Proficiency Test Issues - Essay Example

Imagine that you are responsible for admitting students to an English language school. Design a simple interview based on 20 personal questions for the student about his job, family, school or county. Begin with simple grammar and vocabulary and develop more complexity by the conclusion. This is to follow the school’s placement test to confirm its result:
- What is your name?
- How old are you?
- Where are you from?
- Is your country large or small?
- What is the population of your country?
- People speak .. (Spanish, Chinese, …) in your country, don’t they?
- How long does it take to finish school in your country?
- What do people usually do after finishing school?
- What are the most popular jobs in your country?
- What are you planning to do after finishing school? Why?
- To which foreign countries have you been before?
- When did you start studying English?
- What were the most difficult aspects of studying a foreign language?
- How did you overcome the difficulties?
- Please, tell me about your family. Did it support your studying the foreign language?
- Who (if anybody) was helping you to study English?
- Why, do you think, English is important to study for you?
- In your opinion, what are the major difficulties a person may face when looking for a job?
- Choosing a profession, what are the major factors you consider before making a decision?
- In the current days of total globalization, what skills and knowledge can be of assistance to a person willing to be successful at work?

TOEFL iBT is an internet-based test for international students planning to study in English-speaking countries. It is given at secure Internet-based test centres. The purpose of the test is to measure student’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The test consists of 4 sections: reading (36-70 questions), listening (34-51 questions), speaking (6 tasks), and writing (2 tasks).

TOEIC is a test designed to measure English language skills for business. There are two types of TOEIC tests: Speaking and Writing Tests, and Listening and Reading Tests. Employers from all over the world use TOEIC tests to evaluate the proficiency of a potential employee to communicate in English. The listening and Reading test consists of 2 sections, and students are given 2,5 hours to complete it. Speaking tests consist of 11 questions to be answered in 20 minutes. The writing test has 8 tasks to be completed in an hour.

IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. The test is to measure a person’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The test has an Academic version for those who take it for studying purposes, and a General Training version, which evaluates the person’s ability to live and work in an English-speaking environment. In general, the test is designed to be taken for studying, immigration, and employment. At first, a test taker has to take reading (1 hour) and writing (1 hour) tests. Then is the turn of the listening (30 min) and speaking (11-14 min) tests.