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Testing in Chinese Language Program in China – Taking Needs Analysis As a Start Point

Is it necessary to research or promote a certain specific Chinese testing? How to design questions to test examiners’ who learn Chinese in China specific Chinese ability? How to guarantee the validity and credibility of specific Chinese testing? To solve these questions must follow certain principles.

Taking needs analysis as a start point

To answer questions like “Is it necessary to research or promote a certain specific Chinese testing?” we should set foot in the result of needs analysis in Chinese language program in China . Needs analysis is to research and analyze the needs situation of certain specific Chinese testing of people in certain fields.

To research and analyze the needs situation of specific Chinese testing in Chinese language program in China of certain fields, a series of questions about target examiners, communicative assignment that target examiners need to complete, necessary communicative skills of target examiners, differences and classification of target examiners’ specific Chinese level, etc. should be answered.

As for target examiners who learn Chinese in China , we can research and analyze by focusing on the following two questions: 1) which field(s) are the target examiners from? 2) How about their identities, careers, ages, sexes and nationalities? Through researching and analyzing these two questions, you can learn the basic source of target examiners; according to this, you can confirm a type of basic users of specific Chinese testing and decide whether it is necessary to research and promote a type of specific Chinese testing based on these target examiners in Chinese language program in China . For example, when deciding whether it is necessary to research and promote tourism Chinese testing, the population of target examiners will be smaller if you limit target examiners in the circle of Chinese tour guide of non-native Chinese speaker; if target examiners are enlarged to people in tourism related fields, that is to say besides tour guide, the range can also include other staff of travel agency, receptionists and service personals of scenic spots, receptionists and service personals of hotels, tourism event managers, staff in tourism management institutions, people who are going to take part in jobs that related to tourism, etc. Then from this aspect of “large tourism” to settle the target examiners of tourism Chinese testing in Chinese language program in China , the population will be larger.

In addition to this, one thing that should be clear is that people who use Chinese in certain fields are not totally equal to target examiners of certain specific Chinese testing in Chinese language program in China . For example, the population of learning and using tourism Chinese is large, but quite a part of these people are only for the convenience of travel in Chinese-speaking area will not probably take part in the tourism Chinese testing. To decide whether it is necessary to research tourism Chinese testing, you should survey and analyze what kind of people the real target examiners of this testing are.

Specific language testing is a type of product in Chinese language program in China . Researching and promoting a specific Chinese testing product must think about the researching cost. From the researching, promoting, to maintenance of a specific Chinese testing, large amount of human resources, money and material resources will be needed. The research and promotion of a certain specific Chinese testing is based on a quite amount of target examiners. That is to say, the size of the population of target examiners determines the size of the market of the certain specific testing.

As for the communicative assignment that target examiners need to complete, the following four questions can be researched and analyzed as key points:

1) What kind of communicative assignments that target examiners need to complete in specific Chinese?

2) They use specific Chinese to communicate with what kind of objects?

3) They use specific Chinese in what kind of communicative occasions?

4) How is the weight of the project of the communicative assignment that they need to complete?

According to these results of research and analysis, the project and its weight of the communicative assignment that the target examiners need to complete in certain fields can be listed. Furthermore, the outline of communicative assignment and language functions of specific Chinese that target examiners use can be worked out. Then you can design testing assignment and set testing questions with targets.

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