An Analysis on Content Validity of Proofreading and Error Correction Part in NMET (2016－2017 National Examination Paper)

牛夢瑩

1. Introduction

Proofreading and error correction ability is essential for English learners.In National Matriculation English Test （NMET）， though its not difficult for students to understand passage of proofreading and error correction， its so hard for them to avoid getting their points taken off.This thesis analyzes the content validity of the proofreading and error correction part from the perspective of content validity. As Henning points out， validity stresses to what extent a test or part of a test can represent what it plans to test. This thesis analyzes the content validity of the proofreading and error correction part in the national examination paper I， II， and III of National Matriculation English Test （NMET） （2016-2017） and compares their contents with the requirements in the Curriculum Standard （2017） and the Leading Outline of NMET to analyze its content validity in the NMET.

2. Content Validity of the National Examination Paper I， II， and III of NMET （2016-2017）

2.1Genre

The genre of a reading material has a vital effect on the content validity of a test. Generally， there are four types of genres： argumentation， narration， exposition and description. According to Curriculum Standard （2017）， students should study different genres， get familiar with the genres in daily life and grasp the structure， stylistic features and expressions of different genres. But for the national examination papers I， II， III of NMET （2016-2017）， the genres of their proofreading and error correction parts are all narration， which doesnt meet the requirement in Curriculum Standard （2017）.

2.2 Topic

The topic of a material can influence the test result and validity. How to select the topic scientifically is essential to guarantee the content validity of the proofreading and error correction part. According to the Leading Outline of NMET， there are 24 topics listed， including personal information， personal environments， daily routines， school life， interpersonal relationships， etc. For the national examination papers I， II， III （2016-2017）， the topics involve： family， friends and people around; plans and intentions; emotions; festivals， holidays and celebrations; interests and hobbies; school life， which not only follows up with the requirements in the LeadingOutlineof NMET but also stays close to reality and life.

2.3 Grammar

To master a foreign language， its essential to speak and write it grammatically. As Curriculum Standard （2017）points out， students should learn to comprehend and apply grammar in a context. In proofreading and error correction section， the errors are all placed in a passage and students can exercise grammar knowledge in a context which meets the requirement in Curriculum Standard （2017）. According to Curriculum Standard （2017） ， the knowledge of grammar includes both lexical and sentence knowledge. As for the lexical knowledge， it involves： noun， adverbial， tense， passive voice， etc. As for sentence knowledge， it involves： agreement of subject and predicate， objective， attributive and adverbial clause， conjunction， etc. In the National Examination Paper， I， II， and III of NMET （2016-2017）， it tests both lexical and sentence knowledge. Besides， NMET puts particular emphasis on the lexical aspect. As for lexical level， it always tests article， noun， the tense and collocation of verb， pronoun， adjective， preposition， etc. All of these are mentioned in the Curriculum Standard （2017） （2017）. As for sentence knowledge， it always tests objective clause， adverbial clause， collocation， etc. Similarly， all of these are mentioned in Curriculum Standard （2017）. However， there is a default at sentence level that it doesnt test the agreement of subject and predicate.

3. Conclusion

Through the analysis above， the content of the proofreading and error correction parts in the National Examination Paper I， II， and III of NMET （2016-2017） can meet the basic requirements in the Curriculum Standard （2017） and the Leading Outline of NMET. Hence， the content of proofreading and error correction parts in National Examination Paper I， II， and III of NMET （2016-2017） has a certain content validity to some extent.

References

[1]Henning， G. A guide to language testing： Development， Evaluation and Research. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 1987.

[2]中華人民共和國教育部. 普通高中英語課程標準[Z]. 北京： 人民教育出版社， 2017.

（作者單位：上海理工大學）