College English Test Band 4 CET4 in China

College English Test Band 4 (CET-4) in China: A Historical Overview The 4 th Untested Ideas (UI) International Research Conference Xingxing Mao MA Student in Language Testing Hunan University, China

Outline 1 Introduction 2 Historical Development of CET-4 3 Results and Discussion 4 Conclusion 5 References

1 Introduction

1 A Brief Introduction to CET-4 The College English Test Band 4, also known as CET-4, is a national large-scale standardized test administered by the Higher Education Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education. It aims to provide an objective and accurate assessment about the English proficiency of Chinese college students as well as information for the improvement of college English teaching. Developed by the National College English Test Band 4&6 Committee which is composed of professors and experts from Chinese key universities, this test includes two forms: paper test and oral test. Both of them are held twice a year, but the former is in June and December, respectively, while the latter is in May and November every year. This test is both criterion-referenced and normreferenced in nature. All the undergraduate and postgraduate students at universities and colleges can take the test.

1 A Brief Introduction to CET-4 In China, CET-4 has been widely accepted as an examination with high reliability and validity, reflecting whether the college students have reached the language level specified in the National College English Teaching Syllabus (Sun & Henrichsen, 2011). ØImportance: a prerequisite for getting the bachelor’s degree a necessity for applying for a job Considering the great significance, influences and wide participation, it’s of great importance to build up a more perfect assessment system for CET-4 so that it can be reliable and scientific as possible as it can. That’s exactly what language and assessment experts in China aim to do in the past, at present and in the future. Reviewing the historical development of CET-4 can help us know about their efforts.

2 Historical Development of CET-4

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 1: September, 1987 ---June, 1995 First administered in September 1987, the original CET-4 is characterized by: Frequency& Time: twice a year, i. e. , January and June, respectively Form: paper test Type: norm-referenced test Components of the test: listening, reading, vocabulary & structure, cloze, writing Total score: 108 points Scoring System: full score is converted into 100 points with norm-referenced Mean=72, SD=12. 60 points is set as the standard of pass. Two types of certificate: fair (60~84) & excellent(≥ 85) (Aiping Guo, 2006) Participants: anyone who has taken the required English courses, including university students or social examinees studying at night school

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Section Listening Comprehension Content Short Conversation Item format Multiple-choice Time Score weight 20 minutes 20% 35 minutes 40% Short Passage Reading comprehension Passage Vocabulary and structure Vocabulary & grammar Multiple-choice 20 minutes 15% Cloze Multiple-choice 15 minutes 10% Writing Passage writing 30 minutes 15% 120 minutes 100% Total Multiple-choice Table 1: The components of CET-4 test from 1987 -1995

2 Historical Development of CET-4 A sample of the Certificate of CET-4

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 2: January, 1996 ---June, 1999 In 1996, the Higher Education Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education released a notice entitled “About the pilot reform of college English teaching in eight universities ”(Guān Yú Bā Suǒ Gāo Xiào Jìn Xíng Dà Xué Yīng Yǔ Jiào Xué Shì Diǎn Gǎi Gé Dē Tōng Zhī in Chinese), aiming to encourage the reform of teaching objective, approach, content and the assessment method. Influenced by this notice, CET-4 began to add new exam patterns into the test in order to improve its validity. Compared with the old form, the new form can better measure the English proficiency of test takers to some degree by increasing the proportion of subjective items.

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Section Content Short Conversation Listening Comprehension Short Passage Reading comprehension Item format Time Score weight Multiple-choice/ compound dictation 20 minutes 20% Multiple-choice 35 minutes Vocabulary and Vocabulary & Grammar structure Multiple-choice 20 minutes Translation / Sentence translation/ short answer passage /cloze questions/cloze English to Chinese translation/ question answer or sentence completion/multiple-choice 15 minutes Writing Passage writing 30 minutes 15% 120 minutes 100% Passage Writing Total Table 2: The components of CET-4 test from 1987 -1995 40% 15% 10%

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 3: November, 1999 ---June, 2005 In November, 1999, the National College English Test Band 4&6 committee began to implement CET-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) in some cities. This represents that CET-4 has developed into a relatively perfect new stage and it can assess the college students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing comprehensively (Huizhong Yang, 2003). With more and more provinces involved in the oral test since then, CET-SET became more widely accepted. The number of students who participate in it is also growing every year. For the paper test, “parallel test” (A & B paper) was adopted from January, 2005. A paper and B paper are the same except in the order of items.

