PETS National English Proficiency Test Course 2

Author: Chen Xuefen, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: PETS (Public English Test System) is a social public English examination implemented by the National Education Examination Center (NEEC) with the assistance of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) in the UK. The medium- and long-term goal of PETS is to incorporate all public English examinations at various levels across the country into the PETS framework, making it more standardized, authoritative, and comparable. To this end, NEEC has conducted extensive preliminary preparations and sent a team of domestic item writers to the University of Cambridge for specialized training. They worked together with British experts to discuss and finalize all aspects of PETS implementation. The examination format of PETS was designed by Chinese and British experts based on the characteristics of English learners in China, reflecting current international trends in large-scale English examinations while fully considering the question types of mainstream domestic exams and taking into account the capacity of society and examinees. Since 1999, NEEC has conducted pilot examinations of PETS in some provinces and cities across the country, which immediately garnered widespread attention and popularity, with tens of thousands of examinees participating in the first year. In the past two years, the number of examinees has increased significantly. The status of PETS is determined by its distinctive features. First, the National Education Examination Center, which is responsible for its implementation, is the largest and most authoritative examination institution in China. It administers most of the national foreign language examinations, which are highly authoritative and their results are widely recognized by government agencies, educational institutions, various enterprises and organizations (including foreign-invested companies in China), and society at large. The center has a highly skilled professional team and receives support and cooperation from authoritative examination institutions in the US and UK. Therefore, the examinations it organizes are of high quality and objectively reflect examinees' foreign language proficiency. Emphasizing the assessment of communicative competence is one of the features of PETS examinations. The purpose of learning a foreign language is to use it for communication (both oral and written, including language expression and comprehension). Examinations that focus solely on language forms deviate from the purpose of language learning and mislead classroom foreign language teaching, causing teachers to teach grammar in isolation from communicative goals and language use contexts, and students to view foreign language as a knowledge-based course, blindly memorizing without understanding. PETS examinations introduce a relatively high proportion of subjective questions, including face-to-face oral assessment, listening tests, and written composition evaluation, which are rare in large-scale English examinations in China. Its positive orientation is to shift the focus from language form-oriented learning to the cultivation of language application skills, making the preparation process for PETS examinations a journey of improving practical language proficiency. Based on the above understanding, the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press has organized and published this series of "PETS Textbooks," "PETS Preparation Guides," and "PETS Vocabulary." The experts and professors who participated in the writing of the textbooks come from several well-known universities and institutions across the country (including Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing Normal University, People's Education Press, Zhejiang University, Xi'an International Studies University, etc.). These experts and professors have long been engaged in English teaching, textbook writing, and examination item development, and they are very familiar with the principles of PETS item development. This series of textbooks is designed with reference to various levels of PETS examinations, incorporating the writing characteristics of similar textbooks both domestically and internationally, while fully considering the characteristics of Chinese students. It can be used as teaching material for PETS training courses at all levels or as self-study material for examinees preparing for PETS examinations. The authors of the "PETS Preparation Guides" and "PETS Vocabulary" are also teachers who have long been engaged in college English teaching and research. Based on the materials I have received, both of these series are serious and meticulous works, carefully designed and written, and are expected to provide great help for PETS preparation. It is hoped that the nationwide promotion of PETS examinations will contribute positively to updating teaching guidelines, reforming traditional teaching methods, shifting from the transmission of language knowledge to the cultivation of language skills, and moving from isolated language skill training to the comprehensive development of language skills. It is also hoped that these three series will genuinely help improve the practical English application skills of PETS examinees.
Professor Jiang Zukang, Department of English, Beijing Foreign Studies University