A famous Gershwin song chronicled the difficulties language nuances can contribute. If you say "ta-may-to" and I say "tah-mah-to," let's call the whole thing off.

English is rapidly becoming an international language. Two billion people will learn English as a second or foreign language over the next 20 years.

That's a lot of people speaking English as a second language. Why all this interest in what is — to many — a foreign language? The answer is simple. To conduct meetings. To negotiate business. To write political treatises. To apply for scientific grants.

Not all of these speakers of English will understand the exact same version of English.

In 2010, businesses are still having to clarify whether documents are printed in US Letter format or A4 format and heated arguments have been known to erupt over whether "theater" is spelled as such or as "theatre."

Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) addresses these concerns for teachers and institutions who not only admit international students buy may have courses taught by non-native speakers themselves. The test evaluates the real-life language ability of a test taker who intends to enter a tertiary academic program conducted in English. PTE Academic uses item types gathered from real-world sources , reflecting international English in both written and verbal form. In this way, it represents the true experience that a student will encounter in a university setting where students, faculty and administration come from a broad range of countries and cultures.

You can learn more about PTE Academic — including the Learning Resources available for students and teachers — at TESOL 2010 Booth 434. Educational sessions will be conducted within the booth throughout the exhibit hours.