A Research On The Content Validity Of English Reading Comprehension In The Senior High School Entrance Examination Of Chengdu(2017-2022) Based On Test Task Characteristics Model

As a high-risk test with both selective and proficient functions at the compulsory education level,with the deepening of China’s education reform in recent years,Senior High School Entrance Examination’s proposition reform has also entered a brand new stage.In 2022,The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)was promulgated,which clearly puts forward the concept of “the integration of teaching,learning,and evaluation” and advocates the criticality of evaluation to promote learning and teaching.At the same time,in the section on the principles for proposing questions for academic-level examinations,the “scientific principle” points out that test questions should be consistent with the indicators of educational measurement and have high reliability and validity.As a vital part in SHSEE,an analysis of the content validity of reading comprehension part has certain positive significance for promoting the development of English reading teaching,learning,and evaluation.As a high-level education city in western China,Chengdu has an essential role in guiding the trends and characteristics of SHSEE for the southwest region.Under the policy background of the Ministry of Education advocating the promotion of a unified provincial proposition,it is of great significance to analyze the examination papers of Chengdu for actively promoting the quality reform of the recommendation of SHSEE in Sichuan province.Reading comprehension is a comprehensive examination of students’ core values,English language ability,and emotional attitude.The validity,as the most basic judgment element in language examination,is an essential criterion for evaluating the quality of language examination.Therefore,the author adopts the Test Task Characteristics Model proposed by Bachman and Palmer(1996)according to the validity theory in the field of language testing,and depending on the requirements of the New Curriculum Standards for students’ reading ability,proposition principles,proposition planning,and question formulation,constructs a content validity analysis framework suitable for the characteristics of English reading comprehension in Chengdu SHSEE,which contains seven dimensions,including text form,vocabulary,readability,theme,text type,reading skill coverage,and question types.The author selects the reading comprehension item of Chengdu SHSEE from 2017 to 2022 as the research subject.According to the requirements of New Curriculum Standards regarding the reading skills that students should achieve at this level,the author adopts the method of combining quantitative and qualitative analysis to conduct a detailed research of its content validity,and then provide advice on “teaching,learning,and evaluation” for junior high school English teachers,students and test designers.Through the research,the author mainly addresses the following questions:(1)According to The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition),how is the content validity of English reading comprehension in the Chengdu Senior High School Entrance Examination(2017-2022)?(2)What are the main characteristics of the reading comprehension questions in Chengdu Senior High School Entrance Examination(2017-2022)?(3)What are the trends of the reading comprehension questions in Chengdu Senior High School Entrance Examination(2017-2022)?Given the above three questions,the author mainly adopts the text analysis method to analyze the content validity,proposition characteristics,and trends of English reading comprehension in Chengdu SHSEE in the past six years from seven dimensions respectively.The results show that from 2017 to 2022,the content validity of English reading comprehension in Chengdu SHSEE is ideal in four dimensions,including text form,vocabulary,text type,and reading skill coverage.Content validity is unsatisfactory regarding readability,theme,and question types.On the whole,from 2017 to 2022,the content validity of reading comprehension in Chengdu SHSEE is high.It has the following characteristics: the overall difficulty of reading comprehension in Chengdu SHSEE in the past six years tends to be simple,the question types are relatively single,and the selection of discourse themes is slightly repetitive,the number of vocabulary is moderate,the text forms are diverse,and the coverage of students’ reading skills is extensive,which meets the relevant requirements in the New Curriculum Standards.Regarding the development trend of future propositions,the author believes that English reading comprehension in the SHSEE presents a diversification trend in text form,theme,and text type.Finally,this research offers some reference suggestions for junior high school English teachers,students,and the test designers.