What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?
I do not know much about tests for other languages since I have not taken any language tests since I did my British Foreign Service Exam for Mandarin Chinese in 1969. Not taking tests has not prevented me from becoming fluent in a number of languages since then. Not having passed any tests in Japanese, Spanish, Swedish or German does not prevent me from conducting business in these languages. These are al languages that I studied very hard on my own after the age of 25. I did it using my principles but without the tremendous advantages of modern technology, like the resources of the Internet, MP3 players, and online dictionaries etc... I know what my level is in these languages even without taking a test. I know what I need to do to improve further.
I am studying Korean now, and what is holding me back is not the lack of tests, but rather the lack of interesting content. I am tired of reading and listening to textbook content in Korea and this really affects my motivation.
For English there is no shortage of standardized tests. TOEFL and TOEIC are perhaps the best known. Many people achieve high scores in these tests and cannot communicate properly in English. Mil ions of people, especial y in Asia, put more effort into lear ning the tricks of how to pass these tests than into learning English itself. In the long run they are the losers. Their English often does not reach the level required for professional communication. Here in Vancouver our schools have many international students who cannot write a proper essay or report without the help of an editor or tutor. Once they graduate from our indulgent universities and col eges they face a rude awakening in the workplace.
Yet schools and employers want some measurable standards of the English competence of students and employees.
How to approach TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS
What do these test results real y mean? How much time and money needs to be spent to get good results? Who should take these tests and how often? How should people prepare for these tests?
In my view these tests mostly measure the ability to read and listen, both in terms of speed and comprehension. I consider these skil s to be the foundation of vocabulary building and language improvement itself. Therefore, these tests are valid measures of language ability.
TOEIC in particular has the advantage of being simple, fast, inexpensive and widely recognized.
So I suggest working on reading and listening skil s, and vocabulary accumulation, as the best way to prepare for these tests.
Japan accounts for about half of al the people in the world who take TOEIC. I doubt if many in Sweden or Hol and, or wherever English is spoken wel , worry too much about TOEIC. I understand the need for a relatively objective measure of English skil s, from the point of view of an employer who needs employees with English skil s. If the Human Resources managers cannot judge English standards themselves, they need a test. TOEIC is less expensive and quicker than TOEFL and IELTS. It serves the purpose. Unfortunately, in Japan, it al too often becomes the sole aim or goal of English learning. The Swedes learn for fun, the Japanese learn for TOEIC. The Swedes do better.
Far too many Japanese people take TOEIC. That is one reason why their average scores are so low. I would not take TOEIC unless I was sure of getting at least 750. In other words, I would make sure that I had a vocabulary of at least 8,000 words, (not word families, just words), before even taking the exam. It makes no sense to take the TOEIC and score 450. I think the average Japanese score is around that level.
So learners need to do a lot of enjoyable listening and reading to build up to their vocabulary level, and the listening and reading ability needed for a decent TOEIC score.
According to vocabulary expert Batia Laufer, there exists a threshold level of vocabulary required in order to interpret meaning when reading in English. Tests showed that the greatest variation in reading competence occurred between people who knew 2,000 word families and those who knew 3,000 word families. Below that level and above that level, reading skil s did not change so dramatical y.
According to vocabulary expert Paul Nation, we can use a factor of 1.6 to convert from word families to total known words. So using LingQ’s way of counting words, 4,800 "known words" is the threshold level to be able to read normal English content, guessing at some words but general y understanding much of what is written. It was found in tests, that learners with a vocabulary level of 3,000 word families achieved an average of 56% accuracy in comprehension tests. For every 10% increase in comprehension, the vocabulary needed to increase by 1,000 word families. To achieve a comprehension score of 70%, therefore, requires a total number of word families of 5,000, or 8,000 " known words" based on the way LingQ counts.
For someone wishing to work as a professional in English, there is little value in having a low TOEIC score. I think that 750 is a minimum for someone working in English in a business situation. Therefore I would recommend that the optimum time to take TOEIC is when the total "known words" score at LingQ reaches 7- 8,000 words. This should enable a test taker to achieve a score of 750 on TOEIC. Every time the known words total increases by 2,000 or 2,500 words, there should be an increase in TOEIC scores of 100 points. Once a learner has amassed over 12,500 "known words", as some of our learners have, a TOEIC score over 900 should be quite easily achieved.
Learners can therefore focus their efforts on learning English and on increasing their vocabulary through intensive and extensive listening and reading. They can forget about the TOEIC exam until they have the level of vocabulary that is going to give them the score that they need.
CHAPTER X: IMMIGRANT LANGUAGE LEARNING
In al English speaking countries there is very large demand for adult ESL, in other words teaching adult immigrants who want to learn English. It always amazes me that the effort of helping immigrants learn English is concentrated on the classroom, as the preferred or often the only place where language learning can take place. I do not know what happens in other immigrant-receiving countries.
Governments and other organizations spend a fortune, (many hundreds of mil ions of dol ars in Canada alone) paying for adult ESL for immigrants. This goes overwhelmingly to classrooms where typical y 15 or more other adult ESL learners, and one native speaker, perform a variety of artificial tasks or hear theoretical explanations about English. Adult ESL is a huge industry where the teachers and immigrant service organizations are perceived by government as the principle "stake-holders," i.e. not the immigrants themselves.
Immigrants to English speaking countries live surrounded by English. English is on the TV, radio, newspapers, at libraries and bookstores, on buses, at community centres, on the Internet, on blogs, on podcasts, in popular music and at work. Why would we consider that the best place to learn English is in a classroom with mostly other non-native speakers? Why does the society not focus on how to utilize these vast language resources that surround the immigrants in a more efficient and flexible way? Why force the immigrants, after a hard day's work to come to a class?
Every effort to convince government offices here to look at what we are doing at The Linguist has been a failure. We have offered free trials with volunteer tutors. The answer is always no.