The Ministry of Education has launched a free and online self-testing system for English proficiency. The system is expected to benefit 750,000 high-school and elementary-school students every year.
The system, called “I want to Test My English” (www.testmyenglish.edu.tw), provides five categories of tests, including vocabulary, listening, reading, speaking and writing.
The tests are graded into four levels: preA1 for fifth-grade students, A1 for seventh-grade students, A2 for ninth-grade students and B1 for 12th-grade students.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The questions were designed with reference to other English proficiency tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language, also known as TOEFL, and Cambridge Assessment English, to help students keep up with international trends, the ministry said.
With built-in artificial intelligence, the system would immediately yield test results and analyze students’ English proficiency.
Free English-learning resources are provided for students to study by themselves and for teachers to use as teaching materials.
National Taiwan Normal University Department of English professor Chen Hao-jan (陳浩然) said the system assists students in learning English via activities such as watching movies and singing.
Students could also talk to context-aware chatbots in real-life scenarios such as buying coffee or train tickets, as well as use a writing assessment tool for the Test of English for International Communication (also known as TOEIC), he said.
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said the system was created by the Education Administration jointly with academic teams in line with the Bilingual 2030 policy, with the goal of nurturing the next generation into competent global citizens.
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