A Research On Validity Of NMET Cloze Test

According to previous studies, cloze test regarded as an English level and ability test can be used to measure test takers’ integrated competence in using language. Therefore, such question types are widely applied in various kinds of foreign language testing. In NMET, cloze test is a common question type that is used to examine senior high students’ integrated ability in using basic knowledge, such as grammar, vocabulary, phrase, sentence pattern, collocation and so on. In addition, cloze test can also measure test takers’ reading and comprehension ability and sometimes the text of it even concerns the current events. Under the background of new curriculum standard, NMET papers change constantly, but the cloze test retains until now. In view of this, this paper selects new standard volume, which is widely used as the study subject. The purpose of this study is to learn the validity of cloze tests of new standard volume I from 2011 to 2015 and put forward related suggestions to senior high school English teaching.Based on Bachman’s (1997) framework of test method facets, related theories of language testing, New English Curriculum Standard and the requirements of NMET English test syllabus, this paper firstly puts forward three questions about analyzing the validity of cloze tests in new standard volume I of NMET from 2011 to 2015:a. What are the characteristics of cloze tests in NMET of the new curriculum standard volume I? b. What are the characteristics of test-point validity of the cloze test in NMET of the new curriculum standard volume I? c. The implications for senior high school English teaching are discussed according to the test results.Next, according to Bachman’s framework of test method facets, this study discusses the content validity of cloze tests from three aspects:the characteristics of input, the expected response and the relationship between input and expected response.The results of the study indicate that the validity of cloze tests in recent five years is relatively high. According to test syllabus, the genre, topic, the length of the text, the length of the sentence, the number of new words and the readability of the text from 2011 to 2015 are almost in accord with the requirements. In the aspect of test point gradation, the discourse level and sentence level account for the most part of the whole. The focus factor mainly centers on the meaning, which emphasizes on the understanding of the context.Lastly, limitations are found in this study. For example, the genres and the topics they have chosen are too single and thus it cannot test the test takers’cultural background knowledge. The results also bring forward suggestions for senior high school English teaching from three aspects:language competence, discourse teaching and situational teaching. Based on the limitations and the research results, the author comes up with the views of the further study of cloze tests.