The Institute for Business Communication (IIBC) hosted a seminar at Aogaku Kaikan in March, 1998 for about 150 TOEIC users and trainers, representing manufacturing companies, language schools, and universities. Transcripts of the seminar are available in English and Japanese (TOEIC Steering Committee, the Institute for International Business Communication, 1998).
The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is prepared and administered by Education Testing Service (ETS), proprietor of such tests as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). A subsidiary of ETS, the Chauncey Group International, holds all rights to the TOEIC, which in Japan is administered by the IIBC.
Chauncey Group keynote speaker Monica Hemingway summarized TOEIC research to date, explaining that an advisory panel of TOEIC users was set up in 1993 to improve the test itself and refine its uses by companies and schools. It examined the users' future needs and passed recommendations to a technical panel which produced a research agenda.
The first research studies were on English needs in the workplace. These were followed by literature reviews of business English and international English. A study in Japan comparing the test results of students who had taken general English, business English, or TOEIC preparations courses found that specific preparation for the test did not significantly improve scores.
The latest research projects completed are the Boldt Study, the Can-Do Project, and Worldwide Data (Boldt & Ross, 1998a, 1988b; Chauncey Group International, 1998a, 1998b). All of these have been published in English and will be available in Japanese. The Boldt Study examines the impact of training type and time on TOEIC scores. The Can-Do Project links scores to competence gained in business-related tasks in English, and Worldwide Data profiles the test-takers.
Courses for new employees showed greater score increases than staff development or general employee education courses. Video proved a more effective medium than general textbooks, business simulations, or news and current events study. General four-skills English textbooks were the least effective. Students improved most in medium-sized classes of ten to twenty students. Teachers with formal teaching qualifications or in-house teacher training proved most effective.
The Can-Do Project charts examinees' reading or listening TOEIC scores against probabilities for 75 can-do statements (self-assessments of their own ability to perform specific business-related tasks in English, validated against their instructors' opinions). The can-do statements now present this information in a more accessible form.
Hemingway's presentation was discussed by five members of the Japan Research Council, which monitors and advises TOEIC research. Regarding the Boldt Study, the panelists stressed adapting teaching methodology to class size and discussed how best to use video. Concerning the Can-Do Project's predicting practical English skills from TOEIC scores, they noted that real proficiency in English is hard to evaluate: some people with high TOEIC scores cannot perform simple speaking tasks.
The surveys for Worldwide Data, conducted in 1996, showed that Japan had the largest number of test-takers (60%), followed by South Korea (34%). Most of the Japanese test-takers were employed males who had taken the TOEIC several times. People who paid for their own lessons improved more than those who had their lessons paid for by their companies.
While a high TOEIC score is often a requirement for overseas posting, people with low scores are often sent overseas for other reasons. The panel noted that lower scoring Japanese students generally have more confidence with reading than with listening tasks, perhaps reflecting the priority given to reading in Japanese education.
The panel expressed the hope that future overseas TOEIC research would help improve English teaching in Japan. To motivate students, test preparation should be linked more clearly to its future benefits. The TOEIC should clearly diagnose both the strengths and weaknesses of the test takers.
The panel noted that some universities' practice of accepting study credits for external English examinations like the TOEIC seems at variance with the usual goals of university courses in English communication. University education serves not just to develop proficiency in skills like those required for the TOEIC, but to increase awareness of the content of communication, which grows in importance once basic skills become adequate.
In the subsequent question period, one attendee commented that his university students complained about the stress of meeting annual TOEIC targets. He also stated that a short overseas homestay dramatically improved TOEIC scores.
In discussing minimum TOEIC scores as job requirements in the English-speaking workplace, the panel agreed that required levels of English fluency measurable with the TOEIC vary with the type of job, but that experience, motivation, and social skills are also important.
Professor Kobayashi of the Japan Research Council gave an entertaining wrap-up speech, stressing the usefulness of the TOEIC in the global economy where English is vital for business survival. With the trend away from lifetime employment, a good TOEIC score also enhances an individual's employability.
References
- Boldt, R., & Ross, S. (1998a). Scores on the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) test as a function of training type and time. (TOEIC Research Report 3). Princeton, NJ: The Chauncey Group International.
- Boldt, R., & Ross, S. (1998b). The impact of training type and time on TOEIC scores. (TOEIC Research Summary 3). Princeton, NJ: the Chauncey Group International.
- Chauncey Group International. (1998a). TOEIC report on test-takers worldwide 1996. Princeton, NJ: The Chauncey Group International.
- Chauncey Group International. (1998b). TOEIC can-do study. Princeton, NJ: The Chauncey Group International.
- TOEIC Steering Committee, the Institute for International Business Communication (IIBC). (1998). The 64th TOEIC seminar. Tokyo: the Institute for Business Communication.