The TOEFL test in Taiwan

It’s a long story why, but about a month ago I was asked to take the TOEFL test. I managed to get my hands on a preparation book, but because I was too busy (and lazy) I didn’t have a chance to go through it before the test.

It was an interesting experience. Last time I took the TOEFL was when I was 16. Back then it was all with papers and pencils, and my still developing English skills resulted in a ~600 score.

Now they have that Internet Based Test (IBT) which includes a few sections that weren’t there before – Listening and Speaking. You can also get your results online.

I was probably the first foreigner to take the test in the Tainan branch, since the people who run the operation almost refused to believe that I’m there to take the TOEFL test. Since the aircon was down and we were waiting for about an hour before the test for them to fix it, there was some more intriguing interactions with the less-shy Taiwanese who, after staring at me for a while, made the approach.

“Are you really here for the TOEFL test?”

“Yep, just like you”

“That’s not fair, must be very easy for you”

“Why would you say that?”

to which the responses usually were – “All foreigners have excellent English”, “You look like you know English”, “to people from the west English is much easier”.

Feeling uncomfortable with them making less of my insecurity with English and the TOEFL challenge I was about to take, I tried once or twice to explain “But, you know, in Israel we speak Hebrew, not English” and that “Most western countries don’t speak English”. But it was useless.

It was a horrible horrible test. Sitting down for 4 hours in front of a screen, having to answer annoying questions on a time limit is exhausting. It’s almost inhuman.

I must also say that the test took me by complete surprise in the type of questions and time limit they uphold. I used to think TOEFL was no big deal, but while taking the test I was wondering how the hell someone can prepare for this test and whether this test is really a good indicator for a person’s ability to study or work in an English language environment. I seriously doubt that, but since I’m not a professional and I don’t have any other suggestions, I’ll take it as a given.

Anyways, this is what I ended up with…

But the questions posed to me by the other Taiwanese kept haunting me, so I looked at the TOEFL stats.

Here are some interesting stats. Let’s start with native language average scores. Scores by order – reading, listening, speaking, writing, total (source) :

Those with Hebrew and Estonian native language get, on an average, 95-97 on the TOEFL test. Estonia and Israel, together with some northern European countries, are among the world’s top performers for TOEFL, and it would be interesting to try and figure out why. For those whose native language is Chinese the average score is 77. Weird thing is, that for those whose native language is English the score is 86. Hmm…

Let’s look at countries :

It’s no surprise that official English Singapore is ranking quite high, but what is  surprising is how low Taiwan and Japan are doing on those tests on average. Recently, Scott Sommers addressed this issue with his “Declining Test Scores Revisited”  and “International Comparisons of the IELTS and the iBT TOEFL“:

Let me make this clear – there is no decline in English test scores in Taiwan. Nor are test scores in Taiwan meaningfully different from scores obtained in other Asian nations. […]

I’m not disagreeing with Dan. In fact, my point is that there is simply no data available that meaningfully addresses this point. While there are numerous international comparisons of scores on standardized tests of English proficiency, these comparisons are uninformative. […]

So what does this all mean? Does it mean that we can’t get consistent results from these tests? Not at all. All it means is that the groups of people taking these different tests are different people.

Is it easier for “westerners” to take the TOEFL test? some (/many) would argue that Israel is not a typical western country and that the right-to-left Semite language is as different from English as Chinese is, and yet Israelis seem to perform quite well in English, both in TOEFL and my impressions of their abilities from everyday life. Does it have something to do with local culture? embrace of western (/American or British culture)? global language openness? education standards? I’m honestly not sure.

But perhaps the suggestion by those taking the test with me (whether they intended to suggest it or not) that there is a bias inherent in those tests towards “westerners”, or that it’s “easier” for westerns not only to “know” English but rather to pass an English test with a high score  is something that might be worth looking into.