Mumbai:
Even as the popularity of the international curriculum continues to be on the rise in Indian schools, a global assessment of middle school-level English language proficiency - the "TOEFL Junior test" - is expected to be launched in the country.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS), the creator of the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), has developed a junior version to guide English learning of middle school students.
The junior test, said an ETS spokesperson, measures the degree to which younger students have attained "language proficiency representative of English-medium instructional environments". It is meant at serving as a general progress measure to give schools, teachers, parents and students an objective measure of the students' English-language progress. It can help measure developing English communication skills in preparation of future studies in English.
"The pilot test (of junior TOEFL) was conducted in Korea and it will be eventually launched in India," said the spokesperson.
The test will have three sections. The section on listening comprehension will test the ability to listen for basic, interpersonal purposes as well as academic and instructional purposes. The reading comprehension section will gauge the ability to read and understand academic and non-academic texts. Further, the section on language form and meaning will test the ability to demonstrate proficiency in key enabling skills such as grammar and vocabulary.
"With instruction beginning at earlier ages, mastering English expands students' access to a range of educational, personal and professional opportunities," said Philip Tabbiner, senior vice-president, ETS Global & Partnerships.
"It will be more useful in schools which offer English as a second language," said Abha Dharam Pal, principal of Utpal Shanghvi School, Juhu.
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