A Study On The Washback Effects Of Yichang Junior Secondary English Achievement Graduation Test

This thesis aims to investigate the washback of Yichang Junior Secondary English Achievement Graduation Test(JSEAGT).Washback is the effects of testing on teaching and learning,and important tests are believed to have more intense washback effects.As a unified selection test in the Yichang city,Yichang JSEAGT will certainly have a influence on the teaching and learning of junior middle school.The main purpose is to explore the attitudes of English teachers and students towards Yichang JSEAGT,and what positive and negative washback effects Yichang JSEAGT has exerted on the teaching and learning of junior middle school English.Based on Alderson and Wall's Washback Hypothesis and Shih's Washback of Students' Learning,such research methods as questionnaires and interviews are adopted to investigate three questions:(1)What are the influences of Yichang JSEAGT on the attitudes of teachers and students?(2)What positive and negative washback effects do JSEAGT in Yichang exert on teachers' teaching?(3)What positive and negative washback effects do JSEAGT in Yichang exert on students' learning?The research subjects include 30 teachers from junior middle schools in different regions of Yichang participate in the survey.Among them,ten teachers participated in the interview.As for the students,there are 242 students from Grade 2 and Grade 3 from different districts of Yichang City who participate in the questionnaire.Among them,13 students are interviewed.According to the data analysis,the major results are as follows:(1)both teachers and students hold positive attitudes to Yichang JSEAGT and teachers are satisfied with the difficulty and quality of the examination paper.(2)both positive and negative washback effects are exerted by Yichang JSEAGT on junior middle school teaching in aspects of selection of teaching material,teaching content and teaching method.Yichang JSEAGT encourages teachers to obtain feedback from the test,and adjust their teaching direction in time so as to improve the students'English learning ability.However,the negative effects still exist.the JSEAGT limits to a certain extent the teachers' self-selection of teaching content and teaching methods.(3)The impact of Yichang JSEAGT on students is reflected in selection of learning materials,learning content and learning method.JSEAGT prompts third grade students to consciously supplement their learning of extracurricular English knowledge,change their learning methods,and enhance their enthusiasm and initiative in learning English.However,it results in a certain degree of test-based learning.The pressure exerted on students affects the students' interest in learning and hinders the improvement of their overall English competence.Moreover,the washback effects vary individually.Finally,through the analysis and discussion of the research results,some suggestions for English teaching in junior high schools in Yichang City are proposed,and we hope to further improve the positive washback effects of Yichang JSEAGT.However,there are also deficiencies in the research.The number of samples studied is not sufficient to completely represent all junior middle schools in Yichang City,besides,subject to objective conditions,classroom observation isn't used.