HISTORY

Founder of the TOEIC Test

The TOEIC Test was born from the strong conviction of a certain person. That person was Yasuo Kitaoka. Kitaoka joined Time Inc. in 1951. and began to work internationally in the 1970s, utilizing his language skills. As an advisor to the Japan-U.S. Business Conference, he was at the negotiating table and keenly felt the need for an objective "yardstick" to measure English communication ability. This awareness of the problem became the starting point for the development of the "TOEIC Test." In 1974, he left Time Inc. and established International Communications Inc. (ICI).

In developing the TOEIC Test, Kitaoka frequently visited ETS (Educational Testing Service), an American test development organization, from 1977 to the following year, and held numerous negotiations. Protase Woodford, the ETS representative at the time, was moved by Kitaoka's extraordinary enthusiasm and perseverance, and showed strong interest in his innovative concept of a "globally standardized test," offering his cooperation. This eventually led to the birth of the TOEIC Test.

Two People Who Supported Kitaoka

●Yaeji Watanabe
It was Yaeji Watanabe who worked alongside Yasuo Kitaoka to realize the implementation of the　TOEIC Test. Watanabe retired from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) at the young age of 49 and established the "Japan-China Economic Association" with the aim of supporting economic and cultural exchange between Japan and China. Having worked at the government ministry responsible for promoting Japanese trade, Watanabe later met Kitaoka, and they bonded over their shared desire to improve the English proficiency of Japanese business people. From then on, Watanabe worked tirelessly toward the implementation of the TOEIC Test in Japan and the establishment of a foundation to support it.

●Yukio Saegusa
Another key person was Yukio Saegusa, who worked with Kitaoka at Time Inc. Saegusa had diverse experience, having worked as a high school teacher, in the editorial department of a publishing company, and also taught Japanese at Stanford University. He later served as an editor-in-chief at International Communications, Inc. and a professor at Waseda University. It was Saegusa who advised Kitaoka to commission ETS for the development of the TOEIC Test. After the test's launch, he dedicated himself to analyzing test-taker data, playing a crucial role in supporting the reliability and advancement of the TOEIC Test.

The TOEIC LPI (Language Proficiency Interview)* aimed to provide a more rigorous and detailed evaluation of speaking ability, and eligibility was granted to those who had achieved a score of 730 or higher on the TOEIC Secure Program.
It was an interview test conducted in a one-on-one free conversation format with an interviewer. Each time, the test was held in Tokyo and Osaka approximately two months after the end of the Secure Program.
*The TOEIC LPI ended in 2010.

For the first time since the 2006 TOEIC Test New Version, the question format was revised in 2015.
At the "TOEIC Test Updates" presentation held in November 2015, the background of the changes to the question format and content was explained.
Actual communication situations, such as chat and instant messaging, which became popular around this time, were reflected in the questions of the updated test.