English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner
By Liying Cheng, Andy Curtis
* Publisher: Routledge
* Number Of Pages: 304
* Publication Date: 2009-09-14
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0415994470
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780415994477
Product Description:
"This volume addresses a very timely and important topic, and provides both broad and in-depth coverage of a number of large-scale English tests in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and about the Chinese learner."
Lyle F. Bachman, From the Foreword
Building on current theoretical and practical frameworks for English language assessment and testing, this book presents a comprehensive, up-to-date, relevant picture of English language assessment for students in China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and for Chinese learners of English around the world. Written by well-recognized international scholars in language testing, it covers
the history of tests and testing systems, issues and challenges, and current research in China;
both test-designers’ and test-users’ points of view on test development and test validation within a range of political, economical, social, and financial contexts in China;
theoretical/conceptual perspectives on the use of the English language assessment at different levels, including societal, university, and schools; and
empirical research related specifically to test development, curricular innovation, and test validation
Given the long history of objective testing and its extensive use in Chinese society, and considering the sheer number of students taking various tests in English in China and elsewhere, an understanding of the impact of English language testing is essential for anyone involved in testing and assessment issues in China and elsewhere in the world. This is a must-read volume for testing and assessment policy makers, curriculum designers, researchers, ESL/EFL materials writers, graduate students, and English language teachers/researchers at all levels.
Contents
Foreword by Lyle F. Bachman x
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvi
The Editors xvii
PART I
Setting the Scene 1
1 The Realities of English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner in
China and Beyond 3
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2 The History of Examinations: Why, How, What and Whom to Select? 13
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
PART II
Validity and Test Validation: Views from Test Designers 27
3 The National Education Examinations Authority and its English
Language Tests 29
QINGSI LIU, The National Education Examinations Authority
4 The National College English Testing Committee 44
YAN JIN, Shanghai Jiaotong University
5 Developments of English Language Assessment in Public Examinations
in Hong Kong 60
CHEE-CHEONG CHOI AND CHRISTINA LEE, Hong Kong Examinations and
Assessment Authority
6 The Language Training and Testing Center, Taiwan: Past, Present, and
Future 77
ANTONY JOHN KUNNAN, California State University, Los Angeles
JESSICA R. W. WU, The Language Training and Testing Center
PART III
Test Use and Consequences: Views from Test-Users—Test Quality:
Theoretical/Conceptual Points of View 93
7 From TOEFL pBT to TOEFL iBT: Recent Trends, Research Landscape,
and Chinese Learners 95
DAVID D. QIAN, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
8 IELTS: International English Language Testing System 112
JANNA FOX, Carleton University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
9 Chinese Test-takers’ Performance and Characteristics on the Michigan
English Language Assessment Battery 121
XIAOMEI SONG, Queen’s University
10 The Public English Test System 132
JIANDA LIU, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
11 The Graduate School Entrance English Examination 145
LIANZHEN HE, Zhejiang University
12 The General English Profi ciency Test 158
VIPHAVEE VONGPUMIVITCH, National Tsing Hua University
PART IV
Test Use and Consequences: Views from Test-Users—Test Quality:
Empirical Studies 173
13 Chinese EFL Learners’ Discoursal Performance in the Cambridge ESOL
FCE Speaking Test: Culture-Specifi c or Test-Driven? 175
YANG LU, University of Nottingham
14 Exploring the Relationship between Chinese University Students’
Attitudes towards the College English Test and their Test Performance 190
JING ZHAO, The Ohio State University
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
viii Contents
15 Chinese EFL Students’ Perceptions of the Classroom Assessment
Environment and their Goal Orientations 202
XIAOYING WANG, Beijing Foreign Studies University
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
16 Should Proofreading Go? Examining the Selection Function and Washback
of the Proofreading Sub-test in the National Matriculation English Test 219
LUXIA QI, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
17 The Computerized Oral English Test of the National Matriculation
English Test 234
YONGQIANG ZENG, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
18 The Hong Kong Certifi cate of Education: School-Based Assessment
Reform in Hong Kong English Language Education 248
CHRIS DAVISON, The University of New South Wales
LIZ HAMP-LYONS, The University of Hong Kong
PART V
The Link between Test Validity and Validation, and Test Use and the
Consequences: Conclusion and Beyond 265
19 The Impact of English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner in
China and Beyond 267
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
List of Contributors 274
Index 276
Foreword
Lyle F. Bachman
It would appear that, for better or worse, English will continue as the preferred lingua
franca for international communication well into this century, if not beyond. This,
despite the fact that the countries where English is the dominant language are becoming
less and less dominant, both economically and politically, and that this century will
most certainly see an increasing dominance on the world scene of countries that until
now have been classed as “emerging”, economically, e.g., Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and Korea. English is still the most widely taught foreign or second language in the
world, with approximately 2 billion learners expected worldwide by 2010. Furthermore,
the bulk of this increase is expected to occur in China and India, both of which are
promoting English in primary schools. And to be sure, where English is taught, it will be
assessed. This volume thus addresses a very timely and important topic, and the chapters
in it provide both broad and in-depth coverage of a number of large-scale English tests
in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and about the Chinese Learner.
