Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

Any way possible to get a cut of the pie (or the whole pie) I suppose. Interesting that it's pass/fail. No way it's going to cause a cutback in money spent on private education. They will still have to pass speaking tests to qualify for decent jobs. If anything, it will cause parents to cut spending on grammar-based cram schools, leaving more money for native speakers to teach classes where students actually learn how to speak.

When I look at things like this, I wonder what relative/friend of the politician will benefit financially from it.


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/11/117_54652.html

[The Gipkik]

I'm not entirely against the spirit of the disagreement. TOEFL is a money making bonanza. It holds a virtual monopoly in some countries and many universities, colleges. And it is expensive. It's good to attempt to be competitive. I'm sure the first few "attempts" will be substandard, but eventually testing procedures will catch up. Nothing wrong with that. I understand what you are implying, though. The pass/fail test will lead to the inevitable downgrading of students getting into universities thus leading to mediocrity, incompetence, etc., but that won't last long if Korea wants to stay competitive. It's a great way to save a buck--if they do it right.

[Chaucer]

Indeed, if they did it right, it would be a good thing. I would never wish ETS more money, or more of a monopoly.

Still, one has to laugh at the idea that "The new exam surpasses other similar exams in its credibility because of the fact that it is supported and approved by the state,"

Huh? So the TEPS is credible? The grammar vagaries and vocabulary boners, and the total lack of standardization make that test, initially touted as "(credible because affiliated with Seoul National University)" a huge joke.

NO chance the Korean government could do this. They'd balk at the salaries of the foreign professors (and real ones, psychometricians and such, not the ones lining the departments right now) who'd be needed to do it.

[Xuanzang]

Kickbacks from whatever gyodae or publishing company will be in charge of making this tests.

[T-dot]

Nothing new. They tried to replace TOEIC/TOEFL with TEPS a while back to keep the profits in Korea so they gov't can get a piece of the pie.

[Smee]

It looks good in some areas on paper.

Korea uses English for purely domestic means, by and large: admittance into domestic high schools, entrance into domestic colleges, domestic job interviews. No need to use extremely difficult tests for that purpose.

A few points worth bringing up, though:

* By 2012 I think the number of NSETs will be drastically down. Why start to emphasize "practical English" THEN, after the people best able to teach it are gone?

* Do they really think this new test will gain itnernational recognition? They bring up Japan's test, but it's only recognized at 290 colleges in North America, most of them you've never heard of.

* Is this anything more than a xenophobic display that nicely will cut down on private hagwon spending? More Koreans than anyone else are taking this foreign exam, yet they average among the worst in the world on standardized exams, so the best way to improve their test scores . . . is to change the test.

More thoughts here:
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-about-domestic-english-test.html

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2008/12/english-proficiency-exam-to-replace.html

[Xuanzang]