Hello

 

This is the second TOEIC newsletter that we are sending you. We hope that you enjoyed reading the first one, and that you espeically found the test tips helpful. If you missed reading the first newsletter for some reason, you can always read it now in our newsletter archives.

 

This second issue contains an interesting article written by Kenny Rodia, who is the Principal of an English language school in the United Kingdom. Additionally, we feature some more tips for our test-takers, as well as an update on ETS Europe news. So read on.

 

For more information on the TOEIC test, or to register for a test session, please visit www.toeic.eu.

In this section, we give you a few tips of what to look out for on the TOEIC tests, since it is not always evident what the correct answer should be.

 

Part II - Question response

Tip: Listen for key words such as "who, what, when, where and why."

 

(Man) Where are you going on your next business trip?

(Woman)

(A) I haven't decided yet

(B) By train

(C) It's a sales trip

 

Answer

The question asks "where" the woman is going. Choice (B) indicates "how" she is going. Choice (C) answers "what" she will be doing. Therefore, Choice (A) is the best answer.

 

Part III: Short Conversations

Tip: Listen for synonyms - words that mean the same thing.

 

Man: What's the deadline for submitting our bid?

Woman: It says August 30th on the website.

Man: We should get the vice-president to OK the price by the 15th.

 

What does the man want to do?

(A) Extend the deadline

(B) Have the proposal approved

(C) Look at the website

(D) Increase the price

 

Answer

The words "OK" and "approved" have the same meaning. Therefore, choice (B) is the best answer.

 

Part IV: Short Talks

Tip: Don't worry if you don't understand every word of the talk. Listen for the stressed words.

 

The question (that you would have heard - audio) refers to the following short talk:

For those of you who will be joining us to watch the hockey game, the bus will arrive at the arena at 7pm. Everyone else will be dropped off downtown at City Hall and will have free time to go for dinner and enjoy the local sites. The bus will pick people up at 10pm at City Hall and at 10:30pm at the hockey arena. Please be sure to be on time so that the bus can depart promptly.

 

Who is speaking?

(A) A tour operator

(B) A radio announcer

(C) An airport manager

(D) A traffic reporter

 

Answer

The talk is about a bus tour to a hockey game. Therefore, choice (A) is the best answer.

 

 

Part V: Incomplete Sentences

Tip: Identify the missing part of speech. This will help you determine which word will fill in the blank.

 

The finance manager yesterday cancelled the _______ for new computers in the customer service department.

(A) ordering

(B) ordered

(C) order

(D) to order

 

Answer

This sentence requires a noun. Therefore, choice ( C ) is the best answer.

 

 

Part VII: Reading Comprehension

Tip: Look for key words, especially in the opening sentence.

 

Our new MaxiSales software lets your staff keep track of your clients, from the initial contact through to sales orders. With the software, you can send group e-mails to all of your customers or generate a mailing list for flyers or post cards. Sales staff can keep a record of all of the contacts – including phone calls and meetings – they have with customers. MaxiSales is sure to help you increase your sales revenue as well as save you time.

 

What does the software do?

(A) Makes sales phone calls automatically

(B) Monitors customer sales activity

(C) Calculates profit on sales

(D) Saves on postage

 

Answer:

The words "keep track of" in the reading passage mean the same as the word "monitors" in the question. Therefore, choice (B) is the best answer.

By Kenny Rodia, MA

(Mr. Rodia is the Principal of English 2000 - School of English, based in Bournemouth, United Kingdom: www.english2000.com)

 

The English language has been very important in international communication for many years. The need to communicate in English has become commonplace in business, in politics, in education, in medicine, in travel and tourism etc and this is not going to change. School curricula reflect this worldwide as does the proliferation of language schools offering a wide range of courses.

One such language school is English 2000 School of English, established in 1992. It is British Council Accredited and recognised as a market leader in delivering high-quality academic courses, teacher training and study and work programmes.

English 2000 encourages all students to complete their course of study with a recognised qualification. Among the many tests and examinations the TOEIC test is particularly suitable for our learners. A lot of our students follow a language programme with a period of paid work experience. The TOEIC provides an objective assessment of workplace English proficiency.

The TOEIC is also beneficial for students on our academic and business communication courses who wish to do further studies at university or college either here or abroad.

Furthermore, it is an internationally accepted standard of language performance and recognised all over the world by a wide range of employers and it is common to see a specific TOEIC score included in some job advertisements.

Consequently, our learners’ employment prospects in their home country are enhanced by gaining a TOEIC test score. Our own surveys show that some of our students wish to find employment in an international company when they return to their native land and as many international companies rely on TOEIC to assess the English language proficiency of all applicants; it makes sense to offer our students this test.

Moreover, we like the fact it assesses the language competence of the participants at a given point in time and is not subject to a pass or fail score. This is appealing as the test will indicate the learner’s language ability and not whether they have reached a predetermined level of English. Students are also keen take a test which will show their linguistic attainment without fear of failure.

We have been using the TOEIC test since 2004 and became a test centre in the same year so that we could have the flexibility to run the test when required. It has proved a popular marketing tool for the school and our agents abroad and it has raised the profile of the School.

The test is reasonably priced and the results are delivered efficiently and promptly.

