By Na Jeong-ju
The government will choose a developer for the computerized scoring system this year for the National English Ability Test (NEAT), a state-administered proficiency exam scheduled to be implemented in 2012, officials said Wednesday.
The country is seeking to replace popular tests, such as TOEIC, with NEAT as a key reference for schools and enterprises in the long term amid concerns over growing costs for taking foreign language tests.
“The bidding for NEAT’s scoring system will begin soon. The winner will be announced this year,” an Education Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “We’ve sent a notice to all schools and English teachers nationwide to prepare for the test.”
Once the scoring system is adopted, the state-run Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) will conduct pilot tests for both students and adults to ensure there are no systemic errors. There will be three different versions of NEAT one for adults and two for students. The ministry will decide next year on whether to replace the English language section of the nation’s college entrance exam with the Internet-based test.
“One of the biggest advantages of NEAT is that it will be a lot cheaper than existing tests. It will also be tailored to evaluate Koreans’ English proficiency,” the official said. “There will be a greater emphasis on evaluating writing and speaking skills.”
The development of NEAT reflects concerns about growing household spending on English education.
Ever since TOEIC made its debut here in 1982, numerous Koreans have taken the exam and the number is still on the increase. Domestic organizations, mostly Seoul-based universities, have attempted to develop tests to replace TOEIC to little avail.
Industry sources say the number of South Korean TOEIC takers is close to 2 million each year.
Some experts say NEAT could be a “TOEIC killer” here, but others say the test, to be developed and administered by Koreans, won’t be able to compete with such a globally-accepted exam.
“Parents and students are paying attention to NEAT because the government wants it to replace the English section of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT),” said Kim Jin, a teacher at Yoon’s English School, a Seoul-based institute.
There are worries that the new test might be another burden for students preparing for college admission.
Teachers are also perplexed. They said schools lack sufficient staff able to teach writing and speaking. They also said that all curricula should be altered once the test becomes a must.
Adding to concerns is a lack of experience among government agencies in conducting an all-English proficiency test.
“Recently, there was an error in the government’s computerized scoring system for CSAT, miscalculating the scores of some 29,000 high school students,” said Suh Mi-jung, an English teacher in Gyeonggi Province.
“The education authorities received complaints from parents and students preparing for college admission tests for the systemic error. Such a mistake could repeat in the scoring system for NEAT.”
Ensuring transparency is also a key task for the government, teachers say.
In July, state auditors revealed that parents of third-year high school students were among writers of the CSAT in the past, suggesting a possible leak of test papers or crucial information before the exam.
The CSAT is administered by KICE, which will administer NEAT as well. The institute said it will create a pool of 5,000 English teachers nationwide by 2015 to write NEAT and to mark the exam.
“I don’t expect NEAT will substantially undercut TOEIC’s presence here,” a teacher at a private institute in Seoul said, asking not to be named. “I think that Korea needs to embrace tests with international reputations for the benefit of the country because this is the global era.”
Despite such skepticism, government officials are confident that the test will create a new trend in English education.
Oh Seok-hwan, director of the ministry’s English Education Policy, said the ministry is currently focusing on educating teachers as well as building infrastructure to ensure a successful implementation of the new test.
“As NEAT is an Internet-based exam, we are building computer rooms at schools,” Oh said. “At the same time, we are operating training programs for English teachers so that they can provide NEAT lessons to students. We will continue such efforts until the test is fully implemented in 2016.”