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Samsung: No more TOEIC for jobs.
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:06 pm    Post subject: Samsung: No more TOEIC for jobs. Reply with quote

Just learned this from a professor here when discussing the SNU thread. From this point on, Samsung will not consider TOEIC scores in hiring. It's all about the OPIC.

She said that this has devastated certain high-dollar hagwons in Kangnam who relied mainly on helping people prepare for and cram for the TOEIC.

Can someone who has the time find an article on this?

Lots of changes.
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Son Deureo!



Joined: 30 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Samsung: No more TOEIC for jobs. Reply with quote

Swampfox10mm wrote:
It's all about the OPIC.


I was actually worried about the safety of all of our jobs when I saw that thread title.
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://view.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2012103011033848604&nvr=Y
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spaceman82



Joined: 01 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Samsung announced that they will no longer accept the TOEIC, which has been an evaluation standard for assessing their employees� English proficiency until now, and will use the OPIc in its place in the future.

Samsung discontinued use of the TOEIC L&R in its recruiting process a few years ago and will now no longer consider TOEIC scores in its internal employee evaluation process. This policy will be applied from next year.

According to Samsung officials, the policy will go into effect on January 1 next year, and at that time the OPIc will become the standard method for evaluating employees� English proficiency. Employees of Samsung Electronics, however, will have a year-long grace period, meaning that the policy will apply to them beginning in 2014.

The officials also noted, although some employees have earned TOEIC scores, they did not have to listen and speak in an actual environment to earn those scores. This has led to belief that the TOEIC does not perform its intended assessment function, which is the reason Samsung Group will no longer accept TOEIC scores.

Samsung Group has been struggling with the issue of �TOEIC usefulness� for some years. It developed and administered its own English test for recruiting in the past but now utilizes the TOEIC Speaking and OPIc as its speaking assessment tools.

...

Samsung Group representatives stated that the employee they are looking for is one who can express his or her thoughts without limitation and, given this goal, the OPIc is a more suitable evaluation tool than the TOEIC L&R.

...

It is important to consider that TOEIC L&R scores are valid before a given expiration date, so a person with an expired TOEIC L&R score will have to take the OPIc in order to avoid being disadvantaged by his or her lapsed score.

At the same time, Samsung Eletronics has numerous employees, nearly 200 thousand, so they have decided to give employees a grace period in order to avoid possible confusion.


NOTE: Not my translation.
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Harpeau



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The TOEIC sux! It's about time they've decided to dump it.
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Hugo85



Joined: 27 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A Korean-run English examination? Why not just... I don't know... TOEFL...
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Malislamusrex



Joined: 01 Feb 2010

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They couldn't get a high enough score in TOEIC so they scrapped it..... classic.
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YTMND



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The grammar is good in TOEIC, listening exercises are decent enough to start out with, but the vocabulary doesn't fit the younger crowd and could be outdated as it relates to the office.

I wouldn't remove it entirely, just update the examples using today's technology and categorize the lessons instead of randomly throwing out multiple choice stuff.

At least the TOEFL exercises are topic oriented. That's what I would like to see with TOEIC.
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Jimskins



Joined: 07 Nov 2007

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

So the key question is where would one train to become an OPIC assessor in Korea?
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ouch.

I doubt it will affect test prep academies in the long run. They will just have to deal with an adjustment period.

Big blow to ETS if this trends here, though.

The TOEIC isn't a completely useless test but it isn't far from it. Too easy to learn patterns and score better than you should, and people who are okay at English but don't understand those patterns get dinged.
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Hank the Iconoclast



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: Busan

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 5:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TOEIC Speaking is a way better test than OPIc and a better test of their English ability. I can honestly say that after teaching both of them.Took OPIc and it asked me five questions about playing baseball. Other questions included describing my neighborhood and a park for children. Another had me role-play a situation where I was lost and I had to ask directions from some coffee shop. Sure, TOEIC is more business-oriented but isn't Samsung a business?

If they are changing it because hagwons have helped them crack the code for TOEIC Speaking, then they will be disappointed to find out that there is an obvious pattern in OPIc too. Students take a survey. If they indicate they like something, they can be asked extensive questions on that topic. They can prepare way more in advance then they would be able to for TOEIC. Plus, the books for OPIc are mostly rubbish with no rubrics to be found. With TOEIC Speaking, I was able to score my students on their answers after responding. Can't do that with OPIc. I was never able to get a hold of the English book for my classes.
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some waygug-in



Joined: 25 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like it was developed by Americans, not Koreans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_Proficiency_Interview_-_computer

Oral Proficiency Interview - computer (OPI-c) [4] is a computerized test of English-usage skills[5] developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Language Testing International (LTI). It is a computer-based version of the OPI.[6] OPI-c is a kind of test business interview. The one-hour test is a series of recorded questions which are accessed by computer. The test scores have seven levels. The evaluations are done by ACTFL professionals in the United States.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

some waygug-in wrote:
Looks like it was developed by Americans, not Koreans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_Proficiency_Interview_-_computer

Oral Proficiency Interview - computer (OPI-c) [4] is a computerized test of English-usage skills[5] developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Language Testing International (LTI). It is a computer-based version of the OPI.[6] OPI-c is a kind of test business interview. The one-hour test is a series of recorded questions which are accessed by computer. The test scores have seven levels. The evaluations are done by ACTFL professionals in the United States.


Well this is even worse if a FT works in TOEIC in Korea as the OPIC could be delivered online and evaluated off-shore in the US.
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Dave Chance



Joined: 30 May 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, make a living offa product with deficiencies expect a shake-up to occur at some point.

Not the first time that people have had to make an adjustment to their game.
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some waygug-in



Joined: 25 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's too soon to tell what effects this will have.

Like everything else, the proof is in how it's implemented.

I can't see them suddenly not needing NT's anymore, but the focus

may shift a bit.


In my opinion, there is far too much emphasis placed on level tests,

and far too little on basic levels of fluency. An example;

a few years back, I worked at an adult hagwon. One day the owner came

up to me and said that I must judge a speech contest at a local appliance

factory. (I think it was an LG plant but that's not important)

So I go to this thing, there were 10 -15 employees, all who passed their

TOEIC and had worked there for a few months (if not years). They all

presented their "speeches". Each one was equally bad. They were a

hodgepodge of business terms splotched together into a meaningless

bunch of garble. I don't think there was 1 good (understandable) sentence out of the whole group.

I had to choose a winner and runner up. I just picked the 2 most confident. None of them made any sense.

Yes, they could use a lot of buzzwords, but they surely could not make

themselves understood.
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