Activities

Today, the Language Training and Testing Center (LTTC) warmly welcomed international academic partners from Arizona State University, Columbia University, the University of Maryland, College Park, Swarthmore College, and Fulbright Taiwan for an engaging and inspiring exchange.

The meeting focused on bilingual education policy and English proficiency assessment, with in-depth discussion of the BEST Test of English Proficiency (BESTEP), developed and administered by LTTC under commission from the Ministry of Education. The visiting scholars highly commended the test’s reliability, validity, and rigorous administration procedures, and welcomed the fact that locally developed English proficiency tests that are more culturally responsive and more accurately reflect the abilities of students in Taiwan—such as the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) and BESTEP—are gaining international recognition. They also expressed support for efforts to encourage more U.S. universities to accept BESTEP scores as one of the evidential sources for evaluating the academic English communication proficiency of applicants from Taiwan.

This exchange not only strengthened international collaboration, but also created new opportunities to enhance the global mobility of students in Taiwan, opening fresh perspectives and possibilities for future Taiwan–U.S. cooperation in language education and assessment research. LTTC will continue to work with partners worldwide to drive innovation in language education and assessment.