TOEIC
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Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) measures the ability of non-native English-speaking people to use English in everyday work activities. The TOEIC was developed by the ETS (Educational Testing Service) in the USA following a request from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry (MITI). There are an estimated 3 million test takers per year.
The TOEIC test is a two-hour multiple-choice test that consists of 200 questions divided into 100 questions each in listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Each candidate receives independent marks for written and oral comprehension on a scale from 5 to 495 points. The total score adds up to a scale from 10 and 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) and gold (860-990).
In Greece, TOEIC is accepted by ASEP, the organisation which is responsible for hiring new employees to work for the government.
TOEIC in South Korea
In recent months, there has been a shift in South Korea, regarded as the biggest consumer of TOEIC [link] away from the test as a measure of English ability on the corporate level. As noted in the newspaper Chosunilbo[link], a number of major coporations have either removed or reduced the required TOEIC score for employment. Citing an official from the Industrial Bank of Korea, "TOEIC isn’t an appropriate indicator of actual English skills." The fact that the test is a series multiple choice questions whose relative values are a secret and neglects assessment of speaking and writing is often cited as criticisms by language teachers in South Korea. Also, another English proficiency test, TEPS, is developed and becomes more adopted by many companies.Counterarguments exist for these points. First, individuals who have written the same version of the test multiple times--each time answering the same number of questions from different sections of the test--will attest that no particular question is worth more points than any other, so it is wise to answer as many of the easy questions as possible before tackling the more difficult questions. Second, while the content of the test tends to revolve around office/business-like situations, such situations are the ones in which TOEIC test-takers will likely find themselves after writing the test; the TOEIC Examinee Handbook also contains many examples of such questions, thus allowing prospective test-takers quite a satisfactory amount of information about the test prior to writing. Third, the TOEIC may not test actual speaking or writing production, but the fact that it tests listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and the underlying vocabulary and grammar content/structures inherent in these aspects of the English language lend strong support to the TOEIC as a reliable measure of one's general English proficiency. Indeed, the absence of a speaking section and a writing section eliminates the subjectivity that goes hand-in-hand with the human markers who must assess test-takers' voice recordings and written responses.
TOEIC in France
In France, the 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.See also
External links
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