As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party forges ahead with its strategy of nurturing "internationally minded" talent to aid economic growth, the prospect that students' scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) will be used as criteria for entering university looms increasingly large.
In this age of globalization, the need for personnel with adequate English ability isn't going to go away anytime soon. In addition to the well-known TOEFL, other types of English-proficiency tests, such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Global Test of English Communication (GTEC), have risen in prominence in recent years.
Now a new face is about to join the lineup: The Test of English for Academic Purposes, or TEAP.
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