In support of the Association of South-East Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) charter to become an integrated community of nations (such as the European Union), ETS and its Country Master Distributor in Indonesia (PT International Test Center) hosted an ETS Leadership Seminar Series titled “Towards a Community of Nations (ASEAN 2015)” recently to address the subject of English language learning (ELL) and assessment among ASEAN countries. Recent plans to solidify the community of countries have identified English-language proficiency as an important component for future success. With the continuous support of EPN  (ETS prefered network) members and ETS, there is a heightened awareness of using English and ELL assessment to enable a quality flow of manpower and resources within the ASEAN nations.

Following his opening remarks, David Hunt, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of ETS Global USA, addressed ETS’ work beyond the boundaries of educational assessment in aiding ASEAN countries in their goal to increase English proficiency as a means of unification and future success. Presenters, both Indonesian national and international, were invited to share their experience regarding the readiness of their respective ASEAN country towards the ASEAN 2015 Global Community of Nations.

Throughout the seminar, ELL experts and influential education officials presented their views and engaged with more than 200 leading government officials, academicians, corporate executives, language school operators and linguists in discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing their countries. Participants also examined ELL experiences, proficiency gaps, and assessment norms in their respective countries, as well as the potential for using the TOEIC test to measure the proficiency of English for international communication. EPN members to participate in the seminar included Connectere (Singapore), CPA (Thailand), Hopkins (Philippines), IIG (Vietnam) and Chun Shin Ltd. (Taiwan). Awards were also given to recognize the valued and outstanding TOEIC EPNs in various ASEAN countries.