Implementation of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi and its Home Edition During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Survey of European Test Centres

Abstract

The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) test is a standardized Chinese language proficiency test targeting non-native speakers. Compared with other Chinese proficiency tests, the HSK has the largest test population in the world and has attracted the most academic research. This article examines how the HSK was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic and the issues facing home-based HSK test, the so-called HSK Home Edition. The results of a primary survey showed that the majority of test centres in Europe opted to implement the traditional paper-based format of the HSK during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the availability of the HSK Home Edition. Concerns related to technical and security issues were among the major factors that hindered successful implementation of the Home Edition. Of the test centres that utilised the Home Edition, they rated their overall experience as satisfactory. This finding suggests that concerns relating to technical and security issues associated with the adoption of the Home Edition may be less daunting than anticipated. Additional training for test centre staff could improve the implementation of the Home Edition.

The development of a Chinese vocabulary proficiency test (CVPT) for learners of Chinese as a second/foreign language

“…They were told that their class grades would not be affected by their participation. HSK tests were interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic (Chen, 2022), so participants’ Chinese proficiency was measured using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = beginner ; 7 = advanced ; Li et al, 2006). Although both groups’ self-ratings of L2 proficiency significantly differed, with Indonesian learners perceiving themselves to be comparatively more proficient (Indonesian, M = 3.76, SD = 1.16; Thai, M = 3.40, SD = .94), the effect size was small (Plonsky & Oswald, 2014), t (522) = 3.80, p < .001, Cohen’s d = .35, suggesting a degree of comparability.…”

“…A Chinese cloze test was used as an external criterion for CVPT for several reasons. First, standardized tests, such as the HSK, were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the HSK Home Edition posed technical and security challenges (Chen, 2022), thus it is impossible for the participants to sit the HSK. Second, cloze tests are one popular measure of L2 proficiency (Park et al, 2022;Tremblay, 2011;H.…”

Articulating transboundary education: Growing IJCE to cultivate innovation frontiers

“…Seven research papers and one book review have been published since May, with several more in process to top off the May-August compilation (Chen, 2022; Ge et al, 2022; Huang, 2022; Lin and Dai, 2022; Mao et al, 2022; Peng, 2022; Xie, 2022; Zhang, 2022). Julie Yu-Wen Chen investigate implementation of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) and its Home Edition during the Covid-19 Pandemic, crossing boundaries between language and cultures.…”