총 36페이지

03
Pandora’sBox
FLEX Cannot be Future of HUFS
without Immediate Improvement
By LeeJin-woo
H
Consultant
UFS conducted its final language proficiency test on Nov. 1, the same day that many
prominent businesses administer their own exams for prospective employees. The
conflicting schedules between the University’s Foreign Language Examination (FLEX)
andthecorporateexamshighlightjustoneoftheproblemswiththeformer.Forsomegraduating
seniors, sitting for the FLEX meant the loss of potential employment opportunities, which
prompted the General Student Council (GSC) to collect some 30 cases involving students who
experiencedsuchadisadvantageasaresultofFLEX’sscheduling.
FLEXhasinfactbeenapointofcontentionforstudentsatalllevelssinceitwasadoptedbythe
Universityasthemajorcriteriaforgraduation.Theissuecameupinthe2009GSCelections,with
candidatestakingacuefromtheconcernsofstudentsandpromisingtolookmorecloselyatthe
debateovertheexam.Heighteningsuchconcernswastherecentdecisionbyalldepartmentsthat
from the second semester onwards, all graduating students irrespective of their admission’s year
mustmeetthestandardcriteriaofFLEX.Priortothisdecision,thoseseniorswhodidnothavethe
necessaryFLEXscorescouldtakealternativetests.
Before making FLEX a prerequisite to graduation, the University must first address problems
associated with the test. Among these is the fact that only four tests are administered per year,
andgiventhedifficultyofthetestsandtheuseofanabsolutegradingsystem,studentscomplain
that they do not provide sufficient opportunity to accrue the points necessary to satisfy FLEX
requirements.AnotheroftcitedproblemisthescarcityofprepmaterialsandresourcesforFLEX.
Of course, HUFS has been making an effort to make FLEX a more effective test to equally
measurethefourbasiclanguageskills.Theexamwasdevelopedasastandardtooltomeasurethe
generalabilityofforeignlanguagesin1999.ThetestsforChineseandJapanesewereauthorized
by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in 2007, while the tests for
French,German,andSpanishweregivenofficialapprovalbyMESTin2009.
Onthepositiveside,thesuccessfulexpansionofFLEXcangiveHUFSgreateropportunitiesto
stand out as the biggest university to teach foreign languages. On the down side, it could take a
longtimebeforeproblemswiththetestaresufficientlyaddressedtosatisfytheneedsofstudents.
The University must therefore take into account the opinion of its students and work to improve
thetest.
interpreter2010@hufs.ac.kr
DECEMBER 2009

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