2 Historical Development of CET-4 CET-SET Ø Qualification: examinees whose score is higher than 80 in paper test Ø Form : face to face (two examiners vs. three or four examinees) ØFrequency & time: twice a year, i. e. May and December respectively Section Format Process Time Part 1 Question & answer Self-introduction or answering the question asked by the examiners 5 minutes Part 2 Make a brief presentation based on the given Individual presentation instruction; & group discussion Discuss in group on the given topic; Part 3 Question & answer 10 minutes Answer the questions asked by the examiners 5 minutes Total 20 minutes Table 3 : The contents of CET-SET Score 5 points 15 points

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Level Ability description Score A Can communicate orally on familiar topics in English with little difficulty 13. 5 -15 B Can communicate orally on the familiar topics in English, although with some difficulty, but it doesn’t influence the communication. 11 -13. 4 C Can have simple oral communication on familiar topics in English 8 -10. 9 D Have no oral communication competence in English yet ≤ 7. 9 Table 4 : The level standard of CET-SET Grade reporting：test takers above Level C will get a certificate of CET Spoken English Test issued by the Higher Education Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education in corresponding level

2 Historical Development of CET-4 A sample of the certificate of CET-SET

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Another change of CET-4 is the grade reporting. To explain the whole English proficiency level of the college students’, the National College English Test Band 4&6 committee started to report “the average grade-point”(G), which can not only show the cumulative percent of pass but also the level of students who have passed the test. It encourages universities and colleges pay attention to the improvement of students’ English proficiency instead of being only satisfied with the percent of pass. G = ( S G i / N ) × 50 + 100 G i : the grade-point of No. i examinee N：The total number of students in the community which the examinees belong to, eg. university, province or even the nation Furthermore , CET-4 began to set the lowest mark of writing. ØIf one’s writing score is “ 0”, then he/she will fail the exam, even if the original total points is above 60 ØIf one’s writing score is “ 0~6”, then the final reporting grade will be “original score － 6 ＋writing score”

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 4: January, 2006 ---June, 2012 On 25 th February, 2005, the Ministry of Education of China published The Reform Scheme of National College English Test Band 4 and 6. According to the scheme, CET 4 would be adopt a totally different form. The new type of CET-4 will be held in some experimental universities of college English teaching reform in January and June, 2006. But all the universities in China must adopt the newly-reformed CET-4 test from January, 2007. The changes can be stated from the following aspects: Ø Scoring System In the new type of scoring system, the full score would become 710 and examinees’ original mark will be converted into the normal-distributed score with norm-referenced Mean=500, SD=70 through scoring weighting and equating.

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Tot. Sco: reporting points X: original total points Ø Grade Reporting Instead of the certificate, a score report will be sent to every test taker whose grade is between 220 and 710, including the total score and score in every part of the test. Besides, the committee will also provide explanation of students’ score to universities. Ø Management system From June, 2005, the Ministry of Education would use the new test registration and management system that would restrict the qualification of test takers. All the social examinees, such as those study at night school, are not entitled to take CET-4 exam any more from January 2007 nationwide. Some areas even began to carry out this new policy from January, 2006.

