Global Academic English Language Assessment

Target Countries:

Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan

Key Intelligence Topics:

• Instructions and policies
• Enrollment projections
• Assessment
• Future developments impacting on English training and assessment

Our research indicates that the market for Academic English Language is a growth market, on a global basis.

With the increase in globalization during the past 10 years, most cultures strongly support a training of a second language.

Over two thirds of the Europeans (71%) believe that everybody should be able to speak at least one community language in addition to his mother tongue. 

The opportunities in Asia are mixed, although we think that China may represent the largest long-term opportunity due to a tremendous desire within the educational system to teach English on a universal level in secondary schools. 

In Asia, China and Japan (Korea and Taiwan may need to follow) probably are the countries with the highest acceptance of a centralized testing system.  This increases the opportunity for ETS significantly, if the tests can carry recognized status.

Form working partnership/ relationships with private mainstream and Language schools.  These people are “key influencers” in the students’ decisions of what test to take [e.g. TOEFL , CALLX, or IELTS].

Offer tests to pupils who are receiving sub-standard teaching while there is a great shortage of teachers in most of the countries we have considered

Work with established partners (e.g. universities, language schools, groups of teachers, etc.) who are also developing tests and who have established local relationships in these countries.

• Develop preparation material for primary and secondary state examinations.  We recommend an in depth study of the markets chosen will clarify whether these materials should be sold directly to schools or to Ministries and to what extent there is a parent/pupil market
• Develop test materials for ongoing assessment and progress for use in schools
• Market the TOEFL test for broader use and seek to compete effectively with IELTS
• Develop, for the primary school sector, modules for language training of teachers.