TOEIC
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Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) measures the ability of non-native English-speaking examinees to use English in everyday workplace activities.
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[edit] Overview
The Test of English for International Communication™ (TOEIC) is "an English language test designed specifically to measure the everyday English skills of people working in an international environment."
It is a 2-hour multiple-choice test consisting of 200 questions divided into 100 questions each in listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Each candidate receives independent scores for written and oral comprehension on a scale from 5 to 495 points. The total score adds up to a scale from 10 to 990 points. The TOEIC certificate exists in five colours, corresponding to achieved results :
- orange (10-215)
- brown (220-465)
- green (470-725)
- blue (730-855)
- gold (860-990)
[edit] History
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the USA developed the TOEIC test based on its academic ETS counterpart, the TOEFL test, following a request from Japan's Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations; 経団連) in conjunction with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), which is today's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI; 経済産業省; 経産省). The Asahi Shimbun national daily's evening edition [1] interviewed Yasuo Kitaoka (北岡靖男 Kitaoka Yasuo) who was the central figure of the Japanese team that conceived the basic idea of the TOEIC test. ETS's major competitor is Cambridge University, which administers the IELTS, FCE, CAE, and CPE.
A new version of the TOEIC was released in 2006. The changes can be summarized as follows:
- Overall, passages have become longer.
- Part 1 has fewer questions involving photo descriptions.
- The Listening Section hires not only North American English speakers but also British, Australian, and New Zealand English speakers. The ratio is 25% each for American, Canadian, British, and Australian–New Zealand pronunciation [2].
- Part 6 no longer contains the error-spotting task, which has been criticized as unrealistic in a corporate environment. This part instead adopts the task wherein the test taker fills in the blanks in incomplete sentences.
- Part 7 contains not only single-passage questions but also double-passage questions wherein the test taker has to read and compare the two related passages, such as e-mail correspondence.
According to a survey [3] conducted in 2006 by the Institute for International Business Communication (財団法人 国際ビジネスコミュニケーション協会 Zaidanhōjin Kokusai Bijinesu Komyunikēshon Kyōkai), 56.8% of the respondents who took both the older and the revised versions of the TOEIC test in Japan find the latter version more difficult. The lower the score the test taker achieves, the more marked this tendency becomes. As many as 85.6% of those who earned scores ranging from 10 to 395 points find the revised TOEIC test more difficult, while 69.9% of those who earned 400 to 495 points think this way, as do 59.3% of those who earned 500 to 595 points. Among those who achieved 600 to 695 points 58.9% agree with these findings. 700 to 795 points 48.6%, 800 to 895 points 47.9%, and 900 to 990 points 39.8%.
2007 saw the added optional speaking and writing tests,there were also some changes to the reading and listening test as well that de-emphasized knowledge of grammatical rules.
[edit] TOEIC in the Republic of Korea
Towards the end of 2005, there was a shift in South Korea, regarded as the second biggest consumer of TOEIC [4], or rather the biggest in terms of per capita consumption, away from the test as a measure of English ability on the corporate level. As noted in The Chosun Ilbo (조선일보; 朝鮮日報; Korea Daily Reports) national daily[5], a number of major corporations have either removed or reduced the required TOEIC score for employment. An official from the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK; Kiup Bank; 기업은행; 中小企業銀行) says, "TOEIC isn't an appropriate indicator of actual English skills." Another English proficiency test, TEPS(developed by Seoul University, Chosun Ilbo), has been developed and is trying to replace the status of TOEIC, but TEPS requires higher English skills than TOEIC. However, a person's TOEIC score is the still the major factor in hiring persons for most professional jobs in South Korea.
[edit] TOEIC in Europe
In France, some Grandes écoles require a TOEIC score of at least 750 to award the diploma. This policy has been criticized, as it makes state-awarded diplomas dependent on a private institution—despite the fact that it was not the private institution that set the 750 mark but a recommendation from the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieurs indicating a B2+ level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. If the student cannot achieve a 750 mark, he/she is offered to validate his/her diploma by other means in most of the schools. Some institutions delay the diploma for 1 year after the end of the studies in that case.
In Greece, TOEIC is accepted by ASEP, the organisation responsible for hiring new employees to work for the government.
[edit] TOEIC Bridge
ETS also administers a simplified version of the TOEIC test called TOEIC Bridge. The TOEIC Bridge test targets beginning and intermediate speakers and consists of 100 multiple-choice questions, requiring about one hour of testing time.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
http://www.dunyadillerimerkezi.com
