TOEFL Glitches Screw Over Japanese Students

Passing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL) is a must for any Japanese student hoping to enter a University in the United States, and hundreds of Japanese take the test each year. Up until a couple years ago, most Japanese TOEFL-takers used either a paper-based or offline computer-based test, but those tests have now been replaced with an internet-based test. As this Japanese news report shows, the taking TOEFL through this internet-based system has pissed off quite a few Japanese test-takers:

The students interviewed had been taking their tests at a internet-based TOEFL testing center, only to experience technical difficulties in the middle of their test. Some of these difficulties may have been problems with the testing center’s computers, while others were due to problems with TOEFL’s America-based servers. Students who experienced such problems were told to to resume the test on other computers, but when they received their score cards months later, it was revealed that their scores had been lost. Students in such a situation were forced to put their lives on hold for an entire year, since their university applications were rejected without a valid TOEFL score.

The report also mentions how the new TOEFL system has angered a great many South Koreans, who take the test in far larger numbers than the Japanese do. TOEFL testing centers that administer the new internet-based system are so limited in South Korea that some test takers have to travel abroad for a chance to take the test, according to this May 2007 article:

Travel agencies offer two- to three-day Toefl tours to other Asian countries and territories, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines. The packages typically include registration, crash courses and Korean breakfasts for those unwilling to risk indigestion on the important day.

“You don’t know when you’ll ever be able to sign up for the test in Korea, and if you go overseas, you can also enjoy some travel!” says the advertisement for an agency called “English-Up.”

Agencies say that these tours, which typically cost about $850 to $1,000, flight tickets included, are almost fully booked for the next few months.

I guess Japanese students can at least be grateful the TOEFL demand in their country is low enough that they don’t have to deal with such a situation?