Month: December 2025

You Should Read More – Part 64

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I spent quite a lot of time this month planning for my trip (next month) to Egypt and Jordan.  My preparations included reading a handful of books about those countries.  I especially enjoyed Kent R. Weeks’ “Illustrated Guide to Luxor.”  I’ve been to Luxor, but I had forgotten the sheer volume of historic sites there.  The book helped me narrow my itinerary down to something reasonable, given the three days I’ll spend in the area.

I also dug into my stack of unread issues of Jacobin and read the Summer 2024 issue.  I liked “Welcome to Utopia, TX,” which explores the history of a curiously-named town in Texas.

Otherwise, I’ve mostly read fiction this month.  I don’t usually write about fiction here, but I will mention that I enjoyed reading Colin Thubron’s first novel, “The God in the Mountain.”  It tells the story of a Greek town where a copper miners are planning to dig into a sacred mountain.  This one has been out of print since its original publication in the 1970s.  I’ve always wondered why that is, as Thubron remains quite popular and the book is pretty decent.  Sourcing a copy for myself wasn’t particularly easy.

Since this column is running short, I’ll paste in one more sample of “real world” English for you to mull over.  This one comes from a travel guide to the state of West Virginia.  As I indicated a few columns back, this could be a fun way to prepare for the new TOEFL.  Some day, perhaps, I will put together a collection of these with TOEFLesque questions.  The idea of using real materials for this sort of thing is quaint in the AI area… but it wasn’t so long ago that all English tests were cobbled together using real articles and audio snippets not specifically made for testing!

 

Hong Kong to Test NET Teachers

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I read in the South China Morning Post that native English speakers hired to teach in Hong Kong schools via the NET grant now need to score 7.5 or more on the IELTS (no alternative tests are accepted).

Stories about native speakers who must take an English test are always good for a few clicks.

I recently spoke to a pharmacist who earned his degree in the United Kingdom, but must submit a TOEFL score before he can start working in the United States.

IELTS on Paper to be Eliminated in Jordan and Bahrain

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According to the British Council, IELTS on paper will be eliminated in Bahrain and Jordan on February 8 of 2026.

I think this will bring the list of places where the paper test has been/will be eliminated to:

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Let me know if I have missed any markets.

No Paper Score Reports for Score Users

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I read on the TOEFL website that come January, score users will no longer be able to get paper score reports from ETS. That’s probably a good thing, though I suppose some may disagree.  Back in November, I wrote about how free paper reports for test takers will be discontinued.

Paper score reports have much utility for both test takers and score users, but the slow movement of snail mail in this day and age can cause a certain amount of heartache.

Upcoming TOEFL Prep

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I attended ETS’s webinar about prep materials for the new TOEFL iBT.  A few things are worth mentioning here:

  1. It appears that TOEFL TestReady will be discontinued.  Says ETS:  “There are no plans yet to continue the TOEFL TestReady.”  This after “a careful study of test-taker feedback.”  That’s unfortunate, as TestReady is always my number one recommendation when someone at the beginning of their test taking journey asks me for advice.  It’s also the number one recommendation of just about everyone on social media.  The strength of this platform is that it provides free sample tests and free section tests that are all scored.  It also provides a random “free question of the day” that is also scored.  As far as I can tell, none of the free materials currently available for the new tests are scored.
  2. There are no plans to update the free TOEFL course on edX.  This is also unfortunate.  While I know that edX is way past its heyday, the course was my number one recommendation for people wanting both free practice questions and free instructional content.
  3. Additional free practice tests for the new TOEFL will apparently be added to the TOEFL website December 22 (today?) but it is unclear if they will be scored.  None of the existing free practice tests are scored, as far as I can tell.
  4. Sometime between January and March, ETS will begin selling “TOEFL Teacher Certification.”  This will be a paid product offered to “teachers who have demonstrated strong competency in teaching TOEFL aligned with ETS standards and procedures.”  Previously, certificates were offered to ETS workshop participants at no cost.
  5. “Flex Practice” questions for the new TOEFL are now available to test takers who pay extra for a “genius” package during registration.  These are questions focused on specific item types.
  6. I guess ACRES and SERVAL are the replacements for SpeechRater and e-rater.
  7. Much of the presentation was about the ability of partner institutions to integrate TOEFL practice materials and APIs into their own platforms.  Traditionally this sort of thing has been a big deal in China, but has not had much of an impact outside of that country.  It really does seem like ETS is seeking to replicate the New Oriental success story in new markets.  We’ll see how it goes.

