The development of language testing in the late 20th century has witnessed a broadened scope of study on washback. The growing ethical consideration provides a new insight into language assessment. CET 4, ever since i...The development of language testing in the late 20th century has witnessed a broadened scope of study on washback. The growing ethical consideration provides a new insight into language assessment. CET 4, ever since its initiation, has been in the limelight of debates. This paper, with ethical test use taken into account, has revisited the nature of CET 4, covering such aspects as its designing principles, scoring system and test-taking process. It is proposed that, to ensure a positive impact educationally, socially and ethically, CET 4 should be better defined as a norm-related criterion- referenced achievement test, rather than a criterion- related norm-referenced proficiency test.展开更多
文摘The development of language testing in the late 20th century has witnessed a broadened scope of study on washback. The growing ethical consideration provides a new insight into language assessment. CET 4, ever since its initiation, has been in the limelight of debates. This paper, with ethical test use taken into account, has revisited the nature of CET 4, covering such aspects as its designing principles, scoring system and test-taking process. It is proposed that, to ensure a positive impact educationally, socially and ethically, CET 4 should be better defined as a norm-related criterion- referenced achievement test, rather than a criterion- related norm-referenced proficiency test.
