An Experimental Study Of English Listening Test Based On Bachman’s Communicative Language Ability In Senior High Schools

Listening is one of the key and difficult points in senior high school English education.Usually in conventional listening class,if students do the tests all right,they will be thought of having good command of all the English listening skills.If not,they will have to face similar difficulties in listening tests constantly without suggestions on the fundamental reasons why they do it wrong and what is lacking in their English listening.According to the previous research,English listening tests are developed mostly by researchers rather than in-service teachers.Therefore,the writer attempts to design classroom English listening tests based on Bachman’s communicative language ability.Through this research,the writer hopes to discover helpful way to promote students’ listening learning and explore a practical test developing approach for teachers.Meanwhile,this research attempts to answer two questions: 1.Can listening tests based on Bachman’s communicative language ability promote students’ English listening learning by backwash effect? 2.Can listening tests based on Bachman’s communicative language ability boost students’ ability to identify their advantages and disadvantages in English listening?Four parallel classes were chosen as subjects of this research.Both experimental group tests and compared tests were applied to the experimental group while compared tests and listening tests selected from textbook to the control group during the experiment.Based on students’ scores of experimental group tests and compared tests,Pearson correlation,Cronbach’s a coefficient and descriptive evidence were used to determine the quality of the experimental group tests developed.Scores of the compared tests were used to identify whether there was difference in students’ listening learning before and after the experiment.Interviews were conducted before the experiment to investigate the suitability and practicality of the tests developed.Questionnaires also sent before and after the experiment to investigate students’ change in ability to identify their advantages and disadvantages in English listening.The results showed that: 1.Students shared similar listening test performance before the experiment.However,there existed considerable difference after the experiment.Students’ listening scores of experimental group were higher than that of control group,which indicated that listening tests based on Bachman’s communicative language ability had positive impact on students’ listening learning.2.Students’ ability to identify advantages and disadvantages in English listening was strengthened according to the results of the questionnaires.