The College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) yesterday announced it would launch an English listening proficiency test for high school students on a trial basis in the fall next year.
CEEC deputy director Hung Tung-kuei (洪冬桂) told a press conference at the center that the first test was scheduled to be held in September.
BI-ANNUAL
Under the plan, the 50-minute test would be held twice in a year — in April and September — in Taipei, Hsinchu, Greater Taichung and Greater Kao-hsiung, Hung said.
Students will be tested on picture interpretation, question-and-answer sections, short dialogues and listening comprehension of short articles, all of which will be sourced from current high school English curriculum guidelines, she said.
Students are not obliged to take the test for now, Hung said, adding that the test result can serve as a reference source for students’ college applications.
ELECTIVE COURSE
This will be the first time high school students in Taiwan are tested by a government-related organization on their English listening proficiency for college entrance purposes.
The government has been considering adding listening and speaking proficiency as thresholds for college entrance requirements.
Minister of Education Wu -Ching-ji (吳清基) has on a number of occasions expressed support for the idea, saying that high school students do not care about their English listening and speaking ability because the two categories have never been included in the official entrance examinations.
At present, test-takers are only examined on their reading, grammar and writing proficiency.
Mou Tsung-tsan (牟宗燦), director of the center, said the listening proficiency test could be included in the official college entrance examinations by 2014 at the earliest.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
RSS