New-version Chinese Proficiency Test being accepted by universities

• Source: Global Times
• [10:19 July 19 2010]
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Foreigners sit the HSK Chinese Proficiency Test. Photo: CFP

By Craig Curtis

Foreigners can now use their results from the revised version of the HSK Chinese Proficiency Test to enter Chinese undergraduate and graduate programs, the Ministry of Education announced recently, making it easier for students from non-East Asian nations to enter higher education institutions in China.

The new version of the HSK test was initiated in November 2009 by test organizers Hanban to overcome the shortfalls of the previous test, including criticism that it was biased towards students from countries where Chinese script is already part of the language, such as Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

The new test now includes oral and written portions for all three levels - basic, intermediate and advanced - instead of just for the advanced level, as was the case previously.

The goal of the revised HSK, according to the Hanban website, is "comprehensive language and communication ability," rather than just character recognition. The old test had character and word-recognition targets for each level. The new version has a higher target for word recognition and lower target for single-character memorization.

"Most of our European and American students take the test as a record of achievement rather than as a necessary requirement for a job or university application," a teacher at Miracle Mandarin, a Chinese training center in Shanghai, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Global Times Sunday. "The new test is easier for these students because there is less of a focus on more difficult or rare characters."