A report recently released by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the US shows that Taiwan students' average scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) ranks 15th among other Asian nations.
The results are based on statistics from over 30,000 Taiwan students who took the TOEFL test one of the world's leading standard tests for English. The data used by the ETS was gathered between July 1998 and June 1999.
Based on these figures, Taiwanese students were ranked 15th out of 21 Asia countries, with an average score of 510 out of a full score of 677.
Students from the Philippines topped the rankings with an average score of 584, But the figures are disproportionate, as only 92 students were tested there. They were followed by India's 583 (30,000 students tested), Sri Lanka's 571 (57 students), China's 562 (70,000) and Nepal's 560 (71).
Thomas Tsoung (叢培明), chief executive officer of the Merica Institute Group (美加關係機構), one of the largest privately run language centers in Taiwan, said the English ability of students in Taiwan is actually better than indicated by the rankings.
He pointed to other statistics compiled by the American Institute in Taiwan which show that the average TOEFL score of Taiwanese students who apply for admission into a university in the US is 514. The average score for students going for their master degrees is 560 and for doctoral students the average is 580.
An official at the Language Training and Testing Center also agreed with Tsoung, saying that the number of students who take the test affects the average score.
He added that it was reasonable for students in the Philippines and India to get high scores since English is widely spoken in both these countries.
As to the high average in China, which had 70,760 students taking the test last year, Tsoung said that the country imposes more restrictions for students studying abroad, so only top students, or those from rich families, could take the tests.
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