Most Nordic institutions of higher education now have explicit standards and regulations regarding foreign language proficiency requirements for admission and study abroad. However, there are a number of myths and misunderstandings about the standardized tests available to ensure valid and appropriate testing of foreign language skills for academic use.
This session will provide an overview of the principles of foreign language testing for academic purposes and quality control in higher education for both students and academic staff. In particular, there will be a focus on commercial tests such as the TOEFL, IELTS, and Cambridge Exams and the interpretation and use of the results to these types of tests for admission to degree programs and study abroad. In addition, the presenter will introduce a performance-based certification test, the Test of Oral English Proficiency for Academic Staff (TOEPAS), developed for assessing whether university lecturers have sufficient oral proficiency for coping with the communicative demands of English-medium instruction at the University of Copenhagen.