The Test for English Majors Band-4（TEM4） is annually taken for the second year students in China and it is based on the requirement of English teaching syllabus for English majors. This paper has collected some of s...The Test for English Majors Band-4（TEM4） is annually taken for the second year students in China and it is based on the requirement of English teaching syllabus for English majors. This paper has collected some of students＇ compositions of TEM-4, and according to the score evaluation of the syllabus as well as TEM-4, the paper aims to analyze students＇ errors and find out their reasons behind in order to improve students＇ writing capacity in TEM-4.展开更多
Having examined the role, format and usefulness of test specifications in test development and evaluation, this paper sets out to investigate the significance of test specifications in the process of reading assessmen...Having examined the role, format and usefulness of test specifications in test development and evaluation, this paper sets out to investigate the significance of test specifications in the process of reading assessment. In order to exemplify how test specifications facilitate the operationalization of test construct and the development of items/tasks, this paper makes a close analysis of the new TEM4 reading test specifications. It is hoped that the discussion will throw light on how to translate construct into operational terms in test design and development.展开更多
This study investigates how raters make their scoring decisions when assessing tape-mediated speaking test performance. 24 Chinese EFL teachers were trained before scoring analytically five sample tapes selected from ...This study investigates how raters make their scoring decisions when assessing tape-mediated speaking test performance. 24 Chinese EFL teachers were trained before scoring analytically five sample tapes selected from TEM4-Oral, a national EFL speaking test designed for college English major sophomores in China. The raters' verbal reports concerning what they were thinking about while making their scoring decisions were audio-recorded and collected during and immediately after each assessment. Post-scoring interviews were used as supplements to the probe of the scoring process. A qualitative analysis of the data showed that the raters tended to give weight to the content, to punish both grammar and pronunciation errors and to reward the use of impressive and uncommon words. Moreover, the whole decision-making process was proved to be cyclic in nature. A flow chart describing the cyclic process of hypothesis forming and testing was then proposed and discussed.展开更多
文摘The Test for English Majors Band-4（TEM4） is annually taken for the second year students in China and it is based on the requirement of English teaching syllabus for English majors. This paper has collected some of students＇ compositions of TEM-4, and according to the score evaluation of the syllabus as well as TEM-4, the paper aims to analyze students＇ errors and find out their reasons behind in order to improve students＇ writing capacity in TEM-4.
文摘Having examined the role, format and usefulness of test specifications in test development and evaluation, this paper sets out to investigate the significance of test specifications in the process of reading assessment. In order to exemplify how test specifications facilitate the operationalization of test construct and the development of items/tasks, this paper makes a close analysis of the new TEM4 reading test specifications. It is hoped that the discussion will throw light on how to translate construct into operational terms in test design and development.
文摘This study investigates how raters make their scoring decisions when assessing tape-mediated speaking test performance. 24 Chinese EFL teachers were trained before scoring analytically five sample tapes selected from TEM4-Oral, a national EFL speaking test designed for college English major sophomores in China. The raters' verbal reports concerning what they were thinking about while making their scoring decisions were audio-recorded and collected during and immediately after each assessment. Post-scoring interviews were used as supplements to the probe of the scoring process. A qualitative analysis of the data showed that the raters tended to give weight to the content, to punish both grammar and pronunciation errors and to reward the use of impressive and uncommon words. Moreover, the whole decision-making process was proved to be cyclic in nature. A flow chart describing the cyclic process of hypothesis forming and testing was then proposed and discussed.
