By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Sookmyung Women's University has received a growing number of complaints from its students over the efficiency and expense of its own English proficiency test, the Multimedia Assisted Test of English (MATE).
The women-only school created the English exam, which consists of speaking and writing parts, in 1999 and has required its students to gain a certain level on the test for their graduation since 2003.
Firstly, students are questioning the necessity of the exam as not many employers accept the MATE test when recruiting job seekers.
Asked by The Korea Times how many corporations recognize the exam, the school official at the test center said, "I am not sure about how many and which companies accept the scores."
In reality, it is not known by many companies and institutes. A recruiter in the business sector said, "We know little about MATE and don't know how to read the scores."
MATE candidates receive a ranking from one to 12 for the speaking part and one to seven for the written section. However, there is no scoring table to provide a comparison with other common tests such as the TOEIC or TEPS.
Some other students are also unhappy with the fees. "We only need MATE for graduation. It is useless for job recruitment so I think paying money for the test is a waste of money. Moreover, it is more difficult than the TOEIC," said a student majoring in English at the university.
Although the university students can take the exam organized for graduation hopefuls for free, they have to pay for regular tests if they fail.
The regular test, open to everyone, costs 50,000 won for the mid-level test and 70,000 won for the high level speaking, while the writing section costs 40,000 won.
Those who fail can be exempted if they complete lectures for four to six weeks at the cost of 250,000 won.
Regarding complaints by students over the fees, a school official said it is inevitable as the test needs several graders.
"School officials promised us that they would come up with solutions to our complaints by February but they have not taken any action," said the school's student council.
Sookmyung runs the regular test six times a year and some 2,000 applied for it last year.
The school officials were unable to answer, only saying, "English exams focus highly on reading and listening skills, but our test is to evaluate speaking and writing skills."
The test was developed with the help of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages for their proficiency guidelines and the Center for Applied Linguistics for their expertise in computerized assessments.
Seoul National University has developed an English proficiency test called, "TEPS," which has gained wider acceptance.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
