TTI International to Launch Ordinate's PhonePass Automated English Speaking Test in Korea.

Business Editors/High-tech & Education Writers

SEOUL, Korea and MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2000

New Language Testing Service From Ordinate, Menlo Park, Now

Available Through TTI International, the Teacher Training

Institute of Yoon's English Academy

TTI International and Ordinate Corporation today announced the introduction of Ordinate's proprietary PhonePass(TM) Spoken English Tests (SET) in Korea. TTI International, a non-profit institute affiliated with Yoon's English Academy, will offer the PhonePass testing service in Korea for use by companies to evaluate the spoken English skills of existing personnel and prospective employees and for use by language teaching institutions to provide certification for teachers and students.

The PhonePass test system uses patented linguistics and signal processing technology to provide unbiased and accurate spoken English assessments. The PhonePass test system provides an efficient, cost-effective method for evaluating spoken English proficiency. The current PhonePass test configuration is a ten-minute automated telephone interaction that can be used at any time of day, from anywhere in the world. Examinees connect to the PhonePass test system via a conventional telephone and are asked to respond to spoken prompts including repeating sentences of varying length and answering questions. No computer hardware or software is required to take the PhonePass tests, and no training is needed.

"We are excited to offer Ordinate's PhonePass Spoken English Tests in Korea. The PhonePass test system measures how well a person speaks English. In the past, important speaking skills could only be evaluated by a specially trained expert, and the evaluations were tedious, expensive, and subject to biases and inaccuracies. The PhonePass test system represents a technical breakthrough and overcomes many of the weaknesses of other English speaking tests; it is less expensive, more accurate, and faster and simpler to administer. Additionally, as a result of the test parameters and structure, the PhonePass tests are extremely secure," said Choe, Kee-Hyung, Director of TTI International. "Assessing English speaking skills is very important for Korean businesses and the PhonePass test system provides an easy, efficient way to accomplish this. With the PhonePass test, companies will no longer have to rely on a reading test to determine if a person can speak English."

"We are very delighted to be working with TTI to address the needs of the Korean market for evaluating English speaking abilities. We believe that TTI and Yoon's English Academy are Korea's most forward-looking providers of language services, with an amazing record of success in embracing new media and information systems technologies," commented Jared Bernstein, Ph.D., President and Founder of Ordinate Corporation. "We believe that we have found in TTI the best partner to roll out the PhonePass test in the Korean market. We anticipate that the PhonePass testing system is shaping a new era of spoken language testing and it will become Korea's gold-standard for evaluating a person's English speaking and comprehension abilities."

About PhonePass

Ordinate's PhonePass testing service is the first Internet and telephone-based system for interactively measuring spoken language skills; establishing a higher level of convenience, security and cost-efficiency for language testing. Based on Ordinate's patented technology, the PhonePass tests provide highly accurate test scores, which are available immediately over the Internet or by telephone. The tests have undergone extensive validations at Stanford and other universities in the United States and Europe to ensure their validity and security. The SET-10 and SET-5 PhonePass tests, now being offered by TTI in Korea, are currently used in employee selection and for workforce development, by educational institutes and corporations worldwide. The PhonePass testing system brings sophisticated language assessment to educational and commercial organizations with a testing service that is as close and easy to use as your own telephone.

About TTI

TTI International is a non-profit division of Yoon's English Academy, an essential part of Hyundae Yong-O-Sa. Yoon's English Academy has an enrollment of 400,000 elementary and secondary school students throughout South Korea. It has devoted its full energy and effort to publishing the most effective materials for Korean students and to enhance English education in Korea for the past 20 years.

As part of the ongoing effort to enhance English education in Korea, Hyundae Yong-O-Sa established TTI International in 1997 to provide advanced TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) support to elementary and secondary school teachers. In the past three years, TTI International has trained over 8,000 English teachers throughout South Korea. TTI also has sponsored and continues to sponsor courses, seminars, and national and international conferences in association with the IATEFL, KOSETA, KATE, KAESET, KOTESOL, the British Council, and many other organizations. For more information on TTI or the Korea PhonePass testing system please see the website at www.phonepasskorea.com

Ordinate Corporation

Ordinate Corporation, a privately-held company, is the leader in development and provision of systems for automated assessment of speaking skills. Ordinate is committed to providing fast, simple and accurate evaluation of spoken language skills. For more information on Ordinate or the PhonePass testing system please see Ordinate's website at www.ordinate.com.