Content Validity And Response Validity Of Reading Comprehension Of Senior Entrance English Exam In Jinan

Testing is an important way to assess and select students.At present,more and more scholars and researchers study testing in a scientific way.As an extensive and high-risking exam,it has a direct influence on students' development and whether the goal of testing can be achieved.Reading,which is an important way to get information,is one of essential language skills.Moreover,reading comprehension counts a lot and the validity of reading part can affect the function of English exam.Therefore,it is necessary to study the validity of reading comprehension.Through the research,the paper tries to answer the following questions: Firstly,what are the characteristics of input in reading comprehension test? Secondly,what are the characteristics of expected response in reading comprehension test? Thirdly,what is the response validity of reading comprehension test? The study can not only improve the quality of test,but also help teacher to regard reading test in a more scientific way.The objects of the study were reading part from 2011-2016 and 12 students.The research aims to improve quality of test and teaching efficiency.Combined with quantitative analysis,qualitative analysis was mainly used in this study.According to the framework of task characteristics raised by Bachman and Palmer,the content validity was discussed.Based on actual situation,the framework was adjusted.Input and expected response were chosen to make this survey.The characteristics of input include genre,topic,length,readability,distribution of new information and sentence type.The expected response was developed according to Curriculum Standards.In order to know response validity,"Think aloud" was used.Some conclusions can be achieved through research.Firstly,the genre is single,which just includes narrative and expository passages.The topic is extensive and has a close connection with students' life.Length,readability,distribution of new information and sentence type are steady,all of which are suitable for junior middle school students.Secondly,the tests cover all reading skills and have a better validity in terms of expected response.Thirdly,response validity is not very high,especially some questions about inference.Then some suggestions are given from the aspects of reading test and teaching.At last,the paper shows the shortcomings and further research directions according to the study.