While Japan looks to make a passing score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language mandatory for university entrance, it should also consider alternative exams that might work better, said John de Jong, senior vice president at Pearson English, a division of Pearson PLC.

"PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic is the most recent international test. It was developed in the 21st century," de Jong said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. "So we could make use of the experience and the information that is around in the language-testing world."

De Jong was visiting Japan last week to make a presentation to the education ministry about PTE Academic, which like the TOEFL is designed to measure the English proficiency of non-native speakers.