discusses the historical and contemporary aspects of the teaching of Hungarian as a foreign language for specific purposes, namely for agricultural sciences. In the 1970s, not only general grammar books and textbooks were prepared for international university students, but coursebooks for academic purposes were also published for those university students who continued studying Hungarian after the general preparatory year, within their chosen field. The teaching of the agricultural, pedagogical, and medical language was essential for foreign students to successfully take part in their university programmes. Through the introduction of a 1971 coursebook written for students of agricultural sciences, this paper assesses the situation of teaching Hungarian for agricultural purposes before the change of the political system in Hungary, and today.