Abstract
This paper reports how a major Japanese corporation conducts the testing of English proficiency for its employees. The main instrument used for assessment is the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). Despite some employees requiring both productive and receptive linguistic skills, the TOEIC is a discrete item test of listening and reading. Decisions made on the basis of TOEIC scores alone have been brought into question through the findings of studies comparing TOEIC scores with those of independent speaking and writing tests. Data generated by these investigations fail to support claims made for the TOEIC by ETS and indicate that Japanese corporations may be overly reliant on the TOEIC. It is suggested that the TOEIC needs to be supplemented with direct tests of speaking and writing, if companies are to make reliable decisions about the suitability of employees for positions requiring English proficiency.
