语言测试:新技术与新理论

Language testing: New technology and theory

去年九月,广州外国语学院的李筱菊教授和我应英国文化委员会的邀请赴英作为期四个月的学术访问,考察英国语言测试的新进展。我们先后在Lancaster, Readiog 和Edinburgh大学“下马观花”,并以三处为基地,到附近的考试机构参观,收益良多。这三所大学在语言测试研究方面素负盛名,Edin-

In this paper the author reports on the latest developments in language testing in Britain. Part one pictures the present state of language testing and related research; Part two sums up the advantages of using computers in language testing, discusses the impact of computer technology on the form and content of language testing, and explores the prospect and problems of the use of computers; Part three argues for the desirability of applying the simple one-parameter model, rather than other more complex models of Item Response Theory to language testing in China. The author observes that although improvement in testing seems to be a matter of technology, it actually involves a reorientation of educational thinking.