Japan’s NEC, an IT services and products provider, is looking to adopt an English testing system for employees used by Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group, according to Japanese and local media.

NEC, a former semiconductor rival of Samsung Electronics, plans to test some 100,000 of its employees and recruits at its headquarters and subsidiaries over the next three years using the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer, developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

Samsung has been using the OPIc to evaluate its employees’ English-language proficiency before dispatching them to overseas units. ACTFL currently offers the OPIc in over 40 countries for both the education and corporate sectors.

Credu, a subsidiary of Samsung Group, has been managing the English test for employees of all Samsung subsidiaries since 2005. Samsung SDS and Samsung Economic Research Institute own a combined 60.5 percent stake in Credu, a listed education services and human resources manager for Samsung.

It has been reported that NEC will be using this testing system as it has been proven to be highly effective in boosting Samsung employees’ English skills needed for global operations.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)