ArticleMulti-perspective Studies of Foreign Languages Learning http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.02.027
A Comparative Study on the Content Validity of English Reading Comprehension Test Items in the 2026 College Entrance Examination and Provincial Quality Assessment: A Case Study of Fujian Province
Zhangjie Lin
College of Foreign Languages, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, Fujian, China.
*Corresponding author: Zhangjie Lin
Published: February 28, 2026
Abstract
With the implementation of the English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools (2017 Edition, 2020 Revision), the college entrance examination has a growing impact on regional testing and teaching. Based on the task characteristics of Bachman and Palmer and the core literacy requirements of the Curriculum Standards, this study compares the reading comprehension items of the 2026 Fujian Quality Assessment Test (QA) and the National College Entrance Examination English Test Paper I (used in Fujian) from the two dimensions of discourse input (type, length, difficulty) and expected response (language ability, thinking quality, cultural awareness). The results show that the overall content validity of the two tests is high, and they are comparable in terms of total reading volume, overall difficulty and distribution of core question types, indicating that QA has good consistency with NCEE in these aspects. However, there are notable differences in discourse type coverage, difficulty gradient, depth of higher-order thinking assessment and cultural orientation. NCEE has a clear guiding role in the de-velopment of local tests, while QA shows regional diagnostic characteristics. Based on these findings, this paper puts forward suggestions from aspects of text selection, difficulty gradient optimization, thinking skill evaluation, cultural presentation, accuracy of test construction, teaching backwash effect and so on. These suggestions are intended to provide empirical reference for the improvement of local examination development and English reading teaching in senior high schools.
Keyword
Content validity; NCEE English; reading comprehension; quality assessment test; discourse input; expected response
References
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Copyright
© 2026 by the author(s).
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How to cite this paper
A Comparative Study on the Content Validity of English Reading Comprehension Test Items in the 2026 College Entrance Examination and Provincial Quality Assessment: A Case Study of Fujian Province
How to cite this paper: Zhangjie Lin. (2026). A Comparative Study on the Content Validity of English Reading Comprehension Test Items in the 2026 College Entrance Examination and Provincial Quality Assessment: A Case Study of Fujian Province. Translation and Foreign Language Learning, 2(2), 370-374.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.02.027