2 Historical Development of CET-4 ØManagement system In June, 2007, CET-Online marking was put into practice In December, 2008, the Internet-based CET-4 began to be experimented in some area. A sample of the score report

2 Historical Development of CET-4 ØTest content Section 　　 Listening Comprehension Content Conversation short long Passage Reading comprehension Item format Multiple-choice Passage dictation Compound dictation Fast reading (skimming & scanning) Multiple-choice Banked cloze T or F sentence completion Score weight 15 % Multiple-choice Passage understanding Reading in depth Time 35 minutes 35% 20 % 25 minutes 25 % 40 minutes 10 15 minutes % 35%

2 Historical Development of CET-4 ØTest content Section Content 　　 Comprehensive test Writing Cloze/Proofreading Item format Multiple-choice / Identify & correct errors Time 15 minutes Score weight 10% 15% Short answer/ Question & Answer Chinese to English Translation / Translation of the given part in sentences 5 minutes Writing 30 minutes 15% 125 minutes 100% Total Table 5: Passage writing The components of CET-4 test from 2006 -2012 5%

2 Historical Development of CET-4 ØStructure of the test paper New Old Part Ⅰ Writing Listening Comprehension Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) Reading Comprehension Part Ⅲ Listing Comprehension Vocabulary and Structure Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (reading in depth) Cloze Part Ⅴ Cloze Writing Part Ⅵ Translation Table 6: Test structure of CET-4 ØTest time: twice a year, in June and December respectively ØCET-SET Participants: examinees whose score is above 550. Ø Parallel test was cancelled from December, 2010

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 5: December, 2012 ---December 2015 Ø From December, 2012, CET-4 changed the exam pattern again. To prevent cheating, parallel test were put into practice again. That is, students in the same exam room will get different test paper randomly based on the seat number. These papers are identical in the number and form of items, but different in the specific content of items. The new pattern further increases the credibility of CET-4. Ø In 14 th August, 2013, the National College English Test Band 4&6 committee released a notice about the adjustment of the question types of CET-4. It’s informed that CET-4&6 would adopt the same pattern from the test in December, 2013. ØThe adjustment of qualification for CET-SET: score ≥ 500 note: The test taken by examinees must be in or after June, 2005 ØThe National College English Test Band 4&6 committee announced in April, 2015 that the internet-based CET-4 would be cancelled since after.

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Section Content Item format Time Writing Passage writing 30 minutes Conversation Listening comprehension Passage 15% Short Multiple-choice 8% Long Multiple-choice 7% Passage understanding Multiple-choice Passage dictation Compound dictation 10% Word-choosing 5% Vocabulary understanding Reading Long passage comprehension Reading in depth Translation Score weight Passage translation Matching 30 minutes 40 minutes Multiple-choice Chinese to English translation Total 10% 35% 20% 30 minutes 100% Table 7: The components of CET-4 from 2013 -2015 35% 15%

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Stage 7: June 2016 ---Now In order to adapt to the new requirements of the society to college students’ listening ability and further increase the validity of the listening test, the National College English Test Band 4&6 committee decide to make local adjustment to the listening comprehension part since June, 2016. In addition to the adjustment in listening, the CET-SET has also been divided into two levels: CET-SET 4 and CET-SET 6, which will be held separately. The original CETSET will be grouped into CET-SET 6. Ø Form of CET-SET 4: computer-assisted test

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Section Content Item format Time Writing Passage writing 30 minutes Short News Multiple-choice Long conversation Multiple-choice Passage Multiple-choice 20% Vocabulary Word-choosing 5% Long passage Matching Reading in depth Multiple-choice Passage translation Chinese to English translation Listening comprehension Reading comprehension Translation Total Score weight 15% 7% 30 minutes 40 minutes 8% 10% 35% 20% 30 minutes 100% Table 8: The components of CET-4 test from 2016 35% 15%

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Section Task Process Time 1 Self-introduction Make a brief introduction 20 seconds 2 Read aloud Read a 200 - word passage 1 minute for reading 45 seconds for preparation 3 Question & answer Answer 2 questions related to the passage 40 seconds 4 Individual presentation Make a presentation according to the given instruction 1 minute for presentation 45 seconds for preparation 5 Pair work Communicate with your partner according to the given situation & task 3 minutes for pair work 1 minute for preparation Total 10 minutes Table 9: The content of CET-SET 4

