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A new test for China? Stages in the development of an assessment for professional purposes.

  • Yan Jin
    ,
  • Liz Hamp-Lyons
Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Abstract

It is increasingly recognised that attention should be paid to investigating the needs of a new test, especially in contexts where specific purpose language needs might be identified. This article describes the stages involved in establishing the need for a new assessment of English for professional purposes in China. We first investigated stakeholders’ perceptions of the target language use activities and the necessity of the proposed assessment. We then analysed five existing tests and six language frameworks to evaluate their suitability for the need of the proposed assessment. The resulting proposal is for an advanced-level English assessment capable of providing a diagnostic evaluation of the proficiency of potential employees in areas of relevance to multinationals operating in China. The study has demonstrated the value of following a principled procedure to investigate the necessity for and the needs of a new test at the very beginning of the test development

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 397-426

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice (Volume 22, Issue 4)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 22/03/2015

Publication status

Published - 22/03/2015

ISSN

0969-594X

Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/622447
  • Scopus: 84941809890

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