BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- Chinese students will have a more reliable, convenient and secure way to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) exam through the Internet starting next May.

    The Internet-based version of TOEFL iBT will replace the existing written test that was introduced to China 25 years ago.

    Senior officials from the US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) also revealed yesterday in Beijing that the Internet-based Graduate Record Examination (GRE) will be delivered worldwide starting next October.

    "The technology used in iBT permits test items to be delivered over the Internet simultaneously in all time zones, thus increasing our already high test security," said Paul Ramsey, senior vice-president in charge of ETS's global business while attending an agreement signing ceremony with China's National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA).

    "It also ensures unbiased testing by recording responses electronically and sending them to a network of ETS human raters who objectively score the responses for maximum reliability."

    NEEA, which already helps ETS administer the TOEFL and GRE tests in China, agreed to work together with its US partner to deliver the Internet-based educational assessments on the Chinese mainland over the next seven years.

    It will not be responsible for delivering the tests in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.

    But TOEFL iBT, which was already launched in North America and part of Europe in September, is widely believed to be more challenging for Chinese students because a new speaking section is added.

    "The speaking section is generally considered as the Achilles' heel of Chinese students," said Li Ding, a teacher with the New Oriental School, China's biggest English training institute.

    "And the new test no longer has grammatical items that Chinese students are usually strong in. So it could be expected that the number of TOEFL examinees will reach a peak before next May."

    Deng Jie, a junior college student at Suzhou University, said she would try her best to take the existing TOEFL test because "it is comparatively easier."

    But Li said the new GRE test will be easier because the vocabulary section, the biggest headache for Chinese GRE examinees, will no longer be included.

    Figures from the NEEA show that the change will affect about 70,000 TOEFL examinees and 14,000 GRE exam takers in China every year.

   (Source: China Daily)