English Language Testing in Hong Kong

Over the past twenty or thirty years, as language testing has grown in maturity as a discipline, it has become increasingly clear that language testing and language teaching cannot be separated. However, it is not always easy to achieve a balance between the sometimes conflicting claims of the test and the curriculum. This book examines English language testing in the Hong Kong context. It consists of three parts. Part 1 deals with English language public examinations, their history and the attempt to keep them in line with curricular changes. Part 2 looks at some current issues of interest to testers, in Hong Kong, in particular issues related to medium of instruction, test reliability, oral testing, vocabulary testing, and the implications for assessment when a target-related approach to curriculum is being im- plemented. Part 3 turns to special cases, such as the testing of English language teachers and the progress in testing for academic purposes among Hong Kong students. Evaluation and testing in Business English is also considered, an area upon which Hong Kong's future very much depends. The book will be of interest not only to specialists in the testing field, but also to those more generally interested in the links between teaching, testing, and the English language needs of places like Hong Kong where English is a second or foreign language.