I read on Pereless that ETS is seeking to hire a “Director of Technology- Next Gen ELL.”

The job listing says:

“The Director of Technology – Next Gen ELL role provides strategic leadership, engineering and development roadmap guidance and subject matter expertise to assigned areas of Technology to drive meaningful business outcomes for the next generation English Language Learning products (Next Gen TOEFL). This role acts as the Global SBU Engineering Leader and as the main point of contact, communicating effectively with the SBU leadership, Product Management and Technology leadership, vendors, and across ETS and partners to act as a strong advocate and steward for the Next Gen TOEFL technology portfolio. “

And:

“This role “lives & breathes” all things that are next gen TOEFL, is a key SME with business commercial, operational and solution knowledge, and the single point of contact for all things technology (platforms, architecture, security, production operation) for next gen TOEFL.”

Aha!  There it is – the “Next Gen TOEFL.”  This is the first time I’ve seen ETS use those words in a public space!  Perhaps we can mark June 2024 as the date that work began on the successor to the TOEFL iBT.

Most readers are likely aware that the last time ETS began work on a “next gen” TOEFL was back in 1993.  That’s when ETS launched the “TOEFL 2000” initiative, which culminated in the launch of the TOEFL iBT twelve years later.

I suspect that the next iteration of the TOEFL will not involve 12 years of development.  Back in 1993 there were no serious competitors to the TOEFL in the USA (the University of Michigan’s MELAB is the only one that comes to mind). The IELTS was picking up steam outside of the USA, but it still enjoyed just a fraction of the total test taker volume of the TOEFL.  The competitive landscape is quite different in 2024, as I’ve written about ad nauseam in this space.