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Global English: Teaching to the Need
As summarized in my last post, the numbers compiled in the recent “English Proficiency Index" from EF Education First provide overwhelming evidence of how the spread of  English as a common tongue worldwide has made the language a "basic," vital for individual and national success.
 
An unchanging reality, however, is that full fluency in a second language is not easy to achieve. In the best of all cases—when the language is learned as a child, in a full-immersion setting—it takes at least three to five years to attain native-level speaking skills, and five to seven to achieve full competency in academic English.
 
Governments worldwide are starting English instruction at earlier ages. However, as the EF study notes: "such policy shifts are slow to show impact among adults...Governments...need patience and dedication to a clear language acquisition goal for several decades before they will see a measurable rise in English proficiency in the full adult population."
 
A number of strategies are recommended by the EF report to meet adult workplace English needs, such as:
 
  • Support to remove barriers and encourage continued learning, such as long-term workplace training programs and adult education scholarships
     
  • Extra practice in listening and reading for adults who have learned English only or primarily in traditional classroom settings
     
  • Training in strategies to grasp and convey meaning even when full proficiency is lacking
     
  • Emphasis on achieving successful communication as the primary goal for instruction, rather than "an inflexible standard of correctness or native-like pronunciation"
     
  • Well-defined measures of language learning abilities and goals
     
  • Assessments that focus on the specific skills needed for workplace success and that are sufficiently fine-grained to allow learners to see even slow progress toward their goals

      
EF is not satisfied that sufficiently exact and workplace-communication-geared assessments have yet been developed. However, to my mind, the TOEIC tests stand out among existing examinations in terms of allowing such assessment. They are designed for adult learners and to test English as it is used in the international workplace. Supporting tools such as the "Can Do" tables match ability level with specific types of job responsibilities. There are no pass or fail scores and learners can track progress precisely, with the TOEIC Bridge test available for beginning-intermediate learners.  
 
While TOEIC tests are often used by employers, and by test takers eager for an internationally recognized credential, I'm not sure the tests' capabilities as a tool for learning have yet been as widely recognized as they deserve to be. If you are at an English language training institute that works to build language proficiency for professional/workplace purposes, I encourage you to explore TOEIC test use further.

—Lia Nigro, TOEIC USA Team

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