Recently, the expression and application of Chinese in our country have been more and more vulgar and non-standard, causing deep worries among linguists.

The Chinese language ability of common people has been declining for several reasons. First, we have been over-emphasizing the importance of learning foreign languages, such as English, and ignoring our own native language. Second, the popularity of Internet language has destroyed the accuracy of standard Chinese. Although perky, funny and adaptable, Internet language is mostly non-standard and inaccurate.

We should improve the overall language ability of today's Chinese people, starting from the HNC test.

Unnecessary

Sun Liqun (news.ifeng.com): There are too many exams and certificates in Chinese society. If we add another test, isn't it another burden to people? In most situations, where there are exams, there will be benefits. So we are wondering whether the new HNC test will become another exam designed for gaining economic profits. Countless companies that offer preparation courses for various tests boom and students have to waste a lot of money and energy to make preparations for those exams.

Improving native speakers' language ability is important but it shouldn't rely on tests. The more important task is to build a culture for everyone to cherish their mother tongue.

Xiong Bingqi (http://edu.ifeng.com): At the very beginning, the College English Test (CET) was designed to improve people's English learning. But several years later, those certificates gradually became compulsory for college students' graduation, and the passing rate of those tests became a vital index for evaluating universities. People are now worried the new HNC test will repeat the old path of CET and secretly become another compulsory certificate for college students.

The worry can be confirmed by the pilot run of the test. Most examinees are college students rather than volunteers recruited in public. In the future, if it develops to be a compulsory test, it will create economic interests for a group of people and add to more burdens to college students.

Wang Chuantao (www.people.com.cn): Once a language exam becomes a threshold or compulsory, it will turn utilitarian.

There are four parts for the newly established HNC exam. Most exam-takers complained that the test is disorganized and the writing part of it strongly resembles the civil servant recruitment exam.

No language can be kept stable by exams, let alone prospering and developing in the rigid exam system. For the Ministry of Education, it should find a way in accordance with the characteristics of development of language rather than using exams to promote and regulate its development. Otherwise, it will go the other way around. In all, HNC is an exam destined to fail.

Nan Shuo (www.fjsen.com): As our native language, Chinese has been used for daily communication for most of our lifetime and the communication itself is an important way of learning. Besides, the development of any language should keep up with the times. Communication in real life is the best teacher for learning a language.

Several celebrity writers said they would fail in the exam even though their articles are used for the test. So how much faith can we have in this test? There is little significance to have another Chinese proficiency test. Besides, there are referential answers for the exam but language shouldn't be restrained by standard answers.

Another worry is that an economic interest chain will be built based on this exam. If some occupations take this as a threshold, this will be a larger benefit chain.

The most important thing for improving people's overall Chinese language proficiency is communication. Encouraging learning by producing more exams is a wrong method. The most possible consequence probably is giving a group of people a chance to dig gold in this area instead of saving the declining language. The exam is destined to be the pursuit of economic benefits of some people in the end.

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