The first Educational Testing Service English exam was held yesterday, with over 5,000 students sitting down to test their English prowess.
The exam, the Test of English for International Communication (TOEFIC) Bridge Test, was given in five testing centers around the nation, with students between the ages of 12 and 20 taking part. Eighty-six percent of the students who took the exam are in high school.
The test was held by Chun Shin Ltd (忠欣股份有限公司), the authorized representative in charge of Taiwan's TOEIC exams.
The TOEIC Bridge aims to serve as an indicator of students' English proficiency.
The Bridge Test is a measure of functional language proficiency, but is not as difficult as the regular TOEIC or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
The test is only one hour long and is multiple choice, with one section devoted to listening comprehension and the other section testing reading comprehension.
"One of the great benefits of the TOEIC Bridge Test is that the comparison scores give learners en effective way to determine which factors they should focus on for improving their level of proficiency," said Carolyn Lee (李盈瑩), sales and marketing manager of Chun Shin Ltd.
The maximum score on the test is 180. Lee said junior high school graduates should score above 130, while high school graduates should score above 160. A score of 160 is equivalent to a score of 460 on the TOEFL.
Lee said analysis of the test's results will be released in June.
"Then we will be able to compare the English proficiency level of local students with students from other non-native English speaking countries," she said.
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