A Comparative Study On The Content Validity Of English Listening Tests Of SHSEE

In 2022,the Ministry of Education proclaimed it would accelerate the provincial unified test designing of Senior High School Entrance Examination(SHSEE).Unified test designing by the province will emphasize on foundation,fairness and popularization,so as to effectively implement the “Double Reduction” policy.At present,except for municipalities directly under the central government,most provinces adopt the test designing mode of SHSEE of prefecture level cities.On the one hand,Shanxi province first implemented the unified test designing of SHSEE.At present,except Guangzhou and Shenzhen,the rest cities in Guangdong are provincial-level unified test designing of SHSEE.On the other hand,a prosperous economy has a great impact on the development of education,which is known to us all.According to the GDP ranking of China’s 31 provinces in 2021 released by the National Bureau of statistics,the economic development of Guangdong province is the leader in China,and Shanxi Province ranks the 20 th.After careful consideration,the author chooses to compare the content validity of the English listening tests between Shanxi province and Guangdong province in recent five years,that is,to compare the degree to which the content of the English tests in Shanxi and Guangdong province(using the unified test paper except Guangzhou and Shenzhen)matches the requirements of English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2011 edition).This thesis will construct a modified analysis framework to analyze the content validity of English listening tests in Shanxi and Guangdong province from 2017 to 2021 from three dimensions: characteristics of the input,characteristics of the expected response,and the relationship between input and expected answers.This thesis aims to answer the following questions:(1)what is the content validity of English listening tests in Shanxi SHSEE from2017 to 2021?(2)What is the content validity of English listening tests in Guangdong SHSEE from 2017 to 2021?(3)What are the similarities and differences of content validity of English listening tests between Shanxi SHSEE and Guangdong SHSEE?The results show that: on the one hand,the question types of English listening questions in the 2017-2021 SHSEE in Guangdong province are basically unchanged,but the presentation forms of listening materials have changed,and the numbers and scores of questions are also changed.The length remains above 600 words,the readability is basically stable,the listening tests are easy,the speech speed is faster,and the topic is close to students’ daily life,but the topic coverage is low.On the other hand,the question types and presentation forms of English listening tests in Shanxi SHSEE in recent five years have remained the same,the length and readability are basically stable,and the speech speed is also relatively stable.However,the topics of listening materials are more concentrated on students’ daily life,and the difficulty is easy and easy above,which is difficult to distinguish students’ level.With regard to the similarities in content validity between the two provinces,the listening tests in Shanxi province and Guangdong province have the same question types and answer types in recent five years,both focusing on the skills of examinees to “obtain specific information”and “infer according to the listening content”.Narrow scope and direct relationship questions account for a larger proportion than broad scope and indirect relationship questions.As for the differences,the numbers and scores of the listening part of the English tests in Guangdong province are larger than those in Shanxi province,with more presentation forms.The average length of the listening materials is higher than that in Shanxi province,and the speech speed is faster.The difficulty of the listening test is slightly higher than that in Shanxi province in terms of readability.However,the topic coverage of the English listening test of SHSEE in Guangdong province is lower,and there is less examination on the understanding and analysis of the whole text.However,the topic range of English listening questions in Shanxi SHSEE is wider,and the listening skills investigated are more comprehensive and stable than those in Guangdong province,but there are fewer presentation forms.The listening materials of Shanxi SHSEE are much easier than those in Guangdong SHSEE about length and speed.In order to improve the content validity of listening tests in Shanxi and Guangdong province,the author tries to put forward some suggestions for the test designers in the two provinces.