An International Comparative Study Of Writing Proficiency Standards Of Foreign Language

As programmatic documents guiding language learning,teaching and assessment,foreign language proficiency standards make a scientific description of language proficiency,as well as writing proficiency.The implications of writing competence deserve deep exploration.Therefore,this study makes a comparative study of FL writing proficiency standards,aiming to explore the global trends in writing evaluation and further the understanding of writing competence for teachers and researchersBy reviewing the literature on writing competence and writing evaluation home and abroad,this study attempts to construct a framework for describing writing competence Then it uses the framework to analyze the writing part of ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines,Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and English Curriculum Standards in order to find out the similarities and differences of how these standards interpret writing competenceThrough analysis and comparison,it can be concluded that the three standards share many common features.Cohesion,coherence and content of discourse as well as reader awareness on the writer’s part is highly valued.Besides,the diversification of genre types,the repetition of the same genre type across different levels and the growing range of writing topics are manifested in all these standardsDifferences exist as well.American standard puts more emphasis on the linguistic features of writing and socio-cultural factors that influence writing,while European standard and Chinese standard focuses more on strategy use in the writing processIn the end,this study puts forward implications for writing instruction and evaluation.