Content Validity Study On Reading Comprehension Tests Of NMET

This thesis"Content Validity Study on Reading Comprehension Tests of National Matriculation English Tests (NMET)"attempts to explore the characteristics and content validity of reading comprehension parts of NMET by combining qualitative and quantitative methods.Based on Bachman's task characteristics framework, the author constructs a new assessment framework of reading tests by combining the nature of reading and some researches on reading tests at home and abroad. By employing the newly-built framework, the author focuses on analyzing and evaluating reading comprehension parts of NMET in recent four years from five aspects: characteristics of the setting of NMET; characteristics of reading tests rubrics of NMET; characteristics of the input; characteristics of the expected response; relationship between input and response. The major findings of the present study are briefly summarized as follows:First, the characteristics of reading comprehension parts of NMET in recent four years are revealed as follows: 1) Reading tests well remain stable for the test structure and format. 2) The nine papers exercise a good control of the length and difficulty of reading passages. 3) Reading materials with wide topics and various genres are novel, educational, ideological and authentic, which are very close to the students'lives or people's social life. 4) Almost all the papers attach more importance to textual understanding, application and integrated abilities.Second, reading comprehension parts of NMET have well met the requirements in the two syllabi and have reached a high content validity. That is to say, the present research has indicated that NMET reading comprehension tests are valid and practical concerning its content. Therefore, NMET will exert positive washback on English teaching and learning in senior middle schools.Third, reading comprehension tests of NMET with high content validity are coming into perfection gradually, but the author detects some weaknesses, such as only multiple-choice question format has been utilized in recent years; reading speed just reaches the low level or high level of the first grade, rather than the second grade; the length and difficulty of the reading materials require a better balance; the examination of reading skills needs to be covered more fully.