English "for business or workplace" purposes brings to mind a world of cubicles, suits, and meetings of the board. And certainly TOEIC testing is prevalent in such environments.

However, I've been noticing a pattern in recent ETS news releases. Increasingly sporting events, cultural festivals, and other activities focused on large-scale public amusement are also using the TOEIC tests.

And perhaps more unexpectedly, the event sponsors are using TOEIC not with employees (who as tourism professionals have likely been already tested individually at the hiring stage) but to screen potential volunteers.

A few of the recent and upcoming activities using the tests for large-scale assessment of volunteers include—

It surprised me initially to learn that so many airlines use TOEIC tests. While it makes sense, given the tests' focus on everyday, workplace English that is international rather than specific to any given country, aviation-industry-specific tests do exist, including those created by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Two of several reasons why TOEIC tests are preferred are—