TOEIC Listening and Reading Test and Overall English Ability

Abstract

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) covers the four skill areas of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. This study investigates the correlations between the four skill scores of the TOEIC to determine the practicality of using the listening and reading scores to gauge overall English ability. The study was conducted over a 3-year period, during which data were collected from 260 university students. The four skill scores were significantly correlated with each other, with the highest correlation between the listening and reading scores (r = .73), and the lowest between the listening and writing scores (r = .52). The combined listening and reading scores were strongly correlated to the overall scores (r = .95), which suggests that the TOEIC Listening and Reading test scores can be a good proxy for overall scores on the TOEIC. The Test of English for International Communication（TOEIC）は、リスニング、リーディング、スピーキング、ライティングの4つの技能領域を対象にしている。本研究では、リスニングとリーディングの得点を総合的な英語力の判定に使うことの実用性を判定するため、TOEICの4技能得点間の相関を調べた。本研究は3年間に渡って行われ、260名の大学生からデータを集めた。4技能の得点間にはそれぞれ有意な相関があり、一番高い相関はリスニングとリーディングの得点間（r = .73）、一番低い相関はリスニングとライティングの得点間（r = .52）であった。リスニングとリーディングの合計点は、総合点と強い相関があり、それはTOEIC Listening and Readingテストの得点がTOEICの総合点の良い代替指標になり得ることを示唆している。