A Comparative Study On The College Entrance English Examination In Fujian And TOEFL IBT From The USA

Drawing from the insights of Bachman’s interactional approach to language testing, this thesis centers on a contrastive analysis of the College Entrance English Examination in Fujian and TOEFL iBT from the United States. It examines, via literature review, comparative analysis, and questionnaire survey, the nuances aspects of these two tests, including test purpose, test structure, test materials, scoring methods, scoring rubric, the testing procedures, the grade feedback, as well as the similarities and differences of the teaching cultures. Our comparison indicates that there are limitations concerning the College Entrance English Examination in Fujian province in terms of:1) test objective: The College Entrance Examination aims to select talented students, and to promote quality education. We assign the topics, select the testing materials, and design the test tasks according to these broad aims. However, the general purpose of the test fails to specify what the students can do under specific circumstances; it also fails to address the relationship between the testing objective and the students’study and career building in the near future;2) test content: The ratio for the testing of listening, speaking, reading and writing is disproportionately distributed, heavily biased toward basic knowledge of language and relevant imput skills;3) test forms:the written test fails to achieve the aims of evaluating the comprehensive abilities of the testees’listening, reading, speaking and writing skills;4) test scores:There are no systems of conversion among scores; inadequacies remain because with only the original scores reported and with no score reports describing the candidates’ability, the general validity of the test is weakened;5) conceptualization of test design: the whole concept of test is deeply entrenched in Chinese cultural and social environment, lacking an awareness of globalization and intercultural exchange.Based from the above observations, this paper argues that it is imperative for College Entrance English Examination in Fujian to critically reconceive its test in the light of TOEFL iBTs so as to actualize the insights from interactional approach to language testing, to link its test forms closer to reality, and ultimately, to fully optimize its function as a guideline for English classroom teaching in Fujian province.