A Study Of The Washback Effects Of Chinese Culture Translation Testin CET-4 On College English Teaching And Learning

The influence of test on teaching and learning is called backwash effect(Hughes,2003:1-2).Language testing plays a guiding role in language teaching and learning,and often determines the direction and goals of teaching and learning.According to the nature of examinations' impact on teaching and learning,the washback effect can be classified into positive and negative effects.Positive washback effect plays an active role in the improvement of curriculum,the updating of teaching materials or teaching methods,and can promote the process of teaching and learning;while negative effects donot only impede the process of teaching and learning,but alsomisguide them.CET-4(short for College English Test,Band Four)is a national standardized language test conducted by National Higher Education Division,formally implemented since 1987.It aims to carry out college English syllabus,measure undergraduate students' English proficiency objectively and accurately,and improve the quality of college English teaching.With the development and progress of society,the training standards of national talent are also rising.In order to meet the national demands for talents better,CET-4 are also constantly developed and improved.In August 2013,National College English Testing Committee partially reformed the structure and test items of CET-4.The CET-4 after reformation has been implemented since December 2013.Translation test in CET-4 is the highlight of the reform,especially in its type and contents.Translation ofphrases or sentence before has been replaced by the translation of a paragraph now.The contents of the translation involve Chinese economic and social development,history and culture,scientific and technological achievements,social hot issues and other aspects.There are about 140 to 160 Chinese characters in this section.The score of the part has taken up 15% of total score and the test time has been increased to 30 minutes from original 5 minutes.The test form of incorporating Chinese culture based on translation into CET-4 examines students' translation competence as well as their inter-cultural communication competence?Based on Alderson and Wall's Washback Hypothesis theory,the present study is to investigate the washback effects of Chinese culture translation test in CET-4 on college English teaching and learning.With reference to the existing studies of washback done by domestic and foreign scholars,the author combined quantitative(questionnaires survey)and qualitative research methods(interview)to investigate 300 non-English majors of sophomores and 23 college English teachers in two universities.The findings of the study show that Chinese culture translation test in CET-4 has different degrees of impact on all aspects of college English teaching and learning.In terms of teaching,the impactsare mainly manifested in the following aspects,such as,teaching attitudes,teaching objectives,teaching contents,teaching materials selection,teaching methods,the breadth and depth of teaching and teaching time allocation and so on.Among them,teaching objective,teaching content and material selection are influenced greatly and obviously,however,teaching methods are not influenced so much.On the whole,the nature of washback Chinese culture translation test in CET-4 on college English teaching is positive.Under the impact of Chinese culture translation test,most teachers began to integrate translation teaching and Chinese culture teaching into their English teaching.Chinese culture translation test has also had positive effects on students' learning attitudes,learning contents,learning objectives,learning methods and learning time distribution.Most students begin to pay attention to their cultivation of intercultural communicative competence and their improvement of translation abilities.According to the results of the study,the author puts forward some suggestions on how to improve the positive effects of Chinese cultural translation test in CET-4 on college English teaching and learning.For example,in the process of English teaching,college English teachers should take initiative to cultivate their own Chinese cultural literacy,strengthen the output of Chinese culture,improve students' abilities to express Chinese culture in English;pay attention to translation teaching and improve students' translation competence.