On March 31st, PhD student Yang Dongmin delivered a lecture themed under The Study of the Characteristics of Candidates for Translation Accreditation Test.

He pointed out that the characteristics of candidates is a major factor that shapes the performance in exams and an element that should be taken into consideration during examination designing. However, current translation accreditation tests do not attach due importance to it. He then studied the description of the candidates’ characteristics in existing translation accreditation tests according to Bachman & Palmer’s theory on language testing. By analyzing candidate’s description from 21 translation accreditation test authorities, he found that the above description mainly includes occupation, educational background, competence and physical condition. He said that this kind of description is of vital importance because it mirrors the purpose and nature of the examination and is closely related to the construct clarity, validity and evaluation of those tests and can help avoid using the tests and their results in an inappropriate way. He also argued that the above description may have some demerits which may prevent those tests from being popularized.