Are Scores Comparisons Across Language Proficiency Tests Justified?-A CET-TOEFL Comparative Study

College English Test (CET) is a national, large-scale standardized test. As a criterion-related norm-referenced test, the purpose of CET is to make assessment of the English proficiency of non-English major college students and provide feedback information for the teachers to improve classroom teaching. CET, as an educational test, serves language teaching. Because of its professional quality and its strong social impact, CET has been widely accepted by the end users, which has made CET a high-stakes test.The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a highly secure test, is the most widely administered, standardized, multiple-choice test of language proficiency. The purpose of TOEFL is to evaluate the English proficiency of people whose native language is not English. In 2003-04, more than 720,000 people registered for the test. TOEFL scores are accepted by more than 5,000 colleges, universities, and licensing agencies in 90 countries.This research is an attempt to clarify one of the relevant issues in comparative studies, i.e. whether score comparison across proficiency tests is justified. The research is also intended to establish relationship between the two tests and provide useful input for interpreting the test scores of CET.