I don't know how the weather is where you are— for me, cold and clouds are making a permanent move to the sunny Caribbean sound like a very good idea. And beginning this year, TOEIC® testing can get you there.

The Cayman Islands Department of Immigration is now accepting scores from TOEIC tests to measure the English-language proficiency of persons from around the world wishing to work or settle in the Cayman Islands. 

The department expects to receive approximately 1,000 applicants annually who will take the TOEIC® Listening and Reading test and the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing tests to demonstrate their English-language skills. Scores will apply to workers from all sectors and are not based on a tier system or type of work.

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—

Hello TOEIC4Success readers! I'm Cary Bohlin, AMIDEAST's new primary sales and support person for the TOEIC family of tests and English language learning products. (Lia and other staff here will also be available to provide other information and help to you.)

With over ten years of experience in English language instruction in the United States as well as in Japan, Europe, and other overseas locations, I can offer you solid and truly consultative support.

For those of you who like a quick answer—not necessarily. The reasons that ETS provides TOEIC Speaking tests by computer as well as the cost-intensive methods that they've chosen for scoring the test go beyond a business decision and are both fascinating and commonly misunderstood.

For a long time, there was no TOEIC Speaking test. While other agencies offered speaking tests via interviewer, ETS was concerned not only about the time- and labor-intensive nature of such testing for large groups, but also about interviewer subjectivity. No matter how well-trained interviewers are (and for many tests the training is minimal), they can still be influenced by unconscious biases related to test taker accent, appearance, or other factors unrelated to actual speaking skills. Or they may simply have a bad day (or good day) when they veer off course and become unusually harsh (or lenient) with the interviewees they encounter.

We've now posted the Common European Framework Reference (CEFR) levels information and TOEIC test score equivalencies as promised in my previous post. To help you understand what is now required, here is a brief summary of minimum TOEIC scores needed for different types of immigration to the United Kingdom, as well as a summary of some of the relevant UK visa changes made over the past year.

Up until November 2010 spouses and partners of individuals applying to come to the United Kingdom as immigrants or students did not have to prove English proficiency. Now they must.

Human resource management professionals are careful to avoid discriminating against job applicants based on national origin, especially since such discrimination is prohibited by U.S. law. They need to know—to what extent is assessing the language proficiency of job applicants or employees from non-English-speaking countries allowable? 

Fortunately, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides clear guidelines on when such testing is allowed and appropriate. In brief—

For the past four years, all non-native English speakers seeking to obtain a visa to live, work, or study in the United Kingdom have been required to pass an English language proficiency test.

This spring the U.K. Border Agency, which controls visa processing, completed a review and update of its list of accepted tests. Tests from only five testing agencies were reapproved, with over a dozen tests eliminated from the list. However, the TOEIC Listening & Reading test was among the few re-approved, and the new TOEIC Speaking & Writing test was also approved for the list.

It's easy to assume "everyone knows" this or that when you work daily with a particular test (or any product or service). Then you start talking to someone outside your small world and realize that's not the case.

Here are a few misunderstandings about TOEIC testing that I've seen come up repeatedly in communications about the test.

1. Myth: there's only one TOEIC test.

False. The TOEIC Speaking & Writing test is entirely separate from the TOEIC Listening & Reading test; the two are even administered on different days. It's also possible to take the TOEIC Speaking test as a stand-alone test.

2. Myth: TOEIC is a test of American English.

Speaking is one of the most challenging English language skills for many TOEIC test takers to master. Even native speakers are often terrified when they first have to give a formal presentation to an audience: the fear of public speaking is in fact our most common phobia, with many saying that this fear is worse for them than even fear of death.

If you are preparing for TOEIC, however, giving a public speech is not what you have to master. You will be speaking privately and simply into the “ears” of a computer and being scored by expert raters who score international English anonymously and objectively, with no judgments based on accent or knowledge of who you are.

Speaking “to a computer” of course can generate its own fears (though in today’s VOIP- and DVC-connected business world you may be doing it every day). Fortunately there are many learner-friendly forums that will develop your skills and your confidence.