The Washback Effect Of NMET Reading Comprehension On Senior High School English Reading Teaching

The research based on the washback effect of language tests emerged abroad.Foreign research mainly investigates whether the phenomenon of washback exists,the factors of affecting washback,the strategies to improve positive washback,etc.It mainly uses questionnaires,classroom observations and interviews.Domestic research began in the 1990 s.It mainly focuses on the existence,nature and mechanism of washback effect and the methods of promoting positive washback effect.Li Xiaoju(1990)was the first one to explore the washback effect of NMET English.Theoretically,domestic and foreign studies have established an operational theoretical framework for washback and conducted some representative empirical studies to verify the validity of the theory.In practice,they have deepened stakeholders’ understanding of the phenomenon of washback and revealed that the problems in teaching,which has important practical significance in promoting the reform of testing and teaching.The study was based on empirical research and used text analysis,questionnaires,classroom observations and interviews.It was based on Bachman & Palmer test task characteristics framework,Alderson & Wall’s washback hypothesis and Krashen’s theory of input hypothesis.This study specifically explored 2 questions:(1)What are the characteristics of English reading comprehension of NMET(2016-2021)Volume I?(2)What are the specific manifestations of washback effect on high school English reading teaching? And some related pedagogical insights are presented.The results of the study show that the reading comprehension is rich in thematic contexts and discourse types.The reading skills are comprehensive and especially focus on the basic skills,which overall meets the requirements of General Senior High School Curriculum Standards(2017 Edition)and reflects the nurturing value of the English subject.NMET has a positive washback effect on teaching,including the rich selection of reading teaching materials,the adequate training of reading skills,and the effective teaching strategies of teachers.It also has a negative washback effect,such as the single teaching objective and the dominant position of traditional reading teaching method.As a whole,the positive effect outweighs the negative one.The implications of this study are as follows: the English subject should aim at developing students’ language ability and fully reflect the cultivation of core literacy;conform to the new model of NMET and focus on cultivating students’ comprehensive reading skills;insist on using the concept of English learning activities and advocate the trinity of independent,cooperative and inquiry learning.