Chinese students take the English test, part of the National College Entrance Examination, at the University of International Business and Economics. (Photo : Getty Images)
A unified national English proficiency testing and rating system has been drafted by China's Ministry of Education, using a curriculum that is based on the standard criteria tied to global practices, an education official said at a symposium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, during the weekend.
China Daily reported that the ministry has already completed the draft of the rating system, which will be officially released next year. The detailed plan of the national tests will be implemented gradually before 2020, Lin Huiqing, vice-minister of education, said at the 2nd International Symposium on Language Assessment and Evaluation.
The government announced in its guidelines released in Sept. 2014, the establishment of improved assessment system on foreign languages, which included reforms in the English tests and later, the reform of the national college entrance exams.
According to Liu Jianda, vice-president of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China needed a unified evaluation system with consistent standards to regulate current English teaching and testing systems in the country.
There are now 300 million English learners, and various sets of English tests in the country, Liu pointed out.
"But the syllabus is not consistent, and there's no national standard to appraise the learners' performance against uniform benchmarks," Liu noted.
According to Liu, the new system will help solve the problem by connecting it with global evaluation systems and more mature English teaching methods.
Under the new system, English proficiency will be assessed from low to high level with nine grades. Each grade has its set of language skills requirements for evaluation which include reading, writing, listening, speaking, and translating.
The new system will provide people with consistent and unified standards which can be applied for their various needs, whether it is for academic goals, for getting higher education, or for employment needs, He Lianzhen, director of Zhejiang University's School of International Studies, said.
"The system will also make it easier for teachers, employers and even the learners themselves to judge their English levels," the director said.
Currently, China's major English testing systems include the following:
- Public English Test System - Used by the National Education Examinations Authority, this five-level system is given to people with various educational backgrounds who work in different positions in various industries.
- College English Test - The test used by the Ministry of Education's higher education department for all Chinese students at colleges and universities. It has two levels: CET 4 and CET 6.
- Test for English Majors - The test for English majors used by the Ministry of Education's English Language Teaching Advisory Board. It has two levels: TEM 4 and TEM 8.
- Business English Certificate - A test used to evaluate English language skills for business and daily use, conducted by the National Education Examinations Authority and Cambridge International Examinations. It has three levels: Preliminary, Vantage and Higher-level.
- English exam for promotion - The test used for professional and technical personnel by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security for job promotion. The test has three categories: a comprehensive exam; another for those with science and engineering backgrounds; and one for those with healthcare education.
