Activities

This is not a new question. Language testing has been concerned for a long time with the extent to which general language tests are good enough for specific purposes, and whether specific purpose tests are so specific that they become tests of background knowledge (Alderson, 1988). Look at the two jobs below. To practise as a tour guide in Korea or a taxi driver in Wales, you are now required to pass a language test. For each job, make a list of the purposes for which you would use language. You may also wish to list the kinds of language functions, grammar or vocabulary that might be particularly relevant to the context. Also list required skills. Try to be as specific as possible.

Tour guides in Korea will have to go through a qualifying examination from September.

‘Tour guides introduce Korea in foreign languages to tourists. If they don’t meet certain qualifications, adverse side effects might arise,’ said Kang Young-man of the Korea Tourist Guide Association. ‘Speaking a foreign language fluently is not everything for a guide. They should also know Korean culture and history.’

The qualification test consists of a written examination, language test and a personal interview. Those who majored in the tourism industry will be exempted from part of the written exam, and the language test can be substituted for by other official foreign language tests.

The biggest difference in the new test will be the interview. The old interview assessed foreign language proficiency and tourism information separately, whereas now the information must be conveyed in the selected language.

[Shortened and adapted from the Korea Times, August 2009]

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The tests, which include calculating how much change a customer is owed and identifying addresses read aloud to a driver, will be reviewed by the authority’s licensing committee to see if taxi drivers’ basic language skills need to be improved.

Anyone wishing to apply for a private hire driver licence must sit the exam which is split into four parts; listening and understanding the English language, choosing the best reply to sentences read out by an examiner, maths puzzles and matching road names to map grid references.

‘The tests have been good for drivers,’ said Mr Morris. ‘If we really want to improve the relationships with our customers, we need to be able to converse and understand each other clearly.’

[Shortened and adapted from the South Wales Argus, September 2009)

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