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The TOEIC Newsletter is published quarterly by the Institute for International Business Communication (IIBC) in Japanese. It features how the TOEICtest is used effectively within companies, universities and other institutions. We offer the latest case studies of TOEIC test usage to our clients, so theycan take full advantage of the TOEIC test within their organization. In this journal, we also introduce a trend of global human resources development andthe globalization movement in Japan. This issue is a summary of the TOEIC Newsletter No.103 (issued: November 2008) translated into English by IIBC for its readers around the world.

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Contents Featured interviewThe key to communication is a strong will to get your message across 2

Oki Matsumoto, Representative Director, President & CEO, Monex Group, Inc.

Special FeatureTOEIC SW tests used to gauge the effect of communication-oriented English training for employees

4Columbia Sportswear Japan, Inc.

Practical business English students take TOEIC SW tests 6Business Breakthrough Inc.

First school in Japan to offer students to take the TOEIC SW IP tests 7Dokkyo University

TOEIC SW tests supplement the elective Speech Course, which focuses on students' abilities for self-expression and explanation 10

Miyazaki Municipal University

InterviewWhat is needed to improve speaking and writing skills 13Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

The TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests (TOEIC SW tests) were introduced in January 2007 as a way to gaugeexaminees' speaking and writing abilities. Group applications to take the Secure Program (SP) began in Decemberof that year, and the Institutional Program (IP) was launched the following June, thus allowing companies, schools,and other organizations to start making use of the TOEIC SW tests.In this issue, we take a look at businesses and universities that have been prompt in introducing the TOEIC SWtests and are using the tests (along with the TOEIC test) to improve the English ability of those within their respectiveinstitutions.

Special Feature

Making use of the TOEIC SW tests

Digest Version

TOEIC NewsletterNo.103

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At the Open College, one of our courses isPractical English for Global Leaders, which is aprogram concerning practical business English.Needless to say, communication in English requires aknowledge of basic vocabulary and grammar, as wellas receptive and productive skills. But it is alsonecessary to have a mindset oriented towards the useof English and an understanding of the subtlenuances that English holds, as well as the practicalability to use the right expression for the givensituation. Practical English for Global Leaders coversthese elements with a curriculum that focuses onthree aspects of English communication: Englishability; an English-oriented mindset; and practicalability.

The course spans one year, during which weprovide opportunities for students to take theTOEIC test and the TOEIC SW tests. Students arenot required to take the tests, but we offer themevery other month for those who wish to.

In learning English, one of the mostimportant things is perseveranceto keep at itsomaintaining motivation is vital. For our PracticalEnglish for Global Leaders course, we use theTOEIC test and TOEIC SW tests as a way tomotivate students and encourage them to take thetests regularly to keep track of their progress.

The reason we chose the TOEIC test amongall of the available options was that it is the mostwidely known and trusted among business people.We also decided to adopt the TOEIC SW testsbecause they allow us to directly measure speakingand writing skills, and because the tests are under thesame brand as the TOEIC test.

Many of the students in our PracticalEnglish for Global Leaders course are sent by ourcorporate clients, and the fact that the TOEIC tests,

which are highly trusted within the corporatecommunity, enables us to clearly indicate eachstudent's improvement in productive skills, resultingfrom their study efforts, was also a major factor inour decision to choose TOEIC.

In fact, I took the TOEIC SW tests myselfas part of the process of choosing the appropriatetests to recommend to my students. The TOEICSpeaking testwith its pace of questions, itsemphasis on expressive ability, and its format thatrequires examinees to think in English beforeanswering in that same languageimpressed me asbeing very practical. Meanwhile, the focus of theTOEIC Writing test on communicating a messagethrough composition and narrative development,for instance, rather than spelling and grammarperfectly suited the concept of our course.

The students of Practical English for GlobalLeaders are diverse, with some wanting to workoverseas in the future, while others have a morepressing need to improve their English for theircurrent jobs. Regardless of their specific motivation,I hope that all of the students will use the TOEICtest and TOEIC SW tests as a way to regularly checkup on their skills so they can go on to achieve theirrespective goals.

For more details about the Practical English for GlobalLeaders course, see the course website. (*Available onlyin Japanese)http://www.ohmae.ac.jp/ex/pe/

Practical business Englishstudents take TOEICSW tests

Business Breakthrough Inc.

Business Breakthrough Inc. is a management training company whose courses at its GraduateSchool of Business Open College include a language training course called Practical English forGlobal Leaders. We spoke to Keiko Yamada, a manager of the Kenichi Ohmae Graduate School ofBusiness, about the use of the TOEIC test and TOEIC SW tests as part of that course.

Keiko YamadaManagerKenichi Ohmae Graduate School of BusinessBusiness Breakthrough Inc.