Professional development in the civil service represents traditionally different approaches in the U.S.A. and Hungary; however modernization tendencies have marked tendencies that bring about the ...need for change of paradigms in the Hungarian practice. The current study aims at presenting the findings of a complex research project carried out in the U.S. in 2012 with the intention of the author to analyse the training practices efficiently pursued in the American civil service in order to set up benchmarks for best practices for adaptation. The American training philosophy and the practical solutions are analysed in the context of strategies and specific objectives that determine the applicable training methods on the one hand and justify the new practice-oriented approaches addressing the new needs in the Hungarian civil service on the other. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied for data analysis. The synthesis of research findings is provided with a special focus on practical applications in a highly encouraging learning environment that ultimately result in improved workplace performance.
Meeting the specific needs of the target groups in English classes for professional purposes is always a challenge for the teacher. The competency development analysis is focusing on an English ...course for Specific Purposes (ESP) organised for the students of Corvinus University of Budapest majoring in Economy. The underlying strategy of the pilot program carried out in 2013 was to widen the scope of classroom learning, motivate and reinforce the content-based approach. Integrating LingoEducation − a state-of-the-art ICT- supplemented learning program − into language teaching and learning gives special impetus to business vocabulary building. Students benefit from the direct access to a limitless variety of up-to-date authentic source materials available on the Internet, while also improving their self-directed learning skills.While the learner is assisted by definitions, translations, synonyms and antonyms, pronounciation, personal word list, flashcards and quizzes, the teacher can monitor the learner's activity. This study is presenting empirical evidence based on the practical experience of the faculty, including the author, and the participants to explore learners’ satisfaction, preferences and opinions regarding the methodology, content, oganization, etc. of the new type of course.
This study seeks to address the complexity of impacts of the learning environment on the efficiency of adult learning in professional development training. The systematic approach to the learning ...environment and its constituents provides the opportunity for analyzing the factors of key importance with special focus on the choice of the training methods and techniques that facilitate the learning process. The study presents the philosophical and epistemological reasoning on the one hand and the empirical evidence based on the findings of quantitative and qualitative research carried out by the author in the specific context of the civil service profession in the United States. The synthesis of research results is provided with an emphasis on practical applications in a highly encouraging learning environment that facilitates interaction, experiential learning, reflection, and enhances improved workplace performance. The comparative approach resulting from the author's experiences in the Hungarian civil service training highlights the opportunities for benchmarking.
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