The Washback Effect Of New CET Band-4 Reading Upon College English Teaching And Learning

Washback, as one of six qualities of test usefulness, has aroused a lot of attentions abroad and at home in recent decades. Much theoretical and empirical research has been done in order to gain insights into this complicated phenomenon. Ever since 1980s, a great many studies have been conducted abroad on washback effects of language testing. These studies have broadened people's understanding of washback effects and promoted the reform and innovation in language testing and teaching.According to the"Innovation Proposal for College English Test Band-4(abbreviated as CET Band-4) (trial)"formulated by the Education Ministry, format and content of CET Band-4 were revised. Reading comprehension, as an important part of CET Band-4, has also undergone some changes. For example, the percentage of reading comprehension among the whole test has been reduced from 40% to 35%. The testing of fast reading (skimming and scanning) has been added to the test. Test item type has changed from the sole multiple-choice item to the combination of multiple-choice item, completion item and true/false question, etc. Can the new CET Band-4 reading test work better than the traditional one in improving English teaching and learning? Has the implementation of the new CET Band-4 reading test after its innovation exerted washback on English teaching and learning? Few empirical investigations on its washback effects have been carried out.The purpose of the present study is to investigate the nature of washback of the new CET Band-4 reading test on college teaching and learning; examine the influence of new CET Band-4 reading test on different aspects of teaching and learning proposed in Alderson&Wall's Washback Hypothesis; analyze strength and weakness of new CET Band-4 reading test. The research has been carried out by adopting three kinds of instruments—empirical test, questionnaires and interviews.To investigate the nature of washback of the new CET Band-4 reading test, the author carried out an experiment in which 199 sophomores from two classes of Shandong Normal University took part. The experimental class was given new CET Band-4 reading test tasks every two weeks, whereas the control class was given traditional CET Band-4 reading test tasks. After one semester's training, a comparison showed that students'performances in experimental class have made much progress and the new CET Band-4 reading test exert positive washback on learning and teaching. Then questionnaires and interviews were carried out; it was found that the new CET Band-4 reading test does yield more positive washback on CE(College English abbreviated as CE) learning and teaching. However, there are also negative influences exerted by the test on CE learning and teaching.Based on the findings, the author proposes some ways to enhance positive washback. Firstly, authenticity should be built in the test and in textbooks. Secondly, more subjective tasks should be added and more objective tasks should be decreased from the new CET Band-4 reading test. Thirdly, when it comes to enhance positive washback effects of the new CET Band-4 reading test, teacher's function should not be neglected. Fourthly, in terms of CE learners, besides the clearness in learning objectives, fostering the learning autonomy and self-assessment are believed to be able to bring great positive washback.In the end, the thesis points out the limitations of this study.