Did Test Preparation Practices For The College English Test (CET) Work?A Study From Chinese Students’ Perspectives

2019 ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
Jia Ma
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Students ◽  
Test Preparation ◽  
College English

Hindrances to the new teaching goals of College English in China

English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Du ◽  
Hongdi Guan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
College English ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Teaching Goals ◽  
English Textbooks ◽  
Listening And Speaking

College English refers to a type of English course offered to non-English majors at tertiary level in mainland China. In recent years, however, College English has been criticised as ‘deaf and dumb English’ (Wu, 2004; Zhang, 2002) because of Chinese students’ perceived weaknesses in listening and speaking. As Zhang (2002), Director of the Department of Higher Education in the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), explains, ‘Chinese university students can neither speak English nor understand it when they hear the language spoken’ (p. 4). To improve the situation, Zhang urges that ‘[w]hile reading has to be reduced properly, listening and speaking should be increased in College English textbooks’ (ibid.: 5). In other words, it is listening and speaking rather than reading that should be emphasised.

scholarly journals Chinese Students’ Perceptions of the Value of Test Preparation Courses for the TOEFL iBT: Merit, Worth, and Signi cance

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Ma ◽  
Liying Cheng
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Test Preparation ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Instructional Content ◽  
Toefl Ibt

Test preparation for high-stakes English language tests has received increasing research a ention in the language assessment feild; however, little is known about what aspects of test preparation students attend to and value. In this study, we considered the perspectives of 12 Chinese students who were enrolled in various academic programs in a Canadian university, and we examined their perceptions of the value of the TOEFL iBT test preparation courses they had taken prior to admission to that university. Drawing on Scriven’s (1998, 2007) model, which conceptualizes value as merit, worth, and significance, the thematic findings that emerged from the interviews were triangulated with document analysis and revealed that the value of TOEFL iBT test preparation courses was a ributed to (a) quality (merit), including teachers, instruction, and instructional content; (b) benefit (worth), such as efficiency and reorientation to the TOEFL iBT and English skills development; and (c) engagement and affective attainment (significance), in learning communities and sources of motivation. However, the perceived value varied among these students, and the factors related to such vari-ability included both internal factors (e.g., students’ motivations for taking test preparation courses) and external factors (e.g., limited time to prepare for the TOEFL iBT). Implications of the bene ts are discussed within the context of Chinese students in the Canadian academic milieu. La recherche dans le domaine de l’évaluation linguistique se penche de plus en plus sur la préparation aux examens d’anglais ā enjeux élevés. On connait mal, par contre, quels aspects de la préparation aux examens les étudiants trouvent importants et sur lesquels ils se concentrent. Dans ce e étude, nous avons considéré les perspectives de 12 étudiants chinois inscrits à divers programmes académiques dans une université canadienne et avons examiné leurs perceptions de la valeur des cours de préparation au TOEFL iBT qu’ils avaient passé avant d’être admis à l’université. Le modelé de Scriven (1998, 2007), qui conçoit la valeur comme étant le mérite et la signi cation, a servi d’inspiration. Les thèmes qui sont ressortis des entrevues ont été validés à partir d’une analyse documentaire; les résultats indiquent que la valeur des cours préparatoires au TOEFL iBT était a ribuée à (a) la qualité (le mérite), y compris les enseignants, l’instruction et le contenu instructif; (b) les avantages, tels l’e cacité et la réorientation vers le développement d’habiletés relatives à la langue anglaise et au TOEFL iBT; et (c)l’implication et la réalisation affective (signification) dans les communautés d’apprentissage et les sources de motivation. Toutefois, la valeur perçue variait d’un étudiant à l’autre, et les facteurs liés à ce e variabilité incluaient des facteurs internes (la motivation de suivre des cours préparatoires, par exemple) et des facteurs externes (contraintes de temps quant à la préparation aux examens). Nous en discutons les bienfaits et les répercussions dans le cas d’étudiants chinois dans le milieu académique canadien. 

The effect of imagined social contact on Chinese students' stereotypes of Japanese people

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Wang ◽  
Alastair Iain Johnston ◽  
Baoyu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Students ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Japanese People
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