Introduction

Globalization and the trend of world events, along with shifts in economic power have begun to very noticeably affect interest levels in foreign language learning in the past decade. Human migration and cross-border economic interests within the Asia-Pacific region as well as beyond it, have intensified the fervor of individuals and governments to see and measure results in language learning. Many APEC member economies have understood for several decades the value of having facility in a second or even third language, especially those for whom English is not a primary mother tongue. However, in recent years, even those APEC economies whose citizens primarily communicate in English have begun to emphasize and facilitate the learning of foreign languages. Investment in language programs is made with an expectation of return on investment. The degree to which this return is realized is measured by language assessment tools. Having accurate and reliable assessment tools available allows individuals and economies to make wise investment decisions, whether it be time, energy, finances or other resources.

The setting and assessing of standards for the learning of English and other foreign languages has become a shared concern of many around the world. APEC economies have been pooling some of their resources to address this concern for several years now. In 2004, a summit was held in Beijing China, bringing together senior policy makers and specialist researchers for an in-depth look at exemplary instructional methods and curriculum suitable for a variety of language learning purposes. Dr. Patricia Duff of the University of British Columbia led off with a paper on Foreign Language Policies, Research and Educational Possibilities: A Western Perspective. From the East, Professor Chen Lin of the Beijing Foreign Studies University presented A Report on Policies and Reform, Progress and Challenges and Future Directions: CHINA’S ELT AT SCHOOL TODAY.

A Strategic Plan for English Language/Foreign Language Learning was adopted in April 2004 at the 3rd APEC Education Ministerial Meeting in Santiago, Chile. Among other things, it called for APEC economies to learn from the European experience, to enhance quality of teaching by setting polices for language teacher standards and recognized that testing and evaluation are crucial mechanisms to ensure and improve learning achievement. The strategic plan noted that, given the costliness of large-scale comprehensive language tests, pooling of resources to create suitable semi-direct oral proficiency tests and/or limited-scale multi-skill proficiency tests appropriate for various populations in many economies would be desirable.

A survey of APEC economies conducted in advance of the 2004 Beijing summit revealed that as of late 2003, only seven reported having fluency standards for English teachers to ensure a minimum acceptable level and only two of those aligned standards for teachers with international standards, as described by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). Participants in the Summit recommended joint research to define clear standards for teachers and appropriate systems for testing language teachers’ language proficiency as well as defining and measuring clear standards for students’ learning of English and other foreign languages. This rather unique distinction between English as a foreign language and other foreign languages reflects the reality of APEC, where English is the primary foreign language of focus in 80% of the economies and other languages (such as Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, German, French, …) collectively make up the remaining focus.