New technology is providing the key to accurate and learner-focused language testing, PeopleCert CEO Byron Nicolaides tells Melanie Butler

You really are multilingual: a Greek, born and educated in Turkey, who also speaks English and French. What is your first memory of learning a foreign language?

Your question takes me way back. I was blessed to be born and raised in Istanbul – Constantinople to the Greeks – to a family of teachers who instilled in me their passion for continuous learning. At a crossroads of cultures, a place where one could hear various languages, to become multilingual was a oneway street. My father, an English language teacher himself, was the one who taught me the importance of a language, not just as a tool of communication but also as the means for understanding a different culture.

What does your own experience tell you about the importance of language tests?

In this era of globalisation, when new technologies have eliminated boundaries and borders, language learning has become more crucial than ever. It helps towards your social development and enhances your career opportunities.

Language testing has become essential. It is a prerequisite for proving language skills in the job market or in education. In my experience, aiming for an exam is also the best way to consolidate your knowledge and confirm your level.

You say your core values are ‘quality, innovation, passion and integrity’. If you had to pick which is most important for a company like PeopleCert, which one would it be and why?

You cannot separate your core values and put one first. Each is of equal importance and characterises our group of companies. In every step we take, all four values light our way and guide our decisions.

“My father taught me the importance of a language, not just as a tool of 
communication, but also as the means for understanding a different culture”

But if you had to pick just one?

Innovation. It is part of our DNA. It makes us stand out as a group, allows us to be at the forefront in many different markets, from IT and business to languages.

For instance, our online proctoring solution, which we developed in-house, allows candidates to take an exam from any place, at any time – and to be monitored online.

Innovation has enabled us to deliver over 5 million exams in over 200 countries.

Where do language tests fit in?

In May 2015 LanguageCert acquired the International English Language Exam suite from City & Guilds. Our aim was to combine a highly reputable series of qualifications with assessment technologies – we invested over 100 man-years developing the tools.

So our language tests use a state-of-theart assessment platform, Passport, which we created entirely in-house. It is for the development, delivery and management of paper-based and computer-based exams.

We have also developed our own cutting-edge item-banking system. This allows us to create different sets of exams for different test-takers’ needs. It also offers different configurations of exams – for example, linear vs computer adaptive.

Language tests have to appeal to a diverse group of stakeholders: national governments, schools and companies, and then there are the students. What is the one feature of your exams that you think will appeal to everyone?

With LanguageCert, I believe flexibility is the key feature. Thanks to our technology, we provide fully flexible exam delivery. We offer exams at approved test centres at any time of the year. We also ensure flexible registration and fast results. The e-certificate is issued ten days after the exam. The hard copy follows shortly after the results are released.

LanguageCert exams are also flexible contentwise, again according to the learners’ needs.