.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
Lee Byung-hyun, right, president of the National Institute for International Education (NIIED), poses with Korea Times President-Publisher Park Moo-jong after signing an agreement on the promotion of the National English Ability Test (NEAT) at Park's office in Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times |
By Kwon Ji-youn
The National Institute for International Education (NIIED) and The Korea Times have agreed to promote a homegrown English test in a move to reduce the nation's heavy reliance on the TOEFL and TOEIC.
Lee Byung-hyun, president of the NIIED, and Korea Times President-Publisher Park Moo-jong signed the agreement on the promotion of the National English Ability Test (NEAT), Wednesday.
Under the deal, The Korea Times will allow the NIIED to use its articles in test questions. It plans to provide articles written by its reporters, columnists and contributors to the institute.
The institute provides conversion sheets so that the scores can be compared to the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) scores and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores.
The NEAT has been developed to lessen the country's dependence on international tests of English and to promote and enhance Korean learners' communicative proficiency in English. It focuses on assessing English used for occupational purposes.
The test evaluates an individual's ability to use English in an international business setting and to understand written English related to jobs. It is divided into four parts ― listening, reading, speaking and writing ― and lasts 155 minutes.
"We're working on expanding the application of the NEAT and NEAT scores in local universities," said Kim Chang-eun, head of the Education Ministry's Department of International Education. "We also hope that organizations and businesses will come to accept NEAT scores as verification of a candidate's English abilities. We ask that the public patiently support the move to implement a homegrown English test rather than request results immediately."
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
