英语论文 ：Globalization o-r Localization: Where do Lan[1]

【找论文网 - 英语论文】
【Abstract】The separation into international tests for the management of international movement of young people into advanced study programs, and national/local tests for study purposes within students’ own countries, drives the people concerned to think about the way forward of language tests, particularly English language proficiency tests. What’s at issue here is not ‘globalization or localization?’, but that ‘when and how to globalize and when and how to localize?’. ‘Globalization’ and ‘localization’ are not exclusive to each other, but rather complementary to some extent.

【Key Words】test, globalization, localization

1.What do the experts say?

For many years, the TOEFL test and the IELTS are two most used English language proficiency tests taken by young persons hoping to undertake academic study in the US and UK respectively. At the same time, most large educational systems have their own English language proficiency measures which they use for internal purposes, such as CET in China, GEPT in Taiwan, and STEP in Japan. This separation into international tests for the management of international movement of young people into advanced study programs, and national/local tests for study purposes within students’ own countries, drives the people concerned to think about the way forward of language tests, particularly English language proficiency tests.

In the past five years, as Hamp-Lyons (2004) puts it, we are beginning to see the rapid increase in the use of a very small set of international English language proficiency tests across many countries, with TOEFL and IELTS being the most prominent. Meanwhile, this small set of international English language proficiency tests is used within countries, regions, or even within institutions. For example, the Australian government has approved IELTS as an admissions measure for pre-college Chinese students wanting to study for their final high school years in Australia. The Hong Kong government has英语论文