Is Really Korea at Bottom in TOEFL Scores?
Dear editor,
An April 2 article, ``Koreans Ranked Bottom in English Proficiency Test,'' inaccurately compares Korea's international ranking in the Internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with other countries.
Averages are deceptive. Lower figures often, though not necessarily, indicate larger samples. The article cites the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as claiming that Korea has the world's largest number of TOEFL test takers.
In this context, it becomes possible that the average score of just a fraction of the test takers in Korea may be higher than that of all those in another country.
The article, however, fails to include figures for the number of test takers in either Korea or any other country.
Readers should question whether Korea's English proficiency is really as poor as reported after finishing the article.
Korea's overall average score for the Internet-based test is listed as 78. Those of Asian neighbors China, Taiwan, North Korea and Japan are 76, 73, 72 and 66, respectively.
If the world average is indeed 79 as stated, then there are certainly many other countries among the 161 included in the study with lower averages than Korea.
Chris Clancy
Teacher
Aokijima, Nagano-shi, Japan