To promote the international applications and alignment of Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education (hereinafter referred to as the Standards), to build a scientific and authoritative Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), hosted by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), and organized by Chinese Testing International, the seminar on International Alignment and Applications of Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education was held online on December 17th.
Mr. Zhao Guocheng, Deputy Director-General of CLEC; Liu Yinglin, Professor of Beijing Language and Culture University; Zhang Huahua, Professor of Purdue University; Furukawa Yutaka, Professor of Osaka University; and Dr.Rehab Mahmoud, Professor of Cairo University, attended the seminar and delivered speeches.
Mr. Zhao Guocheng said that in order to help Chinese language teachers around the world understand and apply the Standards, the CLEC has published National Standards: Application and Interpretation, carried out much research on the alignment of the Standards with other international language standards, and developed Chinese language learning resources like International Chinese Learner's Dictionary and Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education • Grammar Learning Manual, etc., and have organized various academic seminars and training programs.
During the next step, the CLEC will continue to help countries apply the Standards; further promote the Standards' research, international alignment, training and seminars; use the Standards as a guide to build an international Chinese language education standard system; and increase the supply of Chinese language teaching resources around the Standards.
Meanwhile, the CLEC will adhere to the Standards and insist on being learner-centered. Based on the existing six levels of the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), the CLEC would improve and develop a HSK 3.0 test with a new paradigm of "three levels and nine bands" that is more scientific and better meets learners' needs. The CLEC will actively use big data, artificial intelligence and other new technologies to promote process and personality evaluation, utilize the guiding role of examination as an evaluation method, develop Smart education in Chinese language, and continuously improve the quality of international Chinese language education.
As the chief expert on the Standards, Professor Liu Yinglin shared the new framework and new ideas for constructing HSK 3.0 a new paradigm of "three levels and nine bands" from a new starting point. He proposed that HSK elementary 1-3 levels ought to be the short-term goals of international Chinese language education, with level 4-6 as the mid-term goals, and level 7-9 as the long-term goals.
He pointed out that HSK3.0 has the role of a bellwether, which will promote the HSK test from quantity expansion to quality improvement. Professor Zhang Huahua said that in the future, the Chinese language test should adopt intelligent assessment technology to promote personalized language learning, improve test efficiency, and ensure the safety and fairness of the test. Professor Furukawa Yutaka took Japanese Chinese language teaching as an example and shared the application of the Standards in Japan and his research on the alignment of the Standards with Japanese Chinese language education standards. Professor Dr.Rehab Mahmoud introduced the application of the "Standards" in the organization and implementation of the HSK test in Egypt.
22 experts from 11 countries including China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Egypt, Cambodia, Austria, and Cameroon, actively spoke on the two topics "Chinese language test reform under the guidance of the Standards" and "international alignment and application of the Standards".
Wu Zhongwei, Professor of Fudan University, combined the requirements of the Standards and gave suggestions on the development of HSK3.0 from three aspects: real communication tasks, Chinese character teaching and Chinese language academic ability training. Zhang Yanli, Professor of Shanghai International Studies University, and Zheng Ying, Professor of University of Southampton, provided valuable advice on the alignment between the Standards and the HSK test based on the relationship between the current international standards and the test.
Yang Zhiming, Professor of Hunan Normal University, said that the Standards can be used to explore the methods of the Chinese language graded reading test system. Peng Hengli, Professor of Beijing Language and Culture University; Jin Yan, Professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University; and Liu Ou, general manager of CRISPS of the American Educational Testing Service (ETS), made recommendations based on the trend of education development, advising that future examinations should reflect multiculturalism, break through the limitations of time and space with technical means, and improve evaluation efficiency.
Taras lvchenko, Professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities, and Nama Didier Dieudonne, General Inspector of Chinese Language Teaching of the Ministry of Education, Cameroon, said that the Standards would be an important basis for formulating Chinese language teaching syllabuses and compiling Chinese language textbooks and supplementary resources in the region. Richard Trappl, Professor of the University of Vienna, believed that the development of Chinese language textbooks and courses based on the Standards would help learners adjust to the chaos caused by changes in regions and textbooks and maintain the continuity of learning.
Tan Dali, Vice President of the American Academy of International Culture and Education, and Aand Cai Changjie, President of the Indonesian Jakarta Chinese Language Education Coordination Agency, pointed out that it is necessary to develop an alignment chart between the Standards and the commonly used Chinese language textbooks in the local area, and organize domestic and foreign institutions and teachers working together on course design to create a modular high-quality Chinese course resource website that meets the Standards and foreign language learning standards in various countries.
Liu Lening, Professor of Columbia University, Liang Yanmin, Associate Professor of Beijing Language and Culture University, and Ye Jun, Professor of East China Normal University, provided suggestions for local Chinese language teaching from the perspective of comparison between the Standards and local language and culture, teaching philosophy and standard levels, and major international language proficiency scales. Kim, Hyun-cheol, Professor of Yonsei University, and Vuth Sopheakna, Dean of the Institute of International Chinese Language Education and Teacher Education of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, emphasized the significance of systematic training on the Standards to help local teachers develop. (Information Sources：Center for Language Education and Cooperation)
