THE Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) has become one of the most popular English proficiency tests in Japan. Not only business entities, but also an increasing number of universities, have been using the test as an effort to improve their English programs, The Daily Yomiuri has reported.
According to the Institute for International Business Communication (IIBC), the administrator of TOEIC in Japan, during the 2008 academic year, 449 universities (about 60 percent of the nation’s higher educational institutions) used the test scores as a criterion for giving credits to their students or giving students special treatment on entrance exams. In addition, 82 institutions used it as a placement test for their English-language programs. “TOEIC started as a way to evaluate whether people had sufficient English skills to work in business,” an IIBC official said. “We didn’t expect the test would become so popular among universities, which traditionally focus on academic English.”
Mie University, for example, has been requiring all of its freshmen to enroll in a “Pre-TOEIC” course, since 2005. Immediately after matriculation, the school’s freshmen are required to take the TOEIC to be placed in the appropriate course. To get credit for the course, a student must score no less than 400 points out of 990 on the test. Seiki Ayano, a professor responsible for English education for the school’s freshmen and sophomores, said there are several advantages of including TOEIC in the English curriculum: “The test enables students to get an objective assessment of their English skills, and it serves as an indicator of how to study the language. In addition, (good) TOEIC scores can be a big help during a job hunt.”
In another instance, Hiroshima University, began in 2003 requiring all students to take the TOEIC four times over the first three years. Last year, the university shortened the requirement to the first two years of school. During the period, the students are expected to have a score of at least 600, the level considered necessary for communication in an overseas environment. This goal may seem a bit ambitious, considering that the nation’s senior class averages about 500 on the test. Still, about 10 percent of the students reach the target every year.
Experts have described the introduction of TOEIC by universities as a shift from traditional translation-based approaches to one that focuses more on communication, such as speaking and listening comprehension. Professor Kenji Kitao of Doshisha University in Kyoto, however, said that while it is important for universities to foster communicative competence among their students, it should only be a technical aspect of language teaching. “If teachers fail to encourage their students to better understand the language and culture they are studying, I don’t think we can call it an academic education.”
