The Education Ministry is considering renaming its English test for students and adults.

An official told The Korea Herald that the ministry is searching separate names for the two versions of the National English Ability Test currently being trialed.

“The word ‘National’ doesn’t fit in our long-term plan to export the testing tool to other countries where English is not spoken as the mother tongue,” he said, adding that the ministry plans to export the adult version of NEAT.

NEAT is being developed by the ministry largely to replace the English test part of the current state-administered college entrance exam. The new test will place more focus on speaking and writing skills rather than reading comprehension and grammar. NEAT consists of three levels, with level one for adults and level two and three for minors.

Another official said that the ministry is also considering substituting “ability” in the test name with “assessment.”

“As in the case of the nationwide college entrance exam SAT, which was renamed from Scholastic Aptitude Test to Scholastic Assessment Test, we are considering a similar change of name for NEAT,” he said.

An English education professor at Yonsei University said renaming the test is tricky because the initials of its new name had meaning.

“The name of a test should be neutral to be credible. If you use a word that indicates the identity of a certain country, some countries may not adopt it,” she said.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)