ABSTRACT
As universities and community colleges in the USA and Canada are engaged in aggressive programs of internationalization, and North American immigration has increasingly drawn from language groups other than English, there has been a steady increase in the number of professionals and learners using English and taking standardized English tests. Within this global population, Chinese learners are among the largest groups of international and immigrant students studying at English medium universities (Shi, 2006), and according to Canada census statistics (Chui, Trun, & Flanders, 2005), professionals and skilled workers from China are two of the largest immigrant groups in Canada. In order to be enrolled in various academic programs and to be recognized by professional societies, a large number of Chinese professionals and learners take English language profi ciency tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOFEL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) annually. In addition to these tests, the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) is one of the English language profi ciency tests designed to measure the advanced-level English profi ciency of learners who use English as a second or foreign language. This chapter reviews the MELAB and investigates the performance and characteristics of MELAB Chinese test-takers.
