A Study Of Context Validity Of Writing Component Of TEM8

Test for English Majors Band 8 (TEM8) is a large-scale, high-stake test designed for English majors who are at the end of the four-year undergraduate program. The objective is to measure their English proficiency, to evaluate English language teaching in the light of the national teaching syllabuses and to bring about beneficial backwash effect on English teaching and learning. To ensure the exact judgment of candidates'proficiency in English and the positive backwash on their learning, it is essential to guarantee a high validity. The present study is focused on validation of writing component of TEM8 with a combination of theory and research methods. The main research instruments include a simulated writing test, a questionnaire, and interviews. On the basis of review of validation studies of large-scale language tests in foreign context like TOEFL, IELTS, etc. and in China like TEM and CET, the author found there was a gap between the researches on validity, context validity in particular, of writing component of TEM and current validation studies on writing test in foreign context.The research method is that a simulated TEM8 writing test was administered among 55 English majors who entered the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Shandong University, and then a questionnaire and interviews concerning four aspects of context validity, namely testing environment, testing rubric, input and expected output were conducted in order to examine and testify context validity of TEM8 writing test. Meanwhile, writing results were rated and scores were gained to check if there would be effects of four aspects on subjects'performance. Data collected were analyzed by SPSS11. The thesis is aimed at answering the following two questions:1. To what extent is the writing component of TEM8 valid in terms of context validity?2. In what ways can the context validity be improved?Major findings are as follows:(1) descriptive analysis of the scores of the compositions showed that students'performance was favorable under current testing environment, and (2) the context validity of the writing component of TEM8, to some extent, is acceptable. However, efforts are in urgent need to be made to improve the aspects of the testing environment including the lighting of the testing place and seating arrangement, the test rubric including the explicitness of task specification and identification of the problem, the input including the contextual information and subject matter (topic), and the expected response including the genre types of writing. More than half subjects were satisfied with test format of "situation/opinion+title"The study further improves the validation study of TEM8 writing test, and also provides some implications for EFL teaching of writing and some recommendations on the development of testing method of writing. These implications are conductive to improving context validity of TEM8 writing test.