Whistleblower
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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 Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:38 pm Post subject: English Testing Set to Compete with American Testing |
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Personally, I hate the TOEIC. I have met so many Koreans with such high scores (900+) and are unable to communicate effectively. Although Korea has introduced speaking and listening to the TOEIC, many go to Japan to fo the easier test. Hanatour does travel packages to Japan for TOEIC.
I hope the IELTS becomes very popular amongst Koreans now and that it really challenges the American Testing system.
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British English Test Challenges US Tests
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A British English test is being geared up to attract Korean English learners who are overwhelmed by American English tests, especially TOEFL and TOEIC. Ian Simm, director of the British Council Korea, revealed his aggressive marketing plan of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Korea during a press meeting at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday.
``The fact that Korea was heavily influenced by the United States, that so far people have preferred the U.S. than any other country for studying abroad, and that there were few institutions in the U.S. that authorized IELTS, have made people in Korea prefer TOEFL,�� Simm said.
``Last year, the number of Korean people who took IELTS was around 13,500, far less than those who took TOEFL. However, about 700,000 people took IELTS worldwide, which is similar to the number that took TOEFL,�� he added.
Hence, the British Council plans to double the number of IELTS applicants in Korea up to 20,000 by the end of the year and increase the number to 50,000 by 2010. Under the plan, it has promoted the test to college admission officials and personnel members of 15,000 domestic corporations. Also, it will set up more IELTS courses at private institutes.
Created in 1989, IELTS tests four English language skills _ listening, reading, writing and speaking _ like TOEFL but it differentiates itself with the speaking and writing test which are given by an examiner.
``Not long ago, I read an article about a survey that the Federation of Korean Industries had conducted on personnel managers of a company, which said that people with high TOEFL scores could not use their English speaking abilities. The title of the article was `Not real TOEFL,''' Simm said.
``However, I believe that the IELTS score has much more to do with practical English. As I told you earlier, since those who take the speaking exams have to sit face to face with the speaking examiner, IELTS is the best way to improve your English in every day lives,'' he added.
The British Council and IDP Education are administering IELTS exams three times a month in Seoul and one to two times in Bundang and Busan. The exam takes two hours and 45 minutes and costs 180,000 won.
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