Teachers’ involvement in high-stakes language assessment reforms: The case of Test for English Majors (TEM) in China

Abstract

As important stakeholders in language assessment, teachers’ perceptions of language test design and implementation are key factors influencing test impact. This study investigated how English teachers perceived the recent reform of Test for English Majors Grade 4 (TEM4) - a high-stakes English proficiency test targeting English-major undergraduates in China. Furthermore, this study explored the convergence and divergence between teachers’ perceptions of the reform and the intentions of the TEM4 Committee. Findings of this study indicate that teachers in general commented favourably on the revised TEM4 and felt that most of the reform measures were appropriate; however, some divergence betwee..