I have heard a lot of controversy over using the HSK to assess the proficiency of American students. Does anyone have an opinion on this? What is the best standardized test to use, and for what age group?
We had students take the HSK and they were offered a month long program during the summer. All they had to pay was airfare. That was a wonderful experience for them.
Having said that, I would not consider the HSK an effective test to assess the proficiency of American students. It is designed for other purposes. There are other instraments coming on line that will do that better, such as STAMP and NOELLA. They are still in their infancy but should improve significantly quickly.
For assessing oral proficiency there is the OPI, SOPI, etc. We use the former and it is giving us a benchmark to work from and a goal to work towards.
Comments
We had students take the HSK and they were offered a month long program during the summer. All they had to pay was airfare. That was a wonderful experience for them.
Having said that, I would not consider the HSK an effective test to assess the proficiency of American students. It is designed for other purposes. There are other instraments coming on line that will do that better, such as STAMP and NOELLA. They are still in their infancy but should improve significantly quickly.
For assessing oral proficiency there is the OPI, SOPI, etc. We use the former and it is giving us a benchmark to work from and a goal to work towards.