In their preface, the editors argue that the global scope of English language assessment
and the huge scale on which this takes place in China make the particular intersection of
language assessment and the Chinese Learner of unique importance. However, I would
submit that the language testing issues discussed in the volume are not unique to the
assessment of Chinese Learners’ English at all. Rather, the enormity of the enterprise in
this context magnifi es kinds of problems that are faced by language testers everywhere,
and makes it more diffi cult to fi nd justifi able solutions. Thus, one fi nds some familiar
and perennial issues discussed in the chapters: validity of scored-based interpretations,
consequences of test use, fairness, washback, and the tensions between the functions
of selection and washback, and between assessment for learning and assessment for
selection or certifi cation. In addition some very “real-world” issues come through, such
as the politics of language assessment development and use and the management of
resources as needs and test-taker populations expand. Finally, the chapters also provide
some visions for the future of assessing the English of the Chinese Learner.
One message that comes through strong and clear from the descriptions of the highstakes
English tests in China in this volume is that for many of these tests, providing
“positive washback” on instruction is explicitly stated as a purpose, in addition to
providing information for making various kinds of decisions, such as selection,
promotion or certifi cation. The intended consequence of promoting positive washback
on instruction is perhaps the single characteristic that distinguishes many of these tests
from high-stakes language tests in other parts of the world. In the USA, for example,
although much lip-service has been paid to “authentic” and “performance” assessments
for high-stakes accountability decisions in school settings, virtually none of the largescale
state assessments of English profi ciency, for either English Language Learners or
English-only students, claims positive washback on instruction as a goal. This is also
the case with tests used for university selection. Thus, in stark contrast with the Hong
Kong Advanced Level Examination, neither the SAT nor the ACT in the USA claims to
promote positive washback on instruction.
In addition to chapters discussing all of the major high-stakes English tests in China,
the volume includes a number of chapters reporting research studies that investigate
both specifi c and general issues in English language testing in China. These chapters
provide some very insightful glimpses into the domain of this book—the interaction
between English language assessments and Chinese learners. They also take us into the
domain of students, teachers, and classroom assessment. Finally, they tell us something
about the “Chinese Learner”. What I fi nd most fascinating about this group of chapters
is that by focusing on a single “type” of learner, they show us once again how complex
the interactions are among test-takers, the multifarious facets of test-tasks, and the
performance that these tasks elicit. At another level, by focusing on one sociocultural
setting, they reveal the complexities of the social, cultural, and political dimensions of
the real world in which language assessment takes place.
The world of the Chinese Learner is a particularly complex one that is fraught
with inherent tensions, if not confl icts, between traditional Confucian values that
honor authority, the family, education, and harmony in society, on the one hand, and
a drive to not only compete, but to excel in a modern world in which individualism,
personal gain, and corporate profi t, even mendacity, seem to be the guiding values,
on the other. The “New China” quite legitimately wishes to shed its image as the sick
man of Asia, and claim its rightful place as a world leader. However, this rush toward
“modernization”, which gave China the “Great Leap Forward” and more recently
has produced the Three Gorges Dam and the truly amazing buildings for the 2008
Olympics, has also had disastrous consequences for millions of Chinese people. This
tension between the benefi ts and negative consequences of modernization exemplifi es,
in my view, at the national level, the same tensions and confl icts faced by individual
Chinese learners.
Within this context, the assessment of English faces similar tensions. Traditional
values of the Chinese society, including a respect for the examination system, pull
toward tests that are embedded in the education system, in teaching and learning, and
that will lead to decisions that will benefi t the society as a whole. This is a culture in
which examinations are valued, and decisions that are made on the basis of examination
results are generally accepted almost without question, as fair. This explains, in part,
why developers of English tests in China begin with the premise that the decisions made
on the basis of tests will be benefi cial to stakeholders and the society as a whole. Modern
psychological and educational measurement, on the other hand, which values qualities
such as psychometric reliability, and validity as the predictability of selection decisions,
pushes towards tests that can be easily and consistently administered and scored. This
is a culture of skepticism, in which test developers and decision-makers must convince
an unbelieving public that tests and the decisions made on the basis of test results are
justifi ed.
Foreword xi
The editors state that “This book, then, attempts to bridge the gap between test validity
and test consequences so we can better justify the use of English language assessment to its
stakeholders” (Chapter 1), and that it has been structured “in such a way that readers can
situate the discussions of the Chinese Learner in relation to English language assessment
within a historical, social, political, and economic context in China” (Chapter 19). The
bridge between test validity and consequences is long and still largely a vision, not yet a
blueprint, let alone under construction, for language assessment, while an understanding
of Chinese history and culture is surely a life-long undertaking. Nevertheless, this
volume gives us glimpses of both, and thus whets our appetites as researchers, for greater
understanding, while stimulating our better instincts, as test-developers, to assure that
our assessments of English will promote benefi cial consequences, not only for China
and the Chinese Learner, but for English learners the world over.
xii Foreword
Preface
As noted on the fi rst page of the fi nal chapter of this book, the book is structured “in such
a way that the readers can situate the discussions of the Chinese Learner in relation to
English language assessment within a historical, social, political, and economic context
in China.” Interestingly, in relation to the economic context, as we write this preface in
July 2008, one of the world’s largest and most successful companies, in terms of products
and profi ts, General Motors (GM), is announcing its worst economic losses for more
than half-a-century (BBC News Online, July 3, 2008). But what does that have to do with
English language assessment and testing?
