State-run English test in pipeline
Speculation is mounting over the details of a state-run English proficiency test, which the government plans to finalize in the latter half of this year.
The presidential transition team said in January that a new English proficiency test would be developed to replace the English section of the College Scholastic Ability Test from 2012. The new exam will initially test English reading and listening skills then expand to cover speaking and writing skills as well from 2014, according to the plan.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Eval!uation are jointly developing a five-level pilot test to be administered in May. About 1,000 students, from third-graders through high school seniors, in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province will take the pilot test between May 13 and 17, the ministry said.
Education Minister Kim Doh-yeon recently said in an interview with a local daily that the ministry is considering adopting a pass-or-fail system for the exam.
"It is just one of the many options we are considering," said Oh Seok-hwan, chief of the ministry's team in charge of English education.
"Nothing has been determined as yet. Universities must have different ideas about the pass-or-fail system so we will hold discussions with them during the policymaking process."
Major universities believe a pass-or-fail English test will be insufficient for student admission as too many would pass. However, as universities are expected to enjoy full autonomy in student admission from 2012, they could administer their own English tests if necessary.
"If the government adopts a pass-or-fail test, we could take a student's high school English scores into account or use our own English proficiency test," said Park Chun-il, dean of admission at Sookmyung Women's University.
The government is expected to develop an internet-based test which students can take more than once. This means the government has technical tasks ahead in addition to developing problem sets and securing people to mark the tests.
The IBT system would require internet servers large enough to allow hundreds of thousands of students to connect simultaneously, firewalls to prevent hacking and soundproof devices for the speaking tests.
It took the Educational Testing Service, which developed the TOEFL, 10 years to prepare its IBT system.
An official at the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Eval!uation reportedly said students do not necessarily have to take the test at once and that it plans to select up to 30,000 people eligible to grade the exam, including its speaking and writing portions.
1. What are needed to successfully implement the new english test?
What are the preconditions for implementation?
2. Do you think that this new english test can help alleviate excessive competition on English?
What kinds of side-effects do you expect?
3. If you were a Ministry of Education, what would you change in the field of English education?