A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE
A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE
Philip Yeung
Opinion

Opinion

Philip Yeung

How English testing is failing Chinese students by driving numbers, not proficiency

  • Philip Yeung says as the market for English assessments, such as IELTS, grows in China, test designers should ensure that exam questions encourage true language learning

Philip Yeung
Philip Yeung

Updated: 6:37am, 12 Dec, 2018

Why you can trust SCMP
A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE
A Chinese student revises for the annual gaokao or college entrance exams in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. With an increasing number of Chinese students aiming to go to university abroad, English-proficiency testing has become the focus of attention. Photo: EPA-EFE
READ FULL ARTICLE
Philip Yeung

Philip Yeung

Philip Yeung is a former speech-writer to the president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and currently a freelance speech-writer and ghostwriter to local civic and government leaders. He is a guest lecturer at various tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China on public speaking and academic writing. He was educated at the University of Toronto.