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TOEFL faces challenge from IELTS

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-23 20:46

NEW YORK -- The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), once the only exam testing English proficiency, now is facing a challenge from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Yale Daily News reported Tuesday.

For the second admissions cycle, Yale is accepting both TOEFL and IELTS as indicators of English-language proficiency, the newspaper reported.

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Accepting both the TOEFL and IELTS gives students the opportunity to take the most convenient exam, Dean of Admissions Jeff Brenzel said.

"The IELTS exam has been well validated as a test of functional proficiency," Brenzel was quoted as writing in an e-mail message. " We wanted students to have the option of going either way in the event that one form of testing was more readily available than another, just as we do with the SAT and ACT exams."

Supporters of the IELTS said it reflects students' language abilities better than the more widely accepted TOEFL. The IELTS is still struggling to match the popularity of the TOEFL among high schools and universities.

Although the TOEFL and IELTS exams test the same skill groups, they have significantly different structures.

The IELTS exam features two sections focused on academic reading and writing skills, beyond the basic skills tested in the TOEFL, Beryl Meiron, the United States executive director for IELTS International, was quoted as saying. The IELTS also has a speaking section, unlike the paper version of the TOEFL.

As more schools accept the IELTS, test-preparatory companies have expanded their services to meet students' new demand.