Abstract

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and College English Test (CET) are two influential English language tests of Britain and China. CET, managed by the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education, is a national English test which focuses on assessing the English ability of college students in China. Although it has made some contribution to China’s English teaching and learning, it also has various problems and negative effects. These years, CET tried to do some reform, but the effect was far from satisfactory. IELTS, as an international and professional English test hosted by native English speaking countries, has lots of practical experience and scientific ideas worth learning.
By comparative study, this thesis tries to do some systematic analysis of IELTS and CET to find their similarities and differences. By comparing the test content and evaluating criteria of the two tests, it shows that IELTS is more reliable than CET in some aspects. Finally, the thesis provides some viable suggestions to Chinese college English test in hope to shed some light in its reform.

Keywords: language testing; reform; CET; IELTS; comparative study

摘要

英国的雅思考试和中国的大学英语四、六级考试是两个非常有影响力的英语语言测试。大学英语四、六级考试是由教育部高教司主持实施的一项全国性的英语测试，其目的是对中国大学生的英语能力进行评价。它为中国英语教学和学习做出了许多贡献，但是它也存在着一些问题和消极影响。近些年来，大学英语四、六级考试采取了一些改革措施，效果却不尽人意。雅思考试作为由英语国家主办的具有国际性和专业性的语言测试，有很多经验和理念值得借鉴和学习。
本文通过对比研究，对雅思考试和大学英语四、六级考试进行了较为系统的分析，发现了它们的相同点和不同点。从这两种测试的内容和评价标准的对比中，本文得出了一些结论，表明雅思考试在一定程度上优于大学英语四、六级考试。最后，文章针对中国大学英语考试提出了一些可行的建议，希望能够对中国大学英语考试的改革和发展有所帮助。

关键词：语言测试；改革；大学英语四、六级考试；雅思考试；对比研究