By Yun Suh-young
TOEFL candidates will now be able to find all the information needed for taking the exam with a single click.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) unveiled its new program TOEFL Journey which guides test takers from registration to application to schools, through a demonstration of the program on Nov. 11. It has been launched for the first time in Korea.
The TOEFL Journey, available in English, Korean, and Chinese, is built to be a guide throughout the test-taking process and provides necessary and useful information.
The website, www.toeflgoanywhere.org/journey, requires several questions to be answered and then provides a customized service. They include whether the user has taken the TOEFL test before, which program the test taker is applying for (college, graduate school or MBA) and in which country the candidate wishes to study.
When all the personal information is entered, tips about studying abroad, resources and customized advice are sent via email or text message.
“We wanted students to think of the test-taking process as part of a larger journey. And we wanted to make that journey easier for the students,” said Michael Knab, TOEFL strategic brand manager at ETS during a demonstration.
“We had a website where students could find things but students can now get whatever information they need at whatever stage they’re at. It’s more helpful to students.”
The TOEFL Journey program guides students right up to the very last stage of the test ― the scoring. When the results are released, it advises students on what to do next, such as procedures for applying to schools.
There are currently about 16,000 users of the TOEFL Journey worldwide. The feedback on the program has been good, according to Knab.
TOEFL is used for admissions and recruitment in 130 countries and over 8,000 universities and institutes. There are about 4,500 test centers worldwide and some 200 in Korea.
“Korea is an important market for TOEFL. It’s one of the top 10 countries for TOEFL registration,” said Knab. “We wanted to help Korean students in anyway.”
Previously, there was no program that really considered the test takers, said Lee Yong-tak, country manager of ETS Korea.
“TOEFL Journey is very considerate of the students. In the past, they had to search on their own for test-related information by calling the headquarters or visiting study abroad centers,” said Lee. “Now, they can receive all of the information they need on this website. Even I was surprised when I first heard of the program.”