A Comparative Study Of HSK,IELTS And TOEFL Listening Tests

Since the implementation of the new HSK,the Chinese-foreign Language Cooperation and Exchange Center has been making efforts to improve the new HSK.Listening,as an input skill,plays an important role in the process of second language learning and language testing,and also plays an important role in daily communication.Therefore,this paper studies HSK listening test through the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis and comparative analysis,drawing lessons from IELTS and TOEFL which are representative of English tests.This study is based on communicative language testing theory.By analyzing and comparing the basic situation of the three tests,this paper chooses HSK(Level 5)and HSK(Level 6),which are relatively consistent with IELTS and TOEFL language proficiency levels,as the research objects.From the perspective of the authenticity in communicative language test,it analyzes the test instructions,types of language materials,colloquial features,phonetic features,text length,speech speed,topics,questions setting and listening skills which are divided into listening test forms and contents,and then examines the advantages and disadvantages of the three tests in terms of authenticity.Through comparative analysis,it is found out that HSK(Level 5)listening test which covers a wide range of topics has obvious advantages on scene authenticity.HSK(Level 6)is more authentic than other listening tests in terms of input speed of language materials,distribution of text length and examination of listening skills.This paper also finds out that HSK(Level 5&6)has obvious deficiencies in test instructions,types of language materials and their oral and phonetic characteristics,as well as the design of question settings.Finally,drawing on the advantages of IELTS and TOEFL listening tests in test forms and contents,this paper puts forward corresponding optimization suggestions on the test description,language material types and colloquial features and question settings of HSK(Level 5&6)listening tests,which suggested making effective use of the chararcteristics of the listening recording and paper description to improve the test description,enriching the types of listening materials,paying more attention to their authenticity,and setting different types of questions according to the length of listening materials.At last,combining the test concept of "promoting teaching by examination" of HSK,the paper puts forward some suggestions on selecting authentic,natural and novel listening materials,enriching classroom training methods and establishing a corpus of listening teaching materials for listening teaching of Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language.