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Dave Chance
Joined: 30 May 2011
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motiontodismiss
Joined: 18 Dec 2011
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 Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:11 am Post subject: |
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| Really if they have to cheat on that sad excuse of a test, I feel really bad for them. I got a perfect score without studying. |
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jammo
Joined: 12 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| what an apt name for a company! |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Continued Shame: TOEIC Academy Cheaters |
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| Dave Chance wrote: |
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120206001176
English [sic]langauge education group caught for TOEIC, TEPS exam leak |
Not sure that "suspicion of illegally recording and copying copyrighted English test questions" is a "leak", but one would expect that from the Herald.
Can't believe people actually bother to read that rag. The typo in the headline is telling enough. |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| That's Korean culture of 'cun-ning' for you. It's equivalent to American worshipping of cheaters in Major League Baseball where one could throw spitball or use a corked bat, get a slap on the wrist and then be a hero to the fans for the rest of his career. As Buddha said: Every fortune is cause of misfortune. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| motiontodismiss wrote: |
| Really if they have to cheat on that sad excuse of a test, I feel really bad for them. |
I wouldn't exactly define it as cheating. All these test prep academies analyze the crap out of the tests for patterns and then teach to those patterns. I thought the speaking sections that have been introduced in recent years might have curbed this to a degree, but after editing parts of a publication dealing with the TOEIC speaking section, it was easy to see that a step-by-step response formula had been developed for that as well.
What's more, ETS is pretty encouraging of said patterns and response formulas existing. They get to cash out on all the test prep books.
But it's not like these tests see particularly wide variance over the short term. I have been "taking" the TOEIC Listening and Reading once a month for the past year or so, with the purpose being to analyze what's trending topic-wise and look for any new techniques or tricks being used, and all I noticed was a slight increase in environment-related topics. Hackers was going mega-overkill with cameras and recorders, and posting the actual items on their Web site. The TOEFL I could possibly understand how it would benefit Hackers, but the TOEIC? TEPS? Overkill! |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Zyzyfer wrote: |
| motiontodismiss wrote: |
| Really if they have to cheat on that sad excuse of a test, I feel really bad for them. |
I wouldn't exactly define it as cheating. All these test prep academies analyze the crap out of the tests for patterns and then teach to those patterns. I thought the speaking sections that have been introduced in recent years might have curbed this to a degree, but after editing parts of a publication dealing with the TOEIC speaking section, it was easy to see that a step-by-step response formula had been developed for that as well.
What's more, ETS is pretty encouraging of said patterns and response formulas existing. They get to cash out on all the test prep books.
But it's not like these tests see particularly wide variance over the short term. I have been "taking" the TOEIC Listening and Reading once a month for the past year or so, with the purpose being to analyze what's trending topic-wise and look for any new techniques or tricks being used, and all I noticed was a slight increase in environment-related topics. Hackers was going mega-overkill with cameras and recorders, and posting the actual items on their Web site. The TOEFL I could possibly understand how it would benefit Hackers, but the TOEIC? TEPS? Overkill! |
It's overkill for TOEFL, too.
I used to teach test prep when I worked at a hagwon many years ago. The biggest problem faced by my students is that they were filling their minds with useless clutter, memorizing lists of words like coordinating conjunctions without actually preparing to answer questions in a logical manner.
I coached them to follow this structure:
Topic sentence/Thesis statement: "In my opinion (According to the author), there are three reasons why...
Three points (major supporting sentences, with or without minor supporting sentences): "First,..." "Second, ..." and "Finally,..."
Concluding sentence: "In conclusion, I (the author) believe(s) that..."
It's that simple.
Is that worth the 89 million dollars Hackers supposedly made last year? |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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Heh.
I wouldn't say this ploy Hackers was using is overkill for TOEFL. More like useless. While I did essentially teach a formula in writing classes (not always TOEFL, but I prepped writing students for it regardless since it's useful to know how to write a competent essay), only the students who picked up on forming opinions that they could validate with evidence gleaned very much from my classes. They'd get a 5 or a 6 with a grammar brush-up on their essays, and the rest would maybe manage a 4 at their very, very best, and more likely a 3 purely from knowing how to produce well-organized gibberish. 
The reason why swiping TOEFL material like that could possibly be beneficial to Hackers is pure branding. "Hey look, we've got the latest test!" The TOEFL material is fairly challenging and the exposure might be of use to some students. But tests like TOEIC are waaaaay too formulaic for such nonsense to be necessary at all. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:43 am Post subject: |
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| Zyzyfer wrote: |
Heh.
I wouldn't say this ploy Hackers was using is overkill for TOEFL. More like useless. While I did essentially teach a formula in writing classes (not always TOEFL, but I prepped writing students for it regardless since it's useful to know how to write a competent essay), only the students who picked up on forming opinions that they could validate with evidence gleaned very much from my classes. They'd get a 5 or a 6 with a grammar brush-up on their essays, and the rest would maybe manage a 4 at their very, very best, and more likely a 3 purely from knowing how to produce well-organized gibberish.
The reason why swiping TOEFL material like that could possibly be beneficial to Hackers is pure branding. "Hey look, we've got the latest test!" The TOEFL material is fairly challenging and the exposure might be of use to some students. But tests like TOEIC are waaaaay too formulaic for such nonsense to be necessary at all. |
Not overkill at all.
| Quote: |
According to the investigators, Cho ordered 50 of his staff workers to apply for and take the two most popular English proficiency tests here from 2007 to early this year. The two tests are Test of English for International Communication (TOIEC), administered by the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), and Test of English Proficiency (TEPS) developed by Seoul National University.
The employees, assigned to cover different sections of the tests, were given tiny video and audio recorders to capture and record the questions on TOEIC 49 times and on TEPS 57 times. Questions of the recently adopted National English Ability Test were also copied in the same way using specially designed recorders, the prosecutors said |
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whiteshoes
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Talk to any Korean and they will tell you that Hackers is by far the best place to study English tests. I guess now we know why. |
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DIsbell
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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I've seen some of the Hackers material for TOEFL. It's useful in that it does give you chances to prepare using authentic/semi-authentic materials. My fiance attended some classes there to get her TOEFL score up before she did study abroad a couple years back, and some of the course materials seemed decent.
But what kind of stood out to me was the message boards on their site. People quickly figure out which set was the dummy set. I don't know if that could even be useful, honestly, as I think test is always given simultaneously on a particular date.
Anyway, like other posters have mentioned, teaching logic and good structures for organizing for the speaking/writing seems to lead to the most success, assuming competent grammar and vocabulary. Another strategy is preparing some notes/ideas along several recurring themes that commonly appear on the TOEFL. This lets you sensibly integrate vocabulary study, too. |
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