STANDARDIZED PROFICIENCY TEST (PART II) : BULATS, TOEIC, TOEP By: I.G.A. Lokita Purnamika Utami Rina sari

STANDARDIZED PROFICIENCY TEST (PART II) : BULATS, TOEIC, TOEP

By: I.G.A. Lokita Purnamika Utami

Rina sari

This summary is the continuation of the previous summary about developing standardized test with elaboration on TOEFL and IELTS. However, this summary is now focusing on the other standardized test: BULATS, TOEIC, and TOEP which are related to job or business purposes. The last one can be also considered for academic purposes. 

BULATS (Business Language Testing Service) is a multilingual set of workplace language assessment. It is used internationally for business and industry recruitment, for identifying and delivering training, for admission to study business-related courses and for assessing the effectiveness of language courses and training. BUlats measures all language skills : listening, reading, writing, speaking. All task and topics are set in real-life work context. BULATS online test can be done without particular software what it needs is  a good internet connection. 

The listening and reading test in BULATS online test asses reading, listening, knowledge and grammar. These test each last about an hour. The result is available at the end of the test. 

BULATS speaking online test measures the ability of speaking  last about 15 minutes covering various topics such as buying and selling, products and service, the economy and the stock market, business travel, etc. Speaking test consists of 5 parts: Part 1: Interview – the test taker answer eight questions about self and their background/work/future plans (e.g. What is your job?),  part 2: Reading aloud – the test takers read eight sentences aloud, part 3: Presentation – the test takers are given a work-related topic (e.g. the perfect office) to talk about for one minute, part 4: presentation with graphic – the test takers are given one or more graphics (e.g. pie charts, line graphs) with a business focus (e.g. company exports) to talk about for one minute, part 5: Communication activity – the test taker give their opinion on five questions related to one scenario (e.g. planning a conference). 

Meanwhile BULATS writing test Assesses writing skills, and knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. This lasts 45 minutes. Writing tasks are presented via the computer screen. It includes various topics such as buying and selling, products and services, the office and general business environment, entertainment of business clients, etc. It consists of two parts:Part 1: the test takers  type a short email/letter/message of 50–60 words. Part 1 is a compulsory task and contributes one-third of the final mark. Part 2: the test takers type a report or a letter of 180–200 words following instructions. There is a choice of tasks for Part 2 and it contributes two-thirds of the final mark.

TOEIC (Test of English for International Communications) is the most widely used English test worldwide. TOEIC test has set the standard for English language assessment in the workplace. Many businesses, government agencies and English language learning programs in many countries use TOEIC test scores to make the best hiring, placement and training decisions.
The TOEIC test is developed by ETS (Educational Testing Service), a recognized leader in designing state-of-the-art assessment systems. TOEIC measures all skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking.

In listening test, the test takers are challenged with 4 types of test: (1) 10 questions related to photograph, (2) 30 response-questions item, (3) 30 conversation items, and (4) 30 short talk items. In reading test there are 40 questions related to incomplete sentences, 12 questions text completion and 48 questions related to reading comprehension. The listening test lasts for 45 minutes, while reading lasts for 75 minutes.

TOEIC speaking and writing test assess language skills that are used in daily life and the workplace. Test takers speak and write in English and give their responses to real-world questions and scenarios. The tests use common everyday vocabulary, phrases and key expressions. Speaking test contains 11 questions which lasts for approximately 20 minutes. Speaking test measures pronunciation, intonation, stress, grammar vocabulary, cohesion, and relevance of content, completeness of content. The tasks required to finish in the speaking test involve: reading a text a loud, describing a picture, responding to questions, responding to question using provided information, proposing a solution, expressing an opinion. The writing test consists of 8 questions which lasts for 60 minutes. The test measures grmmar, relevance with the topic, quality and variety of sentences vocabulary and organization. The test involve several tasks such as: writing a sentence based on a picture, responding to a written request, and writing an opinion essay.

TOEP (Test Of English Proficiency) is a standardized English proficiency test which is developed to suit Indonesian needs for English proficiency. TOEP is administrated by PLTI (Indonesian language service centre). TOEP is developed by TEFLIN (Association of Teaching English as Foreign Language in Indonesia). This test measures places more priorities on measuring 2 language skills: reading and Listening. The test includes 50 items for each reading and listening skills. These take 45-50 minutes for listening and 60 minutes for reading. Listening test is only given one time without repetition, so the test takers are not given extra time to go back checking or revising their previous answers. Meanwhile, the reading test allows readers to do the test more flexibly.The test is made in the form of online test. Thus, the test takers should do the test online and should have the digital literacy which is required in doing the test. The scores are based on the number of right answer, and is given without penalty, so the test takers are encouraged to answer all items. The score will be shown on the screen immediately after the test has been done completely.