Analysis And Validity Study On A College English Reading Comprehension Test

Since the end of the last century, language testing has stepped into a fast-developing period. Combined with statistics, language testing has evolved into an independent subject which puts the emphasis on both theory and practice. Reading is one of the most important approaches for people to get information. Therefore, a student's reading ability is an indispensible component of his language competence. These years, reading comprehension tests are occupying larger proportion in a variety of English testing. College English test is no exception.Then comes the question: how to use the knowledge of language testing to construct a valid and reliable college English reading comprehension test? To which standard should people evaluate a college reading test? This thesis takes 2009-2010 academic year's Band 1 college English term test of Agricultural University of Hebei as a sample and aims at exemplifying the theories of test construction and evaluation in language testing.The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces research purpose and thesis structure; the second and third chapter presents the theoretical concerns of language testing and reading respectively; Chapter Four talks about the construction of a college English reading test; Chapter Five proposes measures to assess a college English reading test; Chapter Six is a conclusion. Of the six chapters, Chapter Four and Five are the focuses of this thesis. In Chapter Four, based on the Bachman & Palmer's Task Characteristics Framework together with College English Teaching Syllabus for Reading, a test specification is put forward. In Chapter Five, the sample reading test paper is subjected to validity, reliability and correlation analysis according to theories and methodologies of language testing.Through the research and analysis of the sample test, problems in college English reading test are revealed. For example, testing forms should not be limited to multiple-choice; the discrimination of the test is not obvious enough, etc. These problems are very common in college English reading test. Considering the problems mentioned above, suggestions are given in order to make college English reading test more scientific and reasonable.