NEWS
4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MULTICULTURALISM
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005
Changes to test may toughen admissions
Lisa Linovac/KANSAN
Tzu-chi Liu of Kalhiung, Taiwan, works in the Learning English Online Lab in Fraser Hall. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was changed this week. Many foreign students believe the added speaking portion of the test will make it more challenging.
BY FRANK TANKARD
tankard@kansan.com
KANSAN STAH WRITE
The English test required for international graduate students at the University of Kansas underwent major changes this week, which might mean added preparation for some incoming students.
Chuck Seibel, director of the KU Applied English Center, says the new format may weed out students whose spoken English skills aren't up to par.
Joan Allen, Overtland Park senior, hastily renders an interior perspective for her Interior Design Thesis course. Allen is designing a cake boutique that will be called Le Gateau. This is one quick sketch project to create workable pieces for her portfolio.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a standardized test taken by 750,000 students worldwide last year, has been rewritten and a speaking section has been added.
The Educational Testing Service, which developed the test, implemented the new version Saturday in U.S. testing centers. It will replace the old version worldwide within a year.
Kim Andrews/KANSAN
Chuck Seibel, director of the KU Applied English Center, says the new format may weed out students whose spoken English skills aren't up to par.
"A lot of people say it's going to be more challenging," he said. "I think it might test skills that the old version of the test doesn't test as well."
A speaking section has been added to the test in which test-takers are recorded talking. It also integrates reading, writing and listening skills throughout the test. Before, it tested reading, writing and listening separately and didn't include a speaking section.
Xianping Li, Beijing graduate student, said he spent many class hours preparing for the test, as well as a lot of time reading prep books.
He feared that the new test would be difficult for students from countries such as China where English isn't as commonly spoken as in Europe or the Americas.
Rajesh Maduri, Hyderabad,
India, graduate student, agreed that the test may be more difficult for students from countries where writing and reading are emphasized in class more than speaking and listening are.
"For students coming from India, English is a primary language taught from kindergarten," he said. "For students who haven't had English as primary
Intelligent design
medium of instruction, that might be a problem."
The University mandates that international graduate students new to the country obtain a minimum score on the test. Undergraduate students may also take it to test out of some English classes.
- Edited by Anne Burgard
Powell
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
"They want to be a part of the entertainment experience." Powell said.
David Stern, Minneapolis, Minn., junior, said that he learned a great deal about the impact of the digital revolution, not only on the consumer, but also from the business standpoint.
"For the networks to grab attention of teenage kids they have to have so much stuff coming at them," Stern said.
Powell addressed the educational system briefly, saying that he was not sure if it was the children or the educational system that should change.
He said that he worried that children were not taught in a way that they responded well to because of the fast-paced
world in which they lived.
Despite the immense changes in technological capabilities and the broad reach of media made possible by the Internet, Powell said that there was really no difference between generations in terms of values and the need for community.
"At the end of the day what's going to matter for us as human beings is what does not change. At the end of the day we're still human," Powell said.
Jeff Oligschlaeger, Overland Park junior, attended the lecture for extra credit for a business class but was surprised to find the lecture interesting.
"It was astoundingly well presented," Oligschlaeger said.
— Edited by Anne Burgard
NATION
Majority leader faces criminal indictment
WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury Wednesday on a charge of conspiring to violate political fundraising laws, forcing him to temporarily step aside from his GOP post. He is the highest-ranking member of Congress to face criminal prosecution.
A defiant DeLay said he had done nothing wrong and denounced the Democratic prosecutor who pursued the case as a "partisan fanatic." He said, "This is one of the weakest, most baseless indictments in American history. It's a sham"
Republicans quickly moved to fill the void, while voicing polite support for Delay.
The Associated Press
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