Abstract：This study validated the construct of the writing strategy scale of China’s Standards of Eng‐ lish Language Ability (CSE) in terms of the categories and proficiency levels of 49 descriptors by collecting survey data from 1983 students from 13 Chinese universities. Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis were adopted to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the writing strategic competence encompasses five factors (generating, organizing, translating and transcribing, translating and revising) and falls into three categories (planning, formulating and revising), which is consistent with the strategic framework of CSE (planning, executing, evaluating and compensating). Except for two misfits and three descriptors which are different from their expected hierarchical orders, other descriptors fit the model well and match their assigned proficiency levels in CSE. In general, the writing strategy scale of CSE has a satisfactory construct validity. In addition, the reasons about the problematic descriptors are unveiled and suggestions for the revision and application of CSE writing strategy scale are provided.
Key words: China’s Standards of English Language Ability (CSE); writing strategic competence; construct validation
