Assessment and curriculum reform in China EFL

AssessmentandcurriculumreforminChina:EFLeducationatthetertiarylevel11AssessmentandcurriculumreforminChina:EFLeducationatthetertiarylevelAbstract:Thecurrentworldseesachangingclimateineducationalpolicyandpractice(Broadfoot,1996;Murphy,2007).Thisisattributedtothecombinedinfluenceofmanyaspects.Thefirstrelatestotheincreasingacknowledgementofthetheoreticaldevelopmentsincognition,notablyconstructivistandsocioculturalperspectives(Rogoff,1999).Theseperspectiveshaveprovideddynamicinsightsintoeducationalphilosophyandunderstandingaboutthenatureandprocessoflearningandassessment(Broadfoot,2004).Thesecondistheoveralldissatisfactionwitheducationalattainment(Klenowski,2006)andadesiretoraisethequalityofeducationtogainanedgeinanincreasinglycompetitiveglobalcontext(Murphy,2007).Intheseeducationalreforms,assessmentassumesacriticalposition(Murphy,2007).Thereasonsfollow.Firstly,theeducationalsystemisnow‘politicallychargedandvalueladen’(Leach,McCormick,Moon,&Murphy,1999p.i)inacompetitiveglobalcontext.Itdemands‘efficiencyandquality’outofitsexpenditure(Mok,2005).Secondly,therealisationthat“realchangewillnottakeplaceinschoolinguntilsignificantchangehappenstoassessment”(Torrance,1996p.i)placesincreasinginterestonassessmentforpolicy-makers.Thirdly,assessmentitself,asinformedbytheabovementionedtheoreticaldevelopments,hasundergonea‘conceptualshift’(Dwyer,1998)frombehaviouristtoconstructivistparadigm(Gipps,1994).Notably,moreemphasishasbeengiventoformativeassessment,whichhighlightsthelearningprocess,learnerengagement,andparticularly,learningimprovementratherthanevaluationofproducts(Harlen,2006).Thisroleofformativeassessmentin‘supportingandenhancinglearning’(Black&Wiliam,1998)isappealingtobothpolicy-makersandotherstakeholders.Reformsinitiatedtoachievebettereducationaloutcomesforasustainablefutureviamoredevelopedlearningandassessmenttheorieshaveincludedthe2007CollegeEnglishReformProgram(CERP)inChina’scontext.TheCERPissituatedinthedisciplineofEnglishasaForeignLanguage(EFL)fornon-EnglishmajorstudentsintheChinesehighereducationcontext.Initiativestoachievebettereducationoutcomesforasustainablefutureviamoredevelopedlearningandassessmenttheoriesandtechnologyareclearlyarticulatedinitsguidelinedocument,theCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements(CECR)(CMoE,2004;2007).ThestipulatedCollegeEnglishassessmentframeworkhastakentwomajormoves.Firstly,theoriginalexternalexaminationsystem,theCollegeEnglishTest(CET)testingsystemisreformedinasubstantialway;andsecondly,formativeassessmentelementsareadvocatedtoincorporateintothesummativeassessmentframework.Concernremainsastowhetherthisreformofforeignorigincouldfitwiththelocalcontext.Thequestioniswhatissuesneedtobeconsideredtoavoidanypotentialpitfallsinpractices?Towhatextenttheimplementationpracticeswillbealignedwiththepolicyrhetoric?Andwhatthelongtermeffectwillbe?Tofindcluestothesequestions,thispapersetsouttoexaminethesocialandculturalcontextoftheCERP.ThiswillbeachievedbyexaminingthecausesthatresultedintheunsuccessfulattemptsinthepreviousCollegeEnglishcurriculumreforms.SpecialregardswillbegiventotherolesthatassessmentperformedinthereformsanditsimpactonCollegeEnglishteachingandlearningpractices.ThatwillshedsomelightonthebarriersandpossibilityoftheCERPinthelocalreality.Further,thispaperwillpresentthechangestotheCollegeEnglishlearningcontextinthepastdecade.HighlightsaregiventothequalitydemandandthenewrolethattestingandassessmenthasassumedintheassessmentcultureAssessmentandcurriculumreforminChina:EFLeducationatthetertiarylevel22ofChina.Thirdly,thispaperwillreporttheprogressandchallengesasinformedbytheresearchliterature,andcallforattentiontotheproblemsthatlooms.Assuch,thepaperseekstointroducetheCollegeEducationandtheCETtestingsystemandthecurrentCollegeEnglishreformtoanewreadershipwhilealsoprovidingasourceofanalysisdirectedtowardstheimpactofglobaleducationalreformoutsidetheWesterncontexts.Asmanydocumentsareinvolvedtoindicatethepolicyshift,themethodologyofdocumentanalysisisused.Keywords:testingandassessment,EFL,highereducationAssessmentandcurriculumreforminChina:EFLeducationatthetertiarylevel33IntroductionThesecondhalfofthetwentiethcenturysawtheunderstandingsaboutmindandmentaldevelopmenttakeonnewperspectives,notablyconstructivistandsocioculturalperspectives(Rogoff,1999).Theseperspectivesprovideddynamicinsightsintoeducationalphilosophyandunderstandingaboutthenatureandprocessoflearning(Broadfoot,1996).Assessmenthasundergoneasimilar‘conceptualshift’(Dwyer,1998)frombehaviouristtoconstructivistparadigm(Gipps,1999).Thisshiftrelatestoashiftoffocusintheassessmentpurposes(Broadfoot,2004).Notably,incontrasttotheprevailingsummativeassessment,formativepurposesarehighlighted,whichgivesmoreemphasistoprocess,learnerengagement,andparticularly,learningimprovementratherthanevaluationofproducts(Harlen,2006).Basedonthesetheoreticaldevelopments,itisassumedthatbettereducationoutcomesforasustainablefuturecanbeachievedviamoredevelopedlearningandassessmenttheories(Black&Wiliam,2001).Thisassumption,coupledwiththedesiretoraisethequalityofeducationinag