The predecessor of the Language Testing and Assessment Center was the oral English Testing Center, which was established in November 2002 and renamed in June 2015. At present, the director of the center is Professor Zhang Xiaohong, and Associate Professor Guo Li is the executive deputy director.
Before 2015, the center was mainly responsible for organizing two university-level exams: the Communicative English speaking Test of Shenzhen University and the Computer-Assisted Oral English Test for Exam-Free Students. The Communicative English Speaking Test, which was implemented each year since 2002 to 2015 was a face-to-face direct oral English test for all undergraduates of Shenzhen University. Students who passed the test obtained a certificate of oral English proficiency from Shenzhen University.
The oral English test for exam-free students has been implemented since 2011 and is conducted twice a year. It adopts the form of a man-machine dialogue and is aimed at undergraduates of Shenzhen University who apply for the qualification of exam-free status for graduate students. The oral test is divided into three parts: reading, role-playing and short conversation. It measures candidates' mastery of English pronunciation, intonation and rhythm, the appropriateness and fluency of conversation, and the coherence and logic of language. The total duration is about eight minutes. This oral test is graded manually by the examiner.
In June 2015, Principal Li Qingquan personally inaugurated the Language Testing and Assessment Center. Since then, the focus of the center's work has changed from simple oral exams to both English testing and teaching assessment.
Currently, the Language Testing and Assessment Center organizes two computer exams for exam-free students and two English proficiency exams of Shenzhen University every academic year. The English Proficiency Test of Shenzhen University is also known as the Shen Si English Test, which aims to measure whether candidates have the English communicative ability to study and live in an English-speaking country. It adopts the academic IELTS question types, which is mainly used to test freshmen majoring computer sciences.
The assessment center is also responsible for designing teaching evaluation questionnaires and collecting students' feedback on curriculum design, teaching contents, methods and teaching effectiveness at all levels of University English teaching. The center also provides professional support in the design of the University English grading scheme, the construction of an English question database, and the freshmen's reading and listening competitions.
The assessment center will further strengthen team building, enhance the professional ability, and cooperate closely with the English Department to further promote the reform of University English.
