Computer-assisted Spoken English Test Research For High Schools Based On Curriculum Standards In English

With the further reformation of new curriculum, the oral English teaching and testing have attracted increasing attention. But over many years, the spoken English test (SET) has only been heard its voice not action because of the high cost of oral test, the numerous examinees, the insufficiency of examiners, etc.This paper aims to study the design of SET in high school, based on the latest "Curriculum Standards in English(CSIE)" promulgated by ministry of education, guided by the language testing theory, supported with advanced computer technology. The design can be attempted and carried out for different kinds of senior schools. It also can be included in the testing items for semester, academic year or college entrance examination which will bridge the gap of SET for senior schools, expecting to match it with the large-scale College Entrance Examination(CEE), IELTS, TOEFL and other tests, avoiding lacking of the consistencies among universities, senior and middle schools, primary schools. Besides, it will bring positive "exam-pioneer" backwash for language teaching and promote the realization of "cultivating comprehensive ability for language uses".At the very beginning, the paper reviews the historical development of language testing, talks mainly about the theoretical basis, the characteristics, classification of SET and the requirements of speaking skills which lists in CSIE for the high school.Subsequently, this paper illustrates the current situation of SET in high schools through questionnaire, taking Hubei Province as an example. The result is that teachers and students in high schools and universities have not paid enough attention to SET, which gives rise to a bad effect that the time students paid is not in proportion to their ability, even nearly one third of students obtain "dumb English" level.According to the data collected from questionnaire, the author puts forward the need of adding SET in CEE and analyzes the necessity, feasibility and significance in detail. Necessity is caused by many factors, such as the need of language itself, the development of times, quality education and charming English classroom-teaching. Due to the popularization of computers and the existence of many computers in schools, together with the experience at home and abroad in SET, it will enable the implementation of computer-aided SET (CASET) possible. Once SET is implemented, the backwash effect can not be ignored, not only promote English language teaching(ELT) and the learners' language ability "overall-developed ", but also reduce the burden on students and enhance self-confidence, pave the way for the students'future development.In the part of design for computer-assisted SET in high schools, the thesis mainly discusses the organization form, the design principles, the types of test, the evaluation of test result, testing steps and emergency measures for possible problems that may arise. In this part, it is widely suggested that CASET should be implemented. The tasks can be diversified, such as daily conversation, reading aloud, topic, picture description, role playing, group discussion, etc. As for evaluation for performance, the raters can adopt analytic scoring and holistic scoring, assess a grade or score respectively on the computer based on established scoring criteria.After a thorough discussion about test design, the author also describes testing procedure in detail. Before a test is implemented in large-scale, there should be a great deal of preparation, such as the hardware, software and test-paper, making the relevant rules for exam, training teaching staff and the examiners, and organizing simulated test and filming them, etc. During the test, the relevant personnel should fulfill their duties and send the recording files to scoring group. And then, scoring group can select raters and train them until they are qualified. The reserch also brings some useful suggestions for oral English teaching.Through the research and analysis about the test, questionnaire and teachers interview, the author proposes that CASET be necessary, executing large-scale SET be feasible, and the design basically be reliable. In addition, the author has given a note for deficiencies and pointed out some problems which need further thinking.