A Study On The Content Validity Of Cloze In Zhejiang Province Matriculation English Test(2009-2018)

As the frontier of the national basic education reform,Zhejiang Province has taken the lead in launching the new high school curriculum reform program in 2009.In 2017,Zhejiang Province,as a pilot province for comprehensive reform of college entrance examinations,implemented a new college entrance examination policy.That is,the Zhejiang Province Matriculation English Tests(ZJMET)shall be held twice each year.Cloze item is an important part of ZJMET.Thus,its content validity plays a vital role in the overall quality of the test paper.This thesis studies the content validity of the cloze in ZJMET from 2009 to 2018.It aims to answer two questions: 1)How is the content validity of the cloze items of ZJMET from 2009 to 2018? 2)What are the distinct features of the cloze items of ZJMET in the last ten years from the aspects of test setting,test rubrics,input,expected response and relationship between input and response?Based on the framework of the task characteristics proposed by Bachman and Palmer(1996),combining the requirements of cloze section in the English teaching and testing syllabi for Common Senior High School,the National English Curriculum Standards for Common Senior High School as well as the Test Specification of ZJMET,this study proposes a modified framework for the assessment of content validity.There are five parts in the modified framework,including test environment,test rubrics,characteristics of the input,characteristics of the expected response,and relationship between input and response.The major findings are as follows: 1)The ZJMET cloze tests from 2009 to 2018 are of comparatively high content validity and are conformed with the requirements stipulated in the official documents.2)As for the characteristics of the testing environment,the test setting is proper for the test candidates,but there are also some unfavorable factors,such as the time arrangement,the negative impact of the rainy season on candidates.In terms of the characteristics of the test rubrics,the directions are clear and concise and the online scoring method makes the evaluation moreobjective.However,there is no regulation that stipulates the time limit on cloze part for the test candidates.In terms of the characteristics of the input,the format of the ZJMET cloze tests is multiple-choice.Specifically,the length of the twelve sets of cloze basically meets relevant requirements in the test specifications.The topics of the ZJMET cloze tests cover an extensive range of areas but the type of genre is mostly narration.There is a large fluctuation in the number of new words and the readability in the twelve cloze tests.The sentence constructions are diverse and flexible.As for the cohesive devices,the ZJMET cloze tests emphasize on conjunction and reference.But the average distance between every two blanks is quite large.As for the characteristics of the expected response,the items at the sentence level and the discourse level take up a large proportion,which makes it more difficult in overall for the candidates.But items with grammar and collocation as the focus factors are rarely involved,so is the function words.In view of the above problems,this thesis gives the corresponding suggestions to English teachers,candidates and test designers.For instance,English teachers should attach more importance to cultivating their students' textual awareness and competence.The test candidates should read extensively and widely so as to enhance their abilities to absorb and process information in the texts.The test designers should ensure that the distance of every two blanks remain stable and reasonable and that the appropriate proportion of items with grammar and collocation as the focus factors should be involved,although they should give priority to examining the items with meaning as the focus factor.