College English Test in China分析和总结分析和总结.docx

CollegeEnglishTest:Aglance

ofEnglishlearninginChina

Abstract:ThispaperintroducestheCollegeEnglishTest(CET)inChinainsomeaspectsandanalysesitspositiveandnegativeeffectstothelearningandteachingofEnglishinChina.

Keywords:CET,English,learning,teaching,China

The College English Test(CET) administratedby the Ministry ofEducationof Chinais a nationwidestandardizedtest,aiming at anobjectiveassessmentofEnglishproficiencyofcollegestudentsinChinaand an effective feedback for college teachers to improve theirclassroomteaching.Itisdividedintotwokindsfortheconvenienceofteachingofgrading:CET4andCET6,eachbeingheldtwice ayear.Asacriterion-relatednorm-referencedtest,ithasbeenplayinganactiveroleintheimprovementofEnglishproficiencysincetheexecutionofthefirstCET4inSept.,1987andthefirstCET6inJan.,1989.ThedevelopmentofCETalsowitnessesitsrapidincreaseinthenumberofexaminees.

Theriseoftheexamineesshouldbeattributedtomanyfactors,

amongwhichtwoofthemplayaleadingrole.OneisthemandatoryruleadoptedbymostoftheuniversitiesandcollegesinChina,which

stipulatesthatthosewhofailtopassCET4maynot,forexample,gaintheirbachelordegrees,andinsomeschoolsarenotevenawardedtheirdiplomas(DuHui,2001).Theotheristhatitscertificatehasbecomeanecessityinone’sapplicationforajob,whichmakesitaprerequisiteforonetobeemployed.(AipingGuo,2006）

Therefore,theoverstressofCETfromsocietybringsforthsomenegativeeffects.Atleastonemonthaheadofthetests,Englishclassesaremostlydevotedtoendlesstestsandanalysisoftestpaper.Teachersimparttesttechniquesandskillstostudentswhoaremoreinterestedinsuchtechniquesthantheknowledgeoflanguage.Theyhaveareasontofocusontechniques:WithoutaCETBand4orBand6certificate,thestudentscan’tobtainthebachelorormaster’sde