A Study On Content Validity Of English Reading Tests In Senior High School Entrance Examination Based On Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition)

In the stage of basic education,Senior High School Entrance Examination(SHSEE)is a large-scale and high-stakes examination,which has the dual purpose of measuring academic level and selecting students.Reading,as one of the five language skills,accounts for a large proportion of the English test in the SHSEE,and its validity will affect the implementation of the English test function.English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition),centering on core competencies,proposes three themes: man and self,man and society,man and nature,stipulates eight text types that junior middle school students should master,clarifies the content requirements of language skills,and sets specific academic achievement standards.It will certainly become the direction of teaching and testing in the period of compulsory education in the future.Therefore,exploring the degree of congruence between the current English reading tests and Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition)will help to further improve the content of reading tests,so as to promote the quality of tests and have better backwash on the English teaching and learning of junior middle school.Based on Bachman and Palmer’s Task Characteristics Framework,combined with the reading requirements of junior middle school graduates in Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition),the thesis establishes a new content validity verification framework.The characteristics of input involve genre,topic areas,difficulty level(new words,text length and readability),and the characteristics of expected response involve reading skills and formats.Meanwhile,by using qualitative and quantitative research methods,with the help of Microsoft Word 2010,part of data are collected and analyzed.This thesis studies the English reading tests of 2021 in four municipalities(Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai,Chongqing),mainly trying to solve three questions mentioned below:1.What are the characteristics of English reading tests of SHSEE in the four municipalities in terms of the input?2.What are the characteristics of English reading tests of SHSEE in the four municipalities in terms of the expected response?3.To what extent do English reading tests of SHSEE in the four municipalities meet the requirements of Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition)?The results show that the content validity of English reading tests of 2021 in the four municipalities is relatively high,which basically meets the relevant requirements of Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition).(1)Genres are various.Expositions and narrations are still the focus of textual selection,other text types(e.g.poetry)are also involved.(2)Topic areas are rich,fully covering three themes,close to students’ life.(3)The difficulty level is appropriate.The new words,text length and readability are relatively moderate.(4)Reading skills are tested comprehensively,and the lower-level skills are the main object of examination,which meets the English reading level of junior middle school students.(5)The multiple choice is the main format of expected response,and the wide use of short answer questions also shows that test designers pay attention to the testing of students’ comprehensive language ability.But in terms of genre,new media discourse is not the test object;some thematic clusters are not involved;the number of words in a few texts exceeds the standard;the readability of some texts does not sufficiently distinguish the text difficulty;cultural test items have not yet been designed;the formats of expected response are not diverse enough.Then,according to the research results,this thesis offers advice to three groups: test designers,English teachers and junior middle school students.