国内外三项商务英语阅读测试的比较研究(一)——任务设置的比较

A comparative study on three business English reading tests at home and abroad I:From the perspective of task setting

本研究使用Weir(2005)的社会—认知效度框架,从任务设置的角度对全国商务英语专业四级考试、BEC和BULATS样卷的阅读部分进行了环境效度研究,包括题型、权重、对评分标准的了解、题目顺序、呈现渠道、文本长度、时间限制等7个方面。研究发现,商务英语专业四级考试阅读部分的环境效度较高,具体表现为:题目呈现的渠道多样(图表和文本并存);机考形式能够很好地控制每项阅读任务的时间;文章具有一定的专业性,符合考试的商务性质和目标考生的特点。但是,研究也发现一些不足,例如:题型比较单一(均为多项选择题);使用均等权重;题目的顺序与其答案在文章中出现的顺序不一致等。针对以上不足,本文对如何改进商务英语专业四级考试提出了一系列建议。

This paper analyzes the context validity of the reading section in Test for Business English Majors Band 4 （TBEM4） of China, the Business English Certificates （BEC） and Business Language Testing Service （BULATS） within Weir＇s （2005） social-cognitive validity framework. The study approaches context validity from the perspective of task setting, which is investigated from 7 dimensions ： response method, weighting, knowledge of criteria, order of items, channel of presentation, text length, and time constraints. It finds that the reading part of TBEM4 has good context validity, as 1 ） there are diverse presentation channels （charts and texts coexist） ; 2） the computer-based test （CBT） controls well the time limit for each reading task; 3 ） the texts are from real business scenarios, consistent with the nature of the examination and the characteristics of the candidates. However, there are also shortcomings, for example ： 1 ） the response method is limited （ only multiple-choice questions） ; 2 ） it only uses equal weighting ; 3 ） the order of items is inconsistent with the order in which the answers are found in the text. Focusing on the above shortcomings, this paper provides a series of recommendations on how to improve TBEM4.