深圳大学学科英语tofel reliability.pdfVIP

ANUPI2004

THETOEFLEXAM:HOWRELIABLEISIT?

ByDenisGriffin

ITESM,CampusZacatecas

INTRODUCTION

DuetothefactthatMexicoistheonlydevelopingcountryintheworld(with

theexceptionofex-communistcountriesofEasternEurope)thatsharesaborder

withadevelopedcountry,andinthiscasetheworldsmostpowerfulcountry,

theUnitedStateshasalwaysexertedenormousinfluenceontheMexican

educationsysteminboththepublicandtheprivatesector.Oneavenueof

socialadvancementopentoMexicanstudentscanbeinitiatedbygaininga

scholarshiptostudyintheUnitedStatesorCanada.Anotherwayofincreasing

employmentstatusistodemonstratetoprospectiveemployersthatthe

candidatehasahighoracceptablelevelofEnglish.Ifstudentsaretobe

seriouslyconsideredineitheroftheseoptionsofsocialandeconomic

advancement,theyusuallymustdemonstratetheirknowledgeofEnglishby

takingaproficiencytest.IntheUnitedStatestheofficialmeasureofastudents

proficiencyinEnglishistheTestOfEnglishasaForeignLanguage(TOEFL).Many

Mexicantertiaryinstitutionsalsorequireitasameansofacademicplacement

withintheirinstitutionorasarequisiteforgraduation.AlowscoreintheTOEFLwill

meanthatthestudentwillhavetobegininaremediallevelofEnglishandneed

toworkhis/herwayupslowlytoanadvancedlevel.Takingintoaccountthe

powerfulinfluenceofthisexam,onewouldexpectthatstudentscoulddepend

onamethodofevaluationthatwill