China’s first English proficiency assessment standard was released.

　　On December 16, 2017, candidates waited and prepared for the exam outside the CET-4 and CET-6 test center of Shandong Liaocheng University. Photo by Gu Hetian Qi/Bright Picture/vision china

　　On April 12th, the China English Proficiency Scale (hereinafter referred to as the Scale), the first English proficiency assessment standard for Chinese English learners, was issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission and officially implemented on June 1st, 2018.

　　Three sections and nine grades: building a multi-level ability index system

　　Guided by the use of language, the scale divides the English proficiency of Chinese English learners from low to high into three stages: foundation, improvement and proficiency, with nine levels, and gives a comprehensive, clear and informative description of the ability characteristics of each level.

　　According to Jiang Gang, director of the Examination Center of the Ministry of Education, in order to make the scale conform to China’s national conditions and teaching conditions, the determination of three sections and nine grades is based on the results of empirical research on 160,000 teachers and students in 28 provinces, more than 1,500 schools across the country, with reference to the existing curriculum standards, syllabus and examination syllabus, as well as the analysis of social needs.

　　There are 86 competency tables in the scale, including 1 language proficiency table, 8 sub-skill tables, 8 self-evaluation tables and 69 sub-skill tables. The reporter saw that the competency matrix includes the language competency matrix, as well as the skills matrix in eight aspects: listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral expression, written expression, structural ability, pragmatic ability, interpretation ability and translation ability. Among them, the translation and interpretation proficiency scale fills the gap that the language proficiency scale at home and abroad has not included translation competence.

　　When explaining this multi-level ability index system, Liu Jianda, vice president of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and a member of the expert group on the construction of foreign language ability evaluation system, said: "The scale describes the continuous state of English ability, and every English learner and user can find their own position." The scale is described in a "can do" way. For example, the language proficiency summary describes "level 1" as "being able to understand simple language materials that are very familiar in daily life, identify basic information about related activities or things around you, and understand the meaning of basic words. You can communicate with others in basic and short words, greet each other, introduce or describe each other, state the basic information of things around you, and show your attitude, sometimes with the help of non-verbal means such as repetition or gestures and expressions. "

　　Wang Shouren, a professor at Nanjing University and chairman of the College Foreign Language Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education, said: "The formulation of the scale has the characteristics of foundation, guidance and integration."

　　"Equal Quantity and Balance": Breaking Different Examination Barriers

　　It is understood that there are the following problems in China’s current foreign language examinations: First, there are many existing foreign language examinations with different standards, the concept of examination level is unclear, and the scores of different examinations are incomparable, which is not conducive to users’ understanding and use, and is not conducive to promoting scientific talent selection. Second, the content of the examination is not comprehensive, and the positive orientation of the examination to foreign language teaching is insufficient. There is a lack of effective connection between the examinations of various academic periods, and there are cases of repeated contents or broken files. These are not conducive to promoting the coherent and orderly development of teaching, and are not conducive to the improvement of teaching effectiveness. Third, the international recognition of foreign language examinations in China is not high, which is not conducive to improving the level of internationalization of education.

　　"The goal of the foreign language proficiency assessment system is to change the situation that the existing examinations are incomplete, unsystematic and unconnected, and to establish a foreign language proficiency assessment standard and examination system with China characteristics, international standards and multiple functions, so as to better serve the scientific selection of talents, serve the development of foreign language education and teaching, and promote the improvement of students’ comprehensive foreign language ability." Jiang Gang said.

　　As the core task of the construction of foreign language assessment system, the formulation of the scale aims at providing a scientific ability index system and an accurate ability scale for various English tests, giving play to the role of "balancing quantity with quantity", making the test design more comprehensive and systematic, making the test scores comparable, providing a basis for the communication and mutual recognition of different learning achievements, promoting the convergence of different learning segments and promoting the coherent and orderly development of foreign language education.

　　In terms of English assessment, Han Baocheng, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University and a member of the expert group on the construction of foreign language proficiency assessment system, commented: "The scale can improve the quality of exams, promote the docking and mutual recognition of domestic and foreign exams, and promote the development of multiple assessments." Specifically, it provides a scientific ability evaluation standard for the content design, test question system, marking and performance report of various examinations; Provide a unified yardstick for connecting and positioning domestic and foreign exams, enhance the comparability of exams, and promote the docking and mutual recognition of domestic and foreign exams; Provide competency reference standards for the process and summative evaluation methods of English teaching, and promote the development of multiple evaluations. "

　　It is reported that the Examination Center of the Ministry of Education has signed an agreement with Britain and the United States to start the docking research between IELTS, TOEFL and China Scale.

　　Complementarity and mutual promotion: docking teaching, learning and testing

　　Then, what is the relationship between the scale and the curriculum standards and examination syllabus of basic education?

　　Wang Shouren, who participated in the revision of English curriculum standards for basic education, explained: "The scale and curriculum standards go in the same direction and complement each other." The scale is highly consistent with the teaching requirements such as curriculum standards in improving students’ core literacy, and fully meets the teaching requirements of each period in terms of key language skills. Moreover, the descriptors of pragmatic ability and cognitive ability in the scale play a leading and guiding role in English teaching, that is, our English teaching should focus on cultivating students’ language application ability and learning ability. In terms of specific functions, the difference between the scale and the curriculum standard is that the curriculum standard is a teaching program formulated for a certain learning period, which puts forward prescriptive requirements for the teaching content; The scale is a reference standard for all kinds of learners, which mainly plays a role in testing the ability level in examination application.

　　It is understood that the scale is not a syllabus or an examination syllabus, and its nine grades are not mandatory for students. At the same time, the scale can help language learners to self-diagnose their English ability, find out their strengths and weaknesses, and set learning goals in a targeted way, which is helpful to cultivate students’ autonomous learning ability and make foreign language learning more personalized.

　　Jiang Gang said that how to apply the scale in the next teaching, learning and testing needs teachers and examiners to decide according to the specific situation. The Examination Center of the Ministry of Education is developing the National English Proficiency Test on the basis of the scale, which lays the foundation for reducing repeated tests and improving the system of the test. At present, it is mainly considered to cooperate with the strategy of cultivating high-quality talents and develop examinations for the higher education stage with strong social demand.

　　(Beijing, April 12 th, our reporter Chai Ruzhen)