Application Of Communicative Listeningtest To English Listening Test Of Vocational Colleges

Listening is not only one of the important language skills, but also a vital indicator which measuring ones'comprehensive language proficiency. Therefore, listening test is one of the most important parts in language testing. However, there are some problems in the listening part of the present PRETCO (Practical English Test for Colleges), such as, overusing of multiple-choice items; lacking of authentic listening materials, etc. These problems, to some extent, hinder the students'communicative competence and they also contradict to the Vocational College English Curriculum Requirements whose aim is to cultivate students'communicative competence. Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to study the listening test of vocational colleges.Communicative language testing is a kind of behavioral test which measuring students'ability to apply their actual language knowledge to complete the communication tasks under the real or near real situations. Since 1970s, communicative language testing theory has aroused widespread concern and deeply affected the traditional English testing and teaching. It is a kind of testing theory that has been widely used in various large-scale examinations nowadays. The communicative language testing is noted for the following advantages, communicative language testing pays great attention to the students'needs, it can test students'ability to use language directly and it has exerted positive backwash effect on foreign language teaching and learning.The author applies communicative listening testing theory to the English listening test of vocational colleges in hope of exploring the effects of communicative listening test on college English testing. Therefore, the author chooses two classes of students as subjects for a 16-week quasi-experimental study. The subjects are from Shandong Vocational and Technical College, majoring in E-mechanical automation. The detailed steps are: Firstly, with the help of PRETCO examination papers, two classes are selected and randomly divided into the experimental class and the control class. Secondly, during the experiment, the experimental class is trained with the communicative listening materials, while the control class is trained with the current PRETCO listening exercises. Finally, a conclusion is drawn by the author through comparison of the results of the experimental class and the control class and the questionnaires they have accomplished.Compared with the control class, the experimental class, immersed in different kinds of tasks and various listening materials close to their daily life, not only improves their interest in English listening but also witnesses a visible improvement in their listening competence. Based on the empirical study and data analysis, the author proposes some suggestions for the current PRETCO. On the one hand, in selecting listening materials, we should strive to identify genres of articles that are close to daily life. On the other, in designing listening tasks, diversified and effective tasks should be the first concern.Finally, this study provides some suggestions for vocational college English listening testing and the possible reformation for vocational college English curriculum and tests.