Cambridge University Press and Assessment is partnering with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on a new English language assessment . The goal of the new assessment is to improve understanding of how English is taught and learned as a foreign language.
剑桥大学出版社和评估中心正在与经济合作与发展组织 (OECD) 合作开展一项新的英语语言评估。新评估的目标是提高对英语作为外语如何教授和学习的理解。
The assessment will be a part of the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment, called PISA. PISA is a worldwide study every three years that measures student performance in math, science and reading in the native language. About 80 countries take part in the study.
该评估将成为经合组织国际学生评估计划（PISA）的一部分。 PISA 是一项每三年一次的全球性研究，衡量学生在数学、科学和母语阅读方面的表现。大约80个国家参与了这项研究。
PISA will be adding a foreign language assessment in 2025 as part of the study. So far, English is the only foreign language that will be used in the assessment.
作为研究的一部分，PISA 将于 2025 年增加外语评估。到目前为止，英语是评估中唯一使用的外语。
“It’s a fact that English is the language of communication of study, of work, spoken by billions of people,” Hanan Khalifa told VOA. Khalifa is a language learning and teaching expert with Cambridge, and one of the leading experts on the PISA foreign language assessment. “So it wasn’t surprising to use English as a foreign language to start with,” she said.
哈南·哈利法对美国之音表示：“事实上，英语是数十亿人交流学习和工作的语言。” Khalifa是剑桥大学的语言学习和教学专家，也是PISA外语评估的领先专家之一。 “因此，一开始使用英语作为外语并不奇怪，”她说。
Khalifa calls the new test “ groundbreaking .”
哈利法称这项新测试是“突破性的”。
She said large studies of English language teaching and learning have been limited. There was a study in the 1970s by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden looking at English as a foreign language. And Cambridge was involved in a 2000s study among some European Union countries that assessed teaching and learning foreign languages. Cambridge has tested English teaching and learning in individual countries, but never on a worldwide level.
她说，对英语教学和学习的大规模研究还很有限。 20 世纪 70 年代，瑞典哥德堡大学进行了一项研究，将英语作为外语进行研究。剑桥大学参与了一项 2000 年代针对一些欧盟国家的研究，评估外语教学。剑桥大学已经在各个国家测试了英语教学和学习，但从未在全球范围内进行过测试。
The PISA assessment administered “all over the world with participating countries gives us really, really rich data,” Khalifa said. Until now there has not been a “ reliable … data source about the levels of the abilities of people who would speak English.”
哈利法说，“在世界各地与参与国一起进行的 PISA 评估为我们提供了非常非常丰富的数据”。到目前为止，还没有一个“可靠的……关于会说英语的人的能力水平的数据来源。”
She said the data will help countries make decisions about how to use resources. Without good data it can be hard to know whether countries should center their efforts on developing study programs, training teachers, or introducing students to the language earlier, she said.
她说这些数据将帮助各国做出如何使用资源的决策。她说，如果没有良好的数据，就很难知道各国是否应该将精力集中在制定学习计划、培训教师或尽早向学生介绍该语言上。
The PISA study is only given out to 15-year-old students who attend the school system. The test will center on assessing real-world, everyday English communication.
PISA 研究仅针对就读学校系统的 15 岁学生。该测试将重点评估现实世界中的日常英语交流。
Khalifa said the test “is not about whether your grammar is accurate and whether your vocabulary is spot on.” She added: “It's about whether your message has actually been communicated to the other side or not.”
哈利法说，测试“不是关于你的语法是否准确以及你的词汇是否准确。”她补充道：“这关系到你的信息是否真正传达给对方了。”
The test will be entirely online and through a computer. Students will be assessed based on their English language ability. Students will speak into microphones for the spoken parts of the test.
测试将完全通过计算机在线进行。将根据学生的英语语言能力进行评估。测试口语部分时，学生将对着麦克风讲话。
OECD piloted the assessment in five countries in 2021, and Khalifa said it was a success.
经合组织于 2021 年在五个国家试点了该评估，哈利法表示取得了成功。
Catalina Covacevich is with OECD and was involved with the pilot program.
卡塔琳娜·科瓦塞维奇 (Catalina Covacevich) 供职于经合组织并参与了该试点计划。
She said in a statement that “we were concerned that students with low levels of speaking skills may have found the pilot stressful, but one school enjoyed it so much, they clapped after the speaking assessment.”
她在一份声明中表示，“我们担心口语水平较低的学生可能会觉得试点工作有压力，但有一所学校非常喜欢它，他们在口语评估后鼓掌。”
Khalifa said the test is not meant to trick students or be overly difficult.
哈利法表示，该测试并不是为了欺骗学生或过于困难。
“We try to minimize the anxiety as much as possible,” she said.
“我们尽量减少焦虑，”她说。
But the countries involved take the results seriously. Khalifa said that countries that have been helped by PISA have changed their education policies. Some countries have decided to hire more teachers or introduce foreign languages at a younger age, she said.
但有关国家认真对待这一结果。哈利法表示，受PISA帮助的国家已经改变了教育政策。她说，一些国家已决定雇用更多教师或降低教师年龄，引入外语。
“And that is one of the key reasons why we partnered with OECD,” Khalifa said. “It is about that influence [of PISA].”
“这是我们与经合组织合作的关键原因之一，”哈利法说。 “这与 [PISA] 的影响有关。”