BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- For American students, tests like the SAT, ACT and GRE mark the path to college and graduate school. But for hundreds of thousands of international students hoping to study in the United States, a major concern is proving their language skills on the TOEFL -- the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

Now that test has undergone a major makeover, aimed at better evaluating how well applicants can communicate in English. As the test debuts Saturday, some students, particularly Asians, are worried they'll be disadvantaged because of how they were taught English in school.

Last year, 750,000 students took the old, mostly multiple-choice TOEFL. But in recent years, many of the 5,200 English-speaking colleges and universities that use the exam have grown concerned the test fails to identify students who master only "textbook" English. There have also been complaints from undergraduates who can't understand the foreign graduate students teaching their classes.

After a decade's research, the Educational Testing Services will be giving the new TOEFL "iBT" (Internet-based test) this weekend in U.S. test centers. The exam will phase in worldwide over the next year.
[url]
http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/09/23/english.test.ap/index.html[/url]


_________________
Advocatus diaboli