Starting 2007, the Test of Proficiency in Korean(TOPIK) will be conducted twice every year, according to the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development and the Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation(KICE) on April 19. A “Business Korean Proficiency Test” will also be newly added to help diversify the assessment program.
The number of test applicants grew to 30,259 in 2006, up nearly 7,000 compared to 2005. The increase is the reflection of a stronger overseas recognition of Korean companies, and a sweeping interest in Korean culture abroad, often referred to as the “Korean Wave,” especially across neighboring Asian countries.
In order to accommodate growing demands, the education ministry has thus decided to carry out the test twice a year, on April 22 and September 16 in 2007. The Spring TOPIK will take place in 36 test venues of 15 countries including Korea. The first Fall TOPIK will take place on September 16 in about 20 countries.
In an attempt to provide diversification and further concentration, the ministry has developed a new Business TOPIK for foreigners seeking employment in Korea. While the Standard TOPIK measures the general Korean language skills of foreigners and overseas Koreans, the Business TOPIK evaluates the ability of Korean language in practical communication skills.
Test results are to be consulted by Korean companies when recruiting foreign workers. Both tests will be carried out twice a year, starting with S-TOPIK in the morning followed by B-TOPIK in the afternoon.
Prospective applications should check the TOPIK homepage(http://topik.or.kr) for information including test venues, timetable and evaluation criteria in English and Japanese. The homepage also provides previous test questions/answers of the past four years in Korean to help the preparation of applicants.
전진영 기자
