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Time to do away with all those TOEFL-like tests
In most universities, these tests are simply known mistakenly as the TOEFL test. Many employers include these TOEFL-like tests in their recruitment programs. Many, if not all, state universities require their students to get a certain minimum score, such as 450, to be able to attend the graduation ceremony.
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One such suggestion is bold enough to merit a serious discussion here, namely limiting English language education to elementary schools only. (JP/P. J. Leo)
T
he new education minister, Nadiem Makarim, has received various suggestions on how to fix our education system. Maybe his nonteaching professional background has encouraged many education practitioners and experts to chip in a provocative suggestion or two.
One such suggestion is bold enough to merit a serious discussion here, namely limiting English language education to elementary schools only. This suggestion was proposed by the Indonesian Teachers’ Association (IGI), which also suggested that English teaching should focus on communication skills rather than the knowledge aspect of English, such as grammar and vocabulary.
However, the IGI seems to overlook a report published by English First International showing that, in 2019, Indonesia ranked 61st in the world-wide English Proficiency Index, well below Vietnam (52nd), Malaysia (26th), Singapore (5th) and the Netherlands (1st). Limiting English language instruction to elementary schools would only worsen this already poor standing.
On the suggestion of focusing on the communication skills in English, the IGI might have failed to notice the fact that our 2013 curriculum and English textbooks already deliver precisely what they want: communication-focused lessons.
Rather than tampering with English education in elementary and high schools, the government can look at the upstream where English proficiency is tested. This is where the TOEFL test enters the picture. But here let us talk about the “TOEFL-like” tests, so called because while the format, scoring and questions are identical to those of the TOEFL, these tests are much cheaper, created and administered locally by universities’ language centers across Indonesia, not by the United States-based English Testing Services.
In most universities, these tests are simply known mistakenly as the TOEFL test. Many employers include these TOEFL-like tests in their recruitment programs. Many, if not all, state universities require their students to get a certain minimum score, such as 450, to be able to attend the graduation ceremony.
In other words, these tests are high-stake in nature. The employers trust the test validity and the universities trust their meaningfulness. But these tests are problematic to say the least.
