China Daily Global Edition (USA)
New test system in the works
For students looking to prove their language proficiency, the CET 4 and CET 6 may soon be a thing of the past. reports.
The College English Tests, which are known as CET 4 and CET 6, will not be canceled but could morph into a new testing and rating system, according to a professor involved in the process.
Deng Jie, a professor of English at Hunan Normal University, who is involved in creating the new system that could be released soon, envisions the assessment of English proficiency through a nine-grade ranking.
It is also expected to offer consistent standards of evaluation nationwide and make it easier for English learners of different age groups, including college students, to assess their English proficiency.
Deng’s remarks were in response to reports that the College English Tests would be canceled in Anhui province this year.
Although the reports were the result of a misunderstanding over a notice released by the Anhui Education Examination Authority, some people took the issue further, saying that the tests should be scrapped as they are “not practical”.
Among those calling for the scrapping was ZengXiangyan, a senior student at Hunan University of Commerce, who says: “For most college students, CET represents two certificates that they have to obtain. Students no longer study English once they pass the tests, not to mention that English learned for the CET is not practical.”
The latest instance, however, is not the first time that people have expressed their dislike for the tests.
In 2003, Liu Runqing, a professor of English at Beijing Foreign Studies University and the director of the university’s Research Institute of Foreign Languages, called for scrapping the tests, saying that they were not scientific enough to reflect students’ English ability and that students spent too much time preparing for the tests and that their studies for college majors were being affected.
Liu’s call has long been supported by others, who also think that the tests, rather than helping students improve their English ability, were making the learning of English more test-oriented.
Every few years, there have been calls for the tests to be scrapped or reports that the tests would be canceled.
Amid the criticism, the tests have been reformed many times.
The tests, launched nationally by the Ministry of Education in late 1980s, which comprise questions on listening, reading, writing, translating and sometimes speaking, were originally designed to measure the quality of English teaching in colleges and the English proficiency of college students in China.
During the past three decades, the number of students taking the tests has increased from thousands to a few millions, and some colleges and universities, wanting students to perform well in the tests, even stipulated that those failing the tests would not be able to obtain their bachelor’s degrees.
An overhaul of the tests was carried out in 2005, in which the previously 100-point scoring system was changed into a 710-mark system.
In2008, the tests weremade computer-based. Over the years minor tweaks were made in the question types or in the proportion of each testing section.
Meanwhile, colleges and universities nationwide have also gradually delinked the tests from students’ academic degrees.
Given the changes, many people say the tests do not deserve such strong criticism and should be retained.
Lin Zhen, a senior student at Hunan City University, is one of them. Admitting that the tests do not reflect the students’ English ability in an allaround way, Lin says that they can still act as a stimulus to push students to work harder on their English skills.
“If the tests are canceled, I think students of non-English majors will not spend any time on learning the language,” she says.