“交际”一词如今在有关语言学习的材料中使用得如此频繁,似乎有点象在果酱瓶上贴一枚超级市场的标签一样被视为理所当然。测试的果酱瓶通常是不透明的,因此我们只有在尝试以后才能了解它。尽管如此,我们还是能够通过如下标准来识别它的优劣。 1.交际性测试不应局限于语言本身的检查。普通的口试可以是评价学生在应付一般性问题时使用语言的熟练程度。但是,个交际性的口试还要求学生应付不同的情景。因此,只检查学生语言能力的测试就不可能是交际性测试。 2.交际性测试应取决于弥合信息差距。它必须首先提出一个使用语言的目的, The term “social” is now used so often in language-learning material that it seems a bit like taking a supermarket label on a jelly bottle for granted. The jam jar that is tested is usually opaque, so we can understand it only after trying it. Nevertheless, we can still identify its pros and cons by the following criteria. 1. Communicative testing should not be limited to the language itself. An ordinary oral test can be to assess a student’s proficiency in using language in dealing with a general problem. However, communicative oral exams also require students to cope with different scenarios. Therefore, a test that examines only a student’s language ability can not be a communicative test. 2. Communicative testing should depend on closing the information gap. It must first propose a language of purpose,