On the Passing Rate and Countermeasures of TEM4 and TEM8 in

Qinghai

【Abstract】As we all know， TEM4 and TEM8 are quite important for English majors students. According to the passing rate of TEM4 and TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University and the average rate in all Chinese universities， the author finds that the passing rate of Qinghai Nationalities University is far behind the national level. What surprised is that the passing rate of TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University is higher than TEM4. And both the TEM4 and TEM8 rates show a negative tendency. Based on this situation， the author puts forward some suggestions in the discussion part from four aspects of ideology construction， institution construction， teaching resources improving and teaching team construction to improve the passing rates and ultimately enhance the teaching quality of English majors in Qinghai Nationalities university.

【Key words】passing rate; TEM4; TEM8

Introduction

TEM4 and TEM8 have great significant for both English majors students and teachers. They can reflect not only how well the students learn， but also teaching quality. Besides， they are parts of requirements of graduation in universities. According to the data， the author figures out the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 are much lower than national level. This paper will analyze the reasons of the low rates and try to put forward some countermeasures to change this situation.

1. The features of the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University

TEM4 is held annually for sophomores who are majored in English， and TEM8 is held in the seventh semester. The author compared the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University and the whole nation in recent six years. Lets see the graphs.

Graph 1 shows that there is a pronounced gap between the passing rate of TEM4 in Qinghai Nationalities University and national level， and the gap is widening. The average rate of the while nation is 50.59%， while the average rate in our school is 16.35%. The national level is relatively stable， but the rate of Qinghai Nationalities University changes greatly and has a decreasing tendency. The maximum of the rate in QNU is in 2012（32.8%） and the minimum is in 2017（2.3%）. However in 2016， the rate in QNU has made a great improvement. Generally， the rates of TEM4 in QNU is much lower than national level.

According to graph 2， the conclusion can be drawn that the national rate（40.41%） of TEM8 is more stable and higher than that in QNU（25.51%）. The summit in QNU is in 2015（36.62%）， and the nadir is in 2014（20.64%）. In general， the rates of TEM8 in QNU has not catch up with national level.

It is easy to figure out that the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 are both steady and have little fluctuations. And the rates of TEM4 are higher than that of TEM8. What about the relationship between the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University？ The answer is in graph 4.

In Qinghai Nationalities University， the rate of TEM4 is in a negative tendency， but the rate of TEM8 is relatively stable.What surprising is that the passing rates of TEM8 are higher than TEM4. The average rate of TEM4 is 16.35%， however the average rate of TEM8 is 25.51%.  From graph 4， the gap between the rate of TEM8（36.62%） and TEM4（6.67%） in 2015 is obviously wide. In 2016， both the TEM4（23.815 and TEM8（22.81%）gain relatively good results.

In a word， according to the graphs above， the author figures out that the passing rate of TEM4 is decreasing. The rate of TEM8 is averagely higher than TEM4， but it still has a long distance with national level.

2. Reasons of the features of the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU

2.1 Reasons of the low rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU

Firstly， the author analyzes the reasons from the origin of students. Qinghai Nationalities University is located in Xining， Qinghai， a developing city of northwestern China. The teaching quality is not as good as in southern cities， especially for English teaching. While majority of students in English classes in QNU are from northwestern area like Qinghai， Gansu and Xinjiang， some of who are minorities from mountains or pasturing area， their English are poor. As a result， the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 are both lower than the average rate of other universities. Besides， in order to improve the overall local education level， QNU has expanded enrollment in local region. Consequently， the rates changes with the changes of origin of the students.

Secondly， time arrangement is also an important reason. Chinese students are strictly ruled by parents and schools before they step into university. Everything is arranged by their parents and teachers， and they are forced to finish the objectives. While in university， no one will compose students to study， they release themselves and spend less time on study after class. However the limit time in class is not enough for students to learn English well. English learning is a comprehension process of listening， speaking， reading and writing. Much time is needed.

Because of the above reasons， the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU are lower than national level.

2.2 Reasons of higher rates of TEM8 than TEM4

As the author mentions in the last part， at the very early stage of students university life， they are freed from great pressure of high school， and begin to live with their own desires and willing. Under this situation， some may lose themselves and dont know how to arrange their time properly. Students prefer spending more time on club events， social activities， part time jobs rather than on study. So it is difficult for them to pass TEM4. But as time goes by， when the students enter the third academic year， they eventually find out their direction of life and realize the significance of professional study. So they begin to spend most of their time on English learning. After 2 years hard working， some of them can also pass TEM8 as those who passed TEM4. As a result， the passing rates of TEM8 are higher than TEM4.

3. Countermeasures on improving the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU

3.1  Ideology construction

Certificates of TEM4 and TEM8 are being criterion of how English majors acknowledged this language， and more and more companies regard the certificates as basic requirements of employees. Therefore， to improve the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU， noticing the importance of TEMM4 and TEM8 is initially. The English department can give some lectures about the significance of TEM4 and TEM8 for freshmen. At the same time， the students should make a mental preparation that only hard working and persistence can help them pass the exams and finally get good jobs.

3.2  Institution construction

Institution construction is one of the most vital factors of improving the passing rates. Ideology construction is supported by institution construction. So we suggest the certificates of TEM4 and TEM8 being parts of requirements of scholarship and students subsides，which encourages students to study hard. Besides， the English department can set up mock exams of TEM4 and TEM8 regularly. Thus students can adapt to the circumstances of the two and avoid unnecessary faults in real exams.

3.3  Teaching resources improvement

The English teaching resources in QNU is too old to keep pace with the reformation of TEM4 and TEM8. On the one hand， the faculty should buy some new online resources and set up customized resource bank for the students to pass TEM4 and TEM8， which consists of old exams， training mode and mock mode. On the other hand， the department should provide more English books in library. The more English books students read， the more culture they learn， and the easier they can pass TEM4 and TEM8.

3.4  Teaching team construction

Teachers play a fatal role in the process of English learning for the learners. The English department can form a special teaching team for specific teaching of TEM4 and TEM8. Based on different parts of the exams， we can choose teachers who have different advantages on listening， speaking， reading and writing. And then design special strategies and training which are suitable for the students in QNU.

4. Conclusion

This paper analyzed the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in Qinghai Nationalities University， and compared the rates with national level. The author founded out the reasons of the features of the rates in QNU from the origin， mental and time arrangements of the English majors students in it. And then the author put forward countermeasures from 4 parts， ideology construction， institution construction， teaching resources improvement， teaching team construction . Hope to change not only the hard situation of the passing rates of TEM4 and TEM8 in QNU， but also improve the students English competence.

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