ETS Europe will be launching a new online practice test in March, the TOEIC® Practice Online: Speaking and Writing. This is an online tool to help students and professionals practice for the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing tests, and more importantly, to help them practise and improve their English Speaking and Writing proficiency. As business relationships are often built on personal interaction, possessing adequate language skills is crucial to guaranteeing that business gets done—and done well. But learning how to communicate effectively in English is an ongoing process. It does not simply happen overnight.

 

Speaking and Writing, in particular, are two language skills that require the most practice because they are productive or active. A lack in these skills immediately affects the message you are trying to communicate. Speaking involves pronunciation, intonation, accuracy and fluency; writing, which is more complex, requires knowledge of formal structure, style and punctuation. Both revolve around combining and organising information from a variety of sources and then actively communicating it. While this comes naturally in a native language, it must be learned in a second one. Getting a feel for these skills in this bustling era of emails, faxes, telephone calls and new technology takes considerable time.

 

The TOEIC Practice Online: Speaking and Writing, besides helping users practise their language skills, also helps them prepare for the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests, the “real” tests. The TOEIC test (Test of English for International Communication™) measures the ability of non-native English speakers to use everyday workplace English. Over 4.5 million people worldwide register annually for the test, and it is an invaluable certification to have on your CV when looking for a job or promotion, since it provides a valid and recognised proof of your language abilities.

 

TOEIC Practice Online: Speaking and Writing is the perfect test prep tool. It:

• Is the most authentic available test practice created by ETS, the developer of the TOEIC test
• Provides practice on speaking and writing competence
• Provides performance feedback to help you identify language skills areas where you need to improve
• Is scored by ETS trained and certified raters who provide detailed score feedback within 10 business days
• Simulates the real testing experience and aids in familiarisation with the Internet-Based Testing (iBT) format (the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests are Internet-based)
• Is accessible 24/7 since it is available online, anytime, anywhere

Feedback from the test allows users to identify skills needing improvement, and to set clear language goals. Feedback, plus flexibility in accessing the test allow users to directly test their productive skills, practise them, improve them and ultimately, gain the competence and confidence they need to succeed in the international business arena.

ETS has released its TOEIC Report on Test-Takers Worldwide for 2005. This is an annual study that analyses the TOEIC® (Test of English for International Communication™) test-taker profiles, and draws conclusions based on the data. When taking a TOEIC test, each candidate is required to fill in a TOEIC Background Questionnaire, a survey that gathers information about test-takers’ educational background, work experience, English language use and study, and the TOEIC test-taking experience. Responses to the questionnaire enable organisations to learn more about the backgrounds of people who take the test and some of the factors that affect their TOEIC scores and related improvement in English proficiency. The TOEIC Background Questionnaire is administered at each testing session before individuals take the TOEIC test. The results of the study and analysis are given for the group and are anonymous.

 

The TOEIC Report on Test-Takers Worldwide (2005) is based on the data of 1,266,950 test-takers. In general:

• The largest proportion of test-takers (50%) were under 25 years of age
• 65% of test-takers were male
• Most test-takers (82%) had an undergraduate degree or were pursuing one
• 35% of the test-takers worked at a managerial/supervisory level while 20% worked at a non-managerial/ non-supervisory level
• 54% of test-takers were employed while 38% were students

Details on the different variables that affect performance on the TOEIC test can be obtained from the report.

To read details of the report, click here.

To download a copy of the report, click here.

ETS conducted the second series of workshops to benchmark TOEFL® and TOEIC® test scores to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF) in Berlin, Germany between the 10 and 21 of October.

 

The ETS Europe German and Belgian teams worked together to organise the programme, bringing together 45 panellists from across Europe, including EFL teachers, policy makers, assessment researchers and educational consultants. The workshops were led by two psychometricians from Princeton – Richard Tannenbaum and Caroline Wylie.

 

Commenting on the objective of the workshops, Tannenbaum said, "The CEF provides a descriptive context that may be used to interpret the meaning and practical significance of scores on language tests. That is to say, if a test score can be mapped or linked to one of the levels of the CEFR, it becomes readily apparent what that score means, what candidates with at least that score are likely to do."

 

The CEF, developed by the Council of Europe, is designed to provide a framework to evaluate language learning, teaching and assessment for all main European languages. It sets the standards of proficiency attainment at successive stages of learning, and for evaluating outcomes in an internationally comparable way. As such, it is used by students, educators, language schools and education policy makers as the means of defining an individual’s language proficiency level.

 

Since TOEFL and TOEIC scores were first mapped against CEF levels in 2004, there have been some significant changes in the tests themselves, and so it was deemed necessary to re-assess their co-relation with the CEF levels. For example, the TOEFL test now includes a speaking test; the TOEIC iBT test will include speaking and writing modules.

 

During the workshops, the panellists were required to judge specific test items and assess sample candidates’ written and spoken responses, comparing them with the capabilities of students who have just passed their tests. Under the microscope at the sessions were the TOEFL iBT, the revised TOEIC, TOEIC speaking and writing, and TOEIC Bridge tests.

 

The technical report on the benchmarking will be made available in March 2007. It will be distributed to all score users, policy makers working within the CEF and research peers.

 

Commenting on these workshops, Philippe Grosskost, Managing Director, ETS EMEA, remarked, "The findings resulting from these workshops will be very valuable to ETS and the educational field at large. It will ensure that the TOEFL and TOEIC tests continue to be recognised as valid and fair standardised assessments."