Literature Review #5--China's Big Test.

1. Works Cited

Rauhala, Emily, and Gu Yongqiang. "China's Big Test." Time 185.13 (2015): 36. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

2. This article explores the underlying reasons in terms of the recent SAT cheating scandal in China, the author points out that the reality is more complex for Chinese students to commit to alleged cheating due to China's education system. In mainland China, cases of test fraud are everywhere in press because the competition is just so intense for China's college entrance exam, namely the "gaokao". Parents and students acquire the mindset that if they do not search for "easier" ways in order to earn higher scores on the exam, they are being placed at an unfair position. China's "authoritarian" system--a single test that determines a student's future also substantially contributes to alleged cheating. Therefore, the education system somewhat forces Chinese students to constantly outperform each other. In the case for Chinese students who study abroad, Rauhala ad Gu argue that language is still a huge problem for them. Chinese students are capable of earning high scores on TOEFL and SAT tests but they still find it very difficult to have face-to-face conversations with their American peers. According to Miao, a student at Wisconsin Madison, "her classmates used words that they don't teach at TOEFL prep and spoke so quickly that it was hard to keep up at first" (Rauhala&Gu, 41). Therefore, by exploring the roots of cheating, we see that China's education system plays a significant role in causing the situation. The Neutralization Theory thus can only help explain half of the story.

3. Quotes

1) "Outraged at the special supervision, more than 2,000 people, mostly parents, gathered near the exam hall, trapping investigators inside. Their rallying cry: “It’s not fair unless we cheat.” Parents were so desperate for high scores, and so convinced that everyone else was cheating, that they saw fraud as the only way to level the playing field".

2) "For some 2,000 years, jobs in the highly regarded civil service were awarded to
those who performed best on nationwide exams. The tests were faulted for promoting a narrow type of learning but had the benefit of being fairly meritocratic. In theory, they offered students the chance to improve their lives".

3) "Elite institutions like Beijing’s Peking and Tsinghua universities reserve
more spaces for applicants from the capital, putting candidates from the provinces
at a further disadvantage".

4) "Even for an adventurer like Miao, American college life was a shock. Her
English scores were excellent, but her classmates used words that they don’t teach at TOEFL prep and spoke so quickly that it was hard to keep up at first. In Chinese high schools, she says, the teacher talked and students listened and memorized. Her social-science classes at Madison
were all about crafting arguments and participating in debate".