Standards on Assessment
Problem:
In China, English is taught differently in each provinces from the perspective of test criteria. Taking the distinction of teaching resource into consideration, policy makers implement different teaching content and test criteria to assess students’ performance. However, this kind of gap would exert a negative influence on what students acquired and their capability in the learning process. Take the college entrance examination as an example, some provinces may not include the oral test in English subject like Zhejiang province. Students in provinces like Guangdong, Hubei would have a oral test. Since the assessment standard and teaching content varies, students may acquire the language differently. The various standards which has adapted to the local context, make it difficult for college teachers to assess the English proficiency of students from different provinces.
Solutions:
The various test requirements would influence the introduction of teaching content. For teachers, it is crucial for them to identify differences of the teaching content and introduce more valuable material into classroom practices. To be specific, firstly, teachers could get assess to different textbooks and build up a structure of what should be implemented to make up the deficiency in the courses. In preparing for the course, teachers have to keep track of students’ progress via interacting with them and consulting with them to clarify what is teachable. They should work hard to find something valuable. A teacher in Zhejiang province may find it crucial to add oral practices into their courses after reviewing the test requirements in other provinces. Secondly, teachers should not teach solely by using the exam-oriented strategy. They are expected to guide students to cultivate their comprehensive language capabilities. So it is important to implement a systematic teaching methods rather than relying on test grades.