考试测评与语言能力标准对接中的若干问题

Issues in Aligning Assessments to Language Proficiency Frameworks and Standards

在教育改革背景下,对考试测评与语言能力标准的对接需求显著增加,这不仅体现在对学生语言能力进步的监测上,也体现在标准化考试的使用过程中。将考试的内容和分数与语言能力标准中的不同等级进行对接,可以增强考试分数在不同教育背景下的可解释性。通过对语言测评与CEFR对接研究的分析,讨论考试测评与语言能力框架对接中的一些重要问题,并对《中国英语能力等级量表》与考试的对接提出建议。

The demand for alignment of assessments to language proficiency frameworks and standards has increased worldwide, because of educational reforms which push for accountability, including close monitoring of students’ progress and use of standardized tests. In the field of second language assessment, the alignment of tests to proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference(CEFR)has dominated related research for more than a decade. Aligning test content and scores to the levels of a language proficiency framework has been advocated as a way to facilitate score interpretations across different educational contexts. However, researchers have also noted several issues when embarking on the highly technical alignment process, given the unavoidably generic description of proficiency contained in language frameworks. Drawing in particular on research related to the CEFR, this paper discusses several important issues related to the alignment of assessments to language proficiency frameworks and concludes with recommendations for alignment in the context of implementing new,localized language proficiency frameworks. The research reviewed in this paper has implications for efforts to create and successfully implement localized language proficiency frameworks, such as China’s Standards of English(CSE).