ETS Europe announced that around 4.5 million candidates from around the world sat for the TOEIC® in 2004-05. The TOEIC (TEST OF ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION™) test is recognised worldwide as a reliable, standard measurement of competency in professional English. The TOEIC test has been developed by ETS (Educational Testing Service), the company that is also the developer of the TOEFL® (TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE™) test.

Japan and Korea continue to be the biggest markets for the TOEIC test, accounting together for more than 3.9 million of the test takers; however, the European market, which is relatively young, has also shown a good rate of growth, accounting for around 150,000 candidates last year. Predictably, the period from September to March showed the maximum number of tests taken, as candidates prepared to graduate or apply for new jobs in the market.

"The number of candidates taking the TOEIC test each year has been steadily increasing," points out Philippe Grosskost, Managing Director, ETS EMEA. "We hope that this figure will reach a landmark 5 million test takers in 2005-06!"

Within Europe, the TOEIC test is available through the ETS Europe offices in more than 15 European countries. The test is administered in ETS Europe test centres, in open test centres authorised by ETS Europe, or in private sessions organised by companies, language schools and academic institutions. ETS Europe also facilitates access to the TOEIC Bridge test (a test of professional English for language learners who are beginners, or at the intermediate level) and the Test de Français International (a business French proficiency test).

"As European academic structures strive to become more uniform, and people work increasingly beyond their borders in international environments, every company, institution and person is beginning to realise that we need to hone, and prove our English language competency," asserts Benoit Thao, Director, Sales and Marketing, ETS EMEA. "And of course, they are looking for a reliable certification that, by its international nature, will accord language competency the recognition it deserves anywhere the world. These people are turning to the TOEIC test."

 

A valuable certification to have on the CV, the TOEIC test is used by

• More than 2000 medium-sized and large companies, and public services agencies in Europe as a recruitment and training tool
• Different European governments to recruit and promote civil servants
• Language schools as a placement and certification tool
• Business and technical schools as one of the graduating criteria

"Armed with English language skills and the certification to prove this, each European will soon be a global citizen!" concludes Thao.

ETS (Educational Testing Service), the world leader in academic and business assessment, has announced that management responsibility for the Middle East and Africa will be transitioned to the ETS Europe Division of ETS Global BV, ETS' wholly owned subsidiary.

The newly created entity, ETS EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) will be led by Philippe Grosskost who joined ETS Global BV in 2004. Grosskost will act as Managing Director, ETS EMEA and will be responsible for the overall management, sales, delivery and business development for EMEA.

"This merger represents a tremendous opportunity for ETS to further enhance its position and reputation in the EMEA markets by expanding our brand and product positioning," says Grosskost. "All of us are looking forward to the challenges and rewards that this effort will entail."

• The ETS Europe Division currently has branch offices in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and offers its products and services in 35 other European countries through a network of representatives.
• The regional head office of ETS Middle East is in Amman, Jordan, and ETS EMEA is looking to rapidly expand operations to other countries in the region.
• In Africa, ETS EMEA will concentrate on the countries of the North African belt – Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. In 2007, they will evaluate opportunities in other African countries, including South Africa and Nigeria.

Grosskost’s objective for the new regions is to drastically accelerate growth. "The Middle East and Africa show high potential, and this, combined with the established quality of our products, leads me to believe that EMEA will grow rapidly and will succeed in expanding the ETS social mission successfully in yet another area of the world."

Sales, marketing, communication and legal operations for the whole of EMEA will be managed by one centralised team, working in combination with the regional offices. The advantages of this are apparent: uniform strategies, and the leveraging of synergies and complementary competencies across the organisation.

"Though we are one organisation now – EMEA – the different markets are equally important. Hence, we follow a ‘glocal’ approach, providing infrastructure and support at the divisional level, with emphasis on localising all operations in each country," claims Benoit Thao, Director, Sales and Marketing, EMEA. In keeping with this, the product portfolio offered in Middle East and Africa will be similar to that offered in Europe (the TOEIC, TOEFL and TFI tests, as well as all new assessments that will be offered in the near future); alongside, each region will also offer particular products adapted to its market. In addition, cross-functional teams from across ETS EMEA will work together to respond to government tenders across the regions.

With a comprehensive strategy in place to ensure the efficiency of operations, and an approach that combines pan-organisational strategies with local execution, ETS EMEA is all set to rapidly grow its existing markets and enter new ones.

ETS EMEA has launched a new "institutional" website - www.etseurope-pi.org. The objective of the site is to support the business goals of ETS EMEA. As such, it aims to make accessible to the public, in -depth information targeted at policy makers, researchers and professionals in the field of education. It presents the different solutions that we offer, detailing their broader scope and usage.

 

The website is managed by the Institutional Department, a division of ETS EMEA responsible for carrying out educational policy research and disseminating the findings through reports, seminars and web portals. The Institutional Department combines its in-house expertise with that of a network of experienced partners to meet the information needs of the present and the future educational world.

 

The Institutional Department has a strong record in successfully bidding for and implementing international projects for governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in educational reform, and academic and professional development. With experience in educational reform projects and a network of professional and research partners, the Institutional Department is well qualified to serve current and future educational policy needs.