What is a realistic target?

TOEIC. Japanese companies continue to use it as a measuring stick for English progress. I previously posted about the problems with TOEIC and how it falls short as a true measuring stick for English growth but without it, how does a company measure their staff's growth? If you have any ideas please feel free to put them in the comments below!

What this means is that we will often be asked to support a company lesson that uses TOEIC to measure the training program's effectiveness in communication training. Though I will tell them that TOEIC is not an effective measuring stick, I still have to strategize around this hurdle. You see, a communication-based lesson focuses on different (and arguably more practical) skills than a TOEIC lesson. TOEIC is about building vocabulary through a strong reliance on listening or reading. We teach little traps students need to be aware of, or ways to improve the efficiency with which they can complete the test (most students are unable to complete the entire test).

The sticky point is that a company will set a target or a bar for the students to achieve. I've seen a 70-point increase target, which I felt was reasonable in a year, but the next year I have seen that grow to 100 points. Sometimes setting the bar too high is de-motivating, in contrast if a student feels their target is more attainable, they might make a stronger effort. In my recent experience working in a company, I saw a 40-70 point growth as a positive result and rarely saw students attain a 100-point increase. I have always tried to make English enjoyable and in some ways, self motivating, so I know that we can set a stricter training program, but I think the truly realistic bar is 70. If a company sets a 100-point jump over a year, they need to be open minded and possibly set up a secondary interview-based test to measure areas like response time, accuracy, comprehension, the ability to ask for repetition or the students' ability to make long answers.

This is my take on the situation, if anyone reads this and has another opinion, please reach out through our contact form and let me know! I can post it in a future blog post.