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Regular readers will likely have noted a push to monetize the TOEFL in new and varied ways.  This is not terribly surprising, of course.  Overall test volumes will increase whenever the big receiving markets become more welcoming of international students… but the big slice of market share that has been lost to Duolingo and Pearson will never come back.  Never, ever.  Thus, there is a need to explore new revenue sources.  The trick is to do so without being too blatant about it.

New TOEFL Book from Siwon School

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While visiting the Kyobo Books branch near Seoul City Hall, I  snapped this photo of a new TOEFL book from 시원스쿨 (Siwonschool).  The book matches the new TOEFL format, and as you can see it includes the ETS logo and a note that the book is from an official ETS partner.

As I wrote a few days ago, it seems like ETS is working hard to build up a new network of supportive teachers and tutors.  You can spot ETS branding on a wealth of third party products nowadays.

I was going to purchase a copy of the book for my own personal library, but it looks like two of the three practice tests in the book are the same as (or very similar to) the free tests published on the ETS website.  That’s an interesting choice.

BBC On Korea’s English Test

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Here’s the BBC article about Korea’s “insane” English test. The question about Kant is sort of silly, but the one about video games is similar to what you might find on the current TOEFL iBT (but not, seemingly, on the revised version set to launch next month). Even the relationship you might use to deduce the answer (“as in…” & “the difference is…”) wouldn’t look out of place on a modern TOEFL test.  I suspect some of the people complaining about the writing style here would say the same things about a TOEFL test.  Many people aren’t great at dealing with academic writing these days.

IELTS Discount in Korea

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I read in The Asia Business Daily that people who take the IELTS at certain British Council test centers in Korea can get a 21,000 KRW discount on their registration fees.

The discount is available at three test centers in Seoul. Included is the one just a couple blocks from my apartment so if I can find some free time before my holiday in January I’ll take the test. Since the IELTS hasn’t really changed in some time I haven’t felt a strong desire to register in recent years… but I can’t pass up a deal.

Note that your test date must be by January 31 if you want to get the deal. If anyone reading this tests in my neighborhood, do let me know. I’ll buy you a drink.

IELTS Paper to be Discontinued in Bangladesh and Taiwan

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IELTS on paper will no longer be offered in Bangladesh after January 31 of 2026. After that date, only the computer delivered version of the test will be available.

It will also be eliminated in Taiwan on an unspecified date.

IELTS on paper has recently been eliminated in a bunch of key markets.  I suspect it will be eliminated entirely some time in the near future.

IELTS Screwup: Your Questions Answered

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The official FAQ page for the IELTS difficulties has been updated.  It now includes answers to at least a few of the questions which have been posed by various observers.

For instance, we know that a total of 63,216 tests were affected.  That’s at the high end of my estimated range.

And more specifically, we now know that:

  • 93% of corrected tests (58,867) had an upwards correction to an individual test component
  • 7% of corrected tests (4,344) had a downwards correction to an individual test component
  • Five corrected tests had one downwards test component correction and one upwards test component correction.

It is also noted in the FAQ that no tests taken before August 2023 were affected.

More details at the link.

Thoughts on the Pearson Fine

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A few stray thoughts regarding the Pearson fine:

  1. Obviously, this situation demonstrates the importance of keeping an eye on student outcomes when it comes to linguistic fluency (however you define that) and pairing them with the language test scores each student submitted during the admissions process. Institutions which do this might be able to notice the existence of organized cheating rings even before test makers, who generally don’t have access to data regarding student outcomes.  Indeed, it seems that this is how Pearson learned about the problem (at least in part).
  2. It could be time and resource intensive for higher-ed institutions to do the above.  But at least they can do it. It is much harder for organizations outside the world of academia to track such outcomes.  I’m not sure how, for example, a board that licenses physical therapists might go about it.
  3. Assessment literacy now includes security literacy.  It is incumbent upon score users to understand the security practices and the technology used in every step of the testing process (including for at-home testing).  When higher-ed staff talk to test makers they need to be able to ask the right questions.  Sadly, there isn’t much useful documentation of this aspect of the testing process.  So good luck with that, everyone.
  4. I’ve always been a big fan of in-house tests for all new arrivals, whether they be used as placement tests, for determining whether extra language classes are necessary… or some other purpose.  At their most basic level, they can be used as a way to identify which third-party tests are working best for an institution… at least in terms of determining linguistic fluency.
  5. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but if you want to make the best decisions regarding which tests to accept, you really need to actually take the tests yourself.  And demonstration versions don’t count.
  6. If the timeline in the Ofqual announcement is any indication, I guess we can expect some kind of report on the recent IELTS thing in mid-2028.