A Study On Content Validity Of Reading Comprehension Tests Of NMETⅡ(2014-2016)

As the largest-scale national test,National Matriculation Test(NMT)plays a vital role in screening out talented students.This thesis “A Study on Content Validity of Reading Comprehension Tests of NMETⅡ(2014-2016)” attempts to explore the features and content validity of reading comprehension part of NMETⅡ from 2014 to 2016 by adopting both qualitative and quantitative methods.The analysis framework in the study is designed based on the task characteristics framework proposed by Bachman,combined with National English Curriculum Standards For Common Senior High Schools,Testing Syllabus and Testing Specifications.The framework covers the following five aspects: test environment,test specification,test input,the response,as well as the relationship between input and response.In light of the above five aspects,the author of this paper analyzes the reading comprehension part of NMETⅡ in recent three years from a diachronic point of view.The features of reading comprehension tests of NMETⅡ(2014-2016)are as follows: 1)In general,reading tests cater the needs of stipulations in the syllabi,which have a consistency in the format and structure of the test.2)Reading materials with relatively various genres and wide topics are ideological,instructional,novel and authentic,which have a close relationship to testees’ life.3)The reading amount is proper and the difficulty of the passages is suitable.4)Discourse is highlighted and emphasis is put on students’ overall abilities.However,some deficiencies have been found out which need improvement.1)In terms of the question type,only multiple choice questions have been adopted.It is advised that short answer question and other question types be utilized to discriminate testees of different levels and learning styles.2)With regard to reading skills,there is an imbalance of the distribution.“Understanding the detailed information” is examined much,“understanding the basic structure of passages” is rarely examined and “understanding the writer’s intention” is not concerned.3)When it comes to reading speed,it just meets the lower requirement of the syllabi.It is expected that the study can shed a little bit light on the reform of NMET reading comprehension test and English language teaching and learning in the future.