First, English language assessment and testing is big business, running globally into
the millions of US dollars every year, and possibly even more. More importantly, this
announcement by GM, together with a great many other indicators, such as the economic
recession in America, signals that we may be witnessing, for better and for worse, the
beginning of the end of the USA as a global economic, political and military superpower.
If so—and assuming the world still needs such super-powers—which country
could take on that role? Europe’s time in that position appears to have come and gone,
and it is still too early for Latin America, although the global growth of the Spanishspeaking
world may enable Latin America to take on this role eventually. It is also likely
to be too early for the Middle East or Africa. This then leaves, again for better and for
worse, China as the most likely contender.
These two factors combined—the multi-million dollar business of English language
assessment and testing and rise of The New China, complete with the fi rst ever China
Olympic Games under its belt—mean that the impact of English language assessment
and testing in China could soon be felt in every part of the world. As noted in the opening
chapter: “Currently, more than 27 million Chinese university students are learning
English and taking English tests.” This is a truly mind-boggling fi gure, almost beyond
comprehension; a fi gure approaching the entire population of the second largest country
in the world (by land mass), Canada, estimated at around 33 million in 2007—and this
is only the students in China at university level. These, then, are some of the reasons
why we started working on this book, which grew out of a conversation during the 2005
Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), held in Ottawa, Canada in July of that
year. The conversation was between the two editors in a room at the conference hotel,
the Fairmont Ch鈚eau Laurier. As we sat in our hotel room, we asked ourselves: Why,
with the massive numbers of Chinese students taking English language exams, and with
China Rising (Goodman & Segal, 1997), is there not a book on this essential aspect of
the New China? We then checked to make sure that such a volume did indeed appear to
be conspicuous by its absence, and started contacting potential contributors. Four years
later, we are fi nally able to present a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of English
language assessment for students in China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan)
and for Chinese Learners of English around the world.
Another reason for bringing this collection together, and one of the recurring themes
throughout the book, is that in China, for students to be successful in school means taking
numerous tests and examinations in English at every grade. Major public examinations
are required to enter junior and senior secondary schools, university, and postgraduate
education. Examinations continue to be used for the selection of government offi cials,
for the promotion of academics and professionals, and for obtaining better employment
involving international communication. Among these tests and examinations, English
is used as the gatekeeper for these purposes. It is therefore essential to understand the
Chinese Learner and the Chinese context within which so much of the world’s English
language assessment is situated.
Another relatively small but signifi cant example, for language testers, of the new world
order was the recent LTRC, held for the fi rst time in the organization’s 30-year history in
June 2008 in mainland China (at Zhejiang University in Hang Zhou). Appropriately, the
main accommodation for the conference attendees was the Zhejiang Xizi Hotel, the main
block of which is translated into English as ‘Villa 1’, famous for being the place where
Chairman Mao is reported to have stayed 27 times between 1959 and 1975 (according to
a bilingual Chinese–English inscription on a boulder just outside Villa 1).
The appropriateness of the venue was inadvertently but fortuitously highlighted
by Jianda Liu in Chapter 10 of this collection: “The Cultural Revolution (1966–76)
involved a mass mobilization of urban Chinese youth. Schools were closed and
students were encouraged to join units which denounced and persecuted Chinese
teachers and intellectuals. There were also widespread book burnings and mass
relocations. The Cultural Revolution also caused economic disruption. After 10 years,
the movement was brought to a close in 1976.” That brief, 60-word endnote attempts
to summarize, in just a few words, a time of unimaginable turmoil in China’s recent
history, ending barely 30 years ago—a tiny drop of time in the vast ocean of one of
the world’s oldest civilizations, dating back more than 5,000 years (see Chapter 1).
This, then, was another key reason why we believe that the time has come for a book
like this. If China continues to develop over the next 30 years the way it has done
over the previous 30, in the near future, English language assessment and testing in
China could be driving English language assessment and testing all over the world—
assuming it is not already.
In the opening chapter, The Realities of English Language Assessment and the Chinese
Learner in China and Beyond, the scene is set for the rest of the book by presenting some
of the history of English language tests and examinations in China, and by defi ning the
notions of “the Chinese Learner” and “the Chinese context”. This opening chapter also
gives an overview of the structure of the book, consisting of four major parts and one
concluding chapter in part fi ve. We have adopted the term assessment to include both
examinations and tests. |
楼主: 帆帆
