TOEIC Link, A New International English

Proficiency Exam Offered at Al Farabi, KazNU

Recently, Al Farabi KazNU started offering a new English Proficiency Exam – TOEIC Link – open to university employees and outside candidates. TOEIC Link is the latest English language proficiency test from ETS, the organization that designed and offers international exams such as TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE and Praxis.

A few words about the TOEIC assessment of English language skills and the new TOEIC Link (it was only launched last year). TOEIC exam was developed by the ETS with the purpose of measuring workforce English-language proficiency across any or all four communication skills — listening, reading, speaking and writing. The exam can be taken in a modular fashion: assessing either receptive skills (Listening and Reading) or productive skills (Speaking and Writing) in English.

TOEIC Link is a streamlined version of the TOEIC exam making it a really fast, flexible way to test English language proficiency online. Just like the regular TOEIC, TOEIC Link is taken in modular way: Listening and Reading or/and Speaking and Writing. For university employees, the latter is the way to go as productive skills are assessed. Those who teach English-speaking groups are required to have a high level of English verbal proficiency as well as to be able to write academic articles in English.

TOEIC Link is truly a fast way to evaluate a candidate’s level of English. The Speaking and Writing module takes about 37 minutes, while the combined four-skills TOEIC Link assessment takes under 90 minutes. Results are delivered immediately for Listening and Reading tests and within 48 hours for Speaking and Writing tests. 

Here’s the breakdown of tasks for the Speaking and Writing test:

Speaking module:

1. Read a dialogue aloud (preparation: 25 seconds, res­pon­se: 40 seconds)

2. Listen and repeat

3. Express an opinion (pre­para­tion: 45 seconds, response: 60 seconds)

Writing:

1. Build a sentence (1 minute)

2. Write a brief email (7 mi­nutes)

3. Write an extended email (7 minutes)

4. Write about your pers­pec­tive – online forum post (10 minutes)

In our humble opinion, TOEIC Link is not a difficult exam and the brevity of the test is one of its big advantages. Compared the IELTS test with its 2 hours 45 minutes duration, 37 minutes - or 90 minutes if one takes all the four skills assessment – TOEIC Link is a much more user-friendly and energy-saving exam. You don’t get as tired and are much more likely to stay at your sharpest throughout the whole exam. Besides, TOEIC Link’s lower price also makes it a very appealing option for those who need an officially recognized English proficiency exam score.

Information about TOEIC Link can be found on the official ETS webpage: https://www.ets.org/toeic/about/link.html 

Farida Mukazhanova,

Senior Lecturer (Foreign Languages Department)