Setting Up Levels for the National English Test System Based on the Seventh National Curriculum: An Exploratory Study

Setting Up Levels for the National English Test System Based on the Seventh National Curriculum: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this study is to set up levels for the National English Test System (NETS) based on level descriptions of the Seventh National Curriculum of the English language. In order to achieve this purpose, the Modern Foreign Curriculum in England (MFCE), the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), the Cambridge Tests, and the Public English Test System (PETS) in China are reviewed in terms of level descriptions, formal language knowledge and English use. This study defined five levels of NETS in detail in terms of level descriptions and formal language knowledge. This study also referred to the detailed specification of formal English knowledge based on the Seventh National Curriculum of English language for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools respectively. The grammatical specification for the levels draws upon some of the content and organizational features of the grammatical summaries contained in recent Council of Europe documentation.