The Hindu Business Line : Orient Longman joins hands with Trinity College, London

FOR call centres, software documentation professionals, educational institutions and firms in India looking for an evaluation standard for their staff in English language, there is some interesting news.

Orient Longman, the publishing house, and Trinity College, London, have joined hands to bring the Trinity ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) examinations to India.

Those who get through these examinations could be suitable candidates with English language proficiency for call centre trainees and trainers. Similarly, individuals who wish to make the move to advance their careers and companies intending to assess their staff's English proficiency could find it useful.

Under the partnership, Orient Longman will initially offer two Trinity College examinations in India — the Graded Examination in Spoken English (GESE) and the Integrated Skills in English Examination (ISE). The examinations would be formally launched this month through workshops in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. These workshops would be conducted by Mr Clinton Rae, Director of Language Examinations, and Ms Lynda Coney, Senior Examiner, Trinity College, according to a press release from Orient Longman here.

Trinity College has been setting standards in testing English language for more than 60 years. Accredited in the UK by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Trinity assessments are recognised worldwide, the release said.

The GESE is a progressive series of tests to assess students from their first step in English to near first-language fluency.

The ISE exams are on the other hand intended for all those who wish to record achievements in reading, writing, speaking and listening in English and possess internationally recognised certified evidence of proficiency in these four language skills.