Content Validity Of Reading Section Of New HSK (Level 6) Test Paper

The Chinese Proficiency Test(HSK)is an international standardized test of Chinese language proficiency administered by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and implemented by Chinese Testing International Co.,Ltd,focusing on the ability of candidates whose first language is not Chinese to communicate in daily life,study and work in Chinese.The Level 6 test is the highest level of the HSK written test,and candidates taking this level are less restricted by Chinese characters.The reading section of HSK is the section that takes the longest for candidates to complete,requiring them to read a large amount of text in a limited amount of time.The quality of the reading section can play an important role in assessing the quality of the whole examination.In language tests,validity is one of the most important criteria for testing a test.Content validity is an important part of validity verification and refers to the extent to which the actual test content matches the content or behavior that is intended to be measured.To examine the quality of the HSK(Level 6)reading test,this thesis examines the content validity of the reading section from official examination papers of HSK(Level 6),which is compiled by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation,using both quantitative and qualitative methods with reference to Bachman and Palmer’s task-based framework for language testing.The study analyzes the content validity of the HSK(Level 6)reading test in terms of both discourse input characteristics and expected response characteristics,and examines the length,reading speed,text types,genre types,question types and reading skills.After analyzing,this study finds that the text form of the HSK(Level 6)reading test is mainly linear text while the text content covers a wide range of topic types,highlighting the strong scientific character of the test.Explanatory text is the main genre in the reading test,which is also in line with the strong scientific nature of the reading section.The reading material is dominated by texts on popular science,with fewer tests on life philosophy and everyday life.In terms of question design,the HSK(Level 6)reading test questions are mostly objective,in the form of multiple-choice questions.The reading skills tested in HSK are more focused,focusing on students’ skills in understanding detailed information,understanding the structure of reading material and understanding the main idea.Based on the results of the study,five suggestions are given on how to promote the optimization of the new Chinese proficiency test and the teaching activities of Chinese as a foreign language in the future: further enriching the text format of the HSK(Level 6)reading,further enriching the genre types of the HSK(Level 6)reading,adding questions with limited output responses and further improving the content of the test syllabus.