Communicative Language Teaching in China: Progress and Resistance

TESOL QUARTERLY While existing test designs are being improved, organized efforts have been directed to alternative, more task-based test designs guided by contemporary language testing theories. Unlike the earlier tests, these new tests give due attention to speaking and writing. They are designed with a view to promoting learning. Formative assessment has been a means of teaching for many experienced language teachers over the years, but little research has been conducted on formative assessment in China and abroad. There seems a need for such research to complement language testing.