2 Historical Development of CET-4 Level Description of ability level A Can communicate orally on the familiar topics in English with little difficulty Can express the opinions or ideas on familiar topics Can describe a general phenomenon or event very fluently and clearly B Can communicate orally on the familiar topics in English, although with some difficulty, but it doesn’t influence the communication. Can give a coherent speech on familiar topics Can describe a general phenomenon or event quiet clearly and fluently C Can have simple oral communication on familiar topics Can give a brief speech on familiar topics Can simply narrate or describe a general phenomenon or event D Have no basic oral communication competence in English yet Table 10 : The description of ability level in CET-SET 4

2 Historical Development of CET-4 ØGrade reporting: Examinees whose level is D or above will receive a score report, which can be sent by mail or picked up by oneself. ØQualification for CET-SET 4: Score ≥ 425 note: the test taken by examinees must be in or after June, 2012 Trend: the standard is lowered to a great extent. Purpose: to extend the range of students who can take the test so that they can better understand their language proficiency and make improvement.

3 Results and Discussion

3 Results and Discussion Form the different development stages of CET-4, it can be seen that this test has changed greatly in the following aspects: ØTest content • the diversification of test format by the use of new question types, eg. compound dictation & news listening, word-choosing & matching, T or F, sentence completion, short answer questions and translation • increase of subjective items, such as the proportion of translation has been increased from 5% to 15% and the percentage of listening comprehension has been raised from 20% to 35% because of the addition of compound dictation ØThe structure of the test paper • change in the order of different question types Listening Reading Vocabulary & Structure Cloze/Translation Writing

3 Results and Discussion Listening Reading Comprehensive Test Writing Listening Reading Translation ØTest type Paper test paper test together with CET-SET paper test together with CETSET 4 ØTest pattern The same test paper two sets of test paper three sets of test paper ØScoring system 100 mark system 710 mark system, both are norm-referenced 60 is pass and 85 is excellent 425 is pass ØGrade reporting Before 2005: certificate two levels: fair & excellent

3 Results and Discussion After 2005: score report consisted of the total points together with the separate points in every part of the test (220~ 710), no matter whether one pass the exam or not ØScore explanation • Before 2005, only the reported score is analyzed and the universities only pay attention to the pass-out rate without considering the differences of students’ language proficiency. • After 2005, the committee provides a norm-referenced percentile comparison table in which one can find his/her position compared to the norm-referenced group according to the reporting score ØTest time Date: January & June & December Length: 120 minutes 125 minutes 130 minutes

3 Results and Discussion ØParticipants The range of students who can take the test is narrowed down. Social examinees and college students only college students ØCET-SET Form: face to face computer-assisted Qualification: score ≥ 80(old) or 550(new) score ≥ 425 Grade reporting: • Old: those who is in or above level C will receive a certificate • New: those who is in or above level D will receive a score report ØMethod of marking Manually Computer-assisted

3 Results and Discussion To summarize, the general trend of reforms in CET-4 shows that this test has become more reliable, valid and scientific with a relatively well-established system than before under the influences of modern assessment theories. Instead of only focusing on the development of grammatical knowledge in English, CET-4 nowadays is paying more and more attention to language use ability in real situations. In addition, the method of assessing college students’ language proficiency has become more varied. The reason why CET-4 has such changes can be attributed to the requirements of the society. Compared to 30 years ago when CET-4 was established for the first time, English language use ability becomes increasingly important in society because of the international communication in various fields. Thus English teaching has to adjust its focus in order to meet the needs. As CET-4 servers for English teaching, it’s inevitable that this test has also changed in this direction.

4 Conclusion

4 Conclusion Just as any other type of large-scale standardized test whose development is a process of reform and improvement, CET-4 is of no exception. After nearly 30 years of development, this test has become more adaptive, scientific and reliable under the guidance of modern language assessment theories. The practice of the newly-reformed CET-4 can provide positive feedback to college English teaching which then helps to improve the quality of English teaching so that the objectives of college English teaching can be better achieved. However, it’s undeniable that CET-4 still has a lot to be improved, such as the poor privacy of exam papers, the existence of unfairness caused by the poor quality of test items and the lack of systematicity in reform. So we should have a clear mind that there’s still a long way to go to make CET-4 a perfect test to assess college students’ English proficiency and serve for English teaching.

5 References

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