A Study On The Washback Of The Listening Test In NMET On Listening Teaching And Learning

Washback effect,as one of the most important research contents in language testing,has been widely concerned by scholars at home and abroad.Previous researches show that studying washback can facilitate teaching and learning to some extent.National Matriculation English Test(NMET),as one of the largest high-stakes tests in China,it is necessary to study the washback on English teaching and learning.However,at present,the research on the washback of NMET is still very scarce both theoretically and empirically,especially in English listening test.Therefore,this thesis is based on the reform of English listening test in Heilongjiang College Entrance Examination,aiming at investigating the positive and nagitive washback in teaching and learning and exploring the methods of eliminating the negative washback.This study focuses on solving the following three questions:1.What are the positive and negative washback of the listening test in NMET on listening learning?2.What are the positive and negative washback of the listening test in NMET on listening teaching?3.How can eliminate the negative washback of the listening test in NMET on listening teaching and learning?Based on Alderson & Wall’ s washback hypothesis and Hughes’ washback model,this study conducts a questionnaire and interview survey on 150 students,30 teachers and a school administrator of grade one and grade two in a high school and collects their data.The data is analyzed by SPSS software for descriptive analysis first,to reveal the positive and negative washback of English listening test in NMET on teaching and learning and then by qualitative analysis of interview data to explore ways to eliminate negative washback.The major findings of this study are summarized as follows:1.The listening test in NMET has no obvious washback on listening learning.Among them,the positive washback is mainly reflected in: promoting students’ allocation of listening time;stimulating students’ behavior of learning English listening.The negative is mainly reflected in: students have a wrong understanding of the English listening test in NMET and a phenomenon of high scores and low energy;ignoring the internal motivation of language moreover increasing students’ anxiety and pressure.2.The listening test in NMET has strong washback on listening teaching.Among them,the positive is mainly reflected in: promoting teachers to attach importance to English listening teaching;setting more comprehensive teaching objectives;choosing rich listening teaching content;investing more time in listening teaching;making listening teaching activities from scratch and interesting.The negative mainly increases the pressure and burden of teaching,which leads to anxiety.3.In order to eliminate negative washback,students should take a scientific attitude towards listening test and improve their English listening ability.Teachers should respect students’ subjectivity and set up interesting teaching activities to stimulate students’ intrinsic motivation for learning.School administrators should provide listening equipment and teaching materials,and give teachers the opportunity to study to eliminate teachers’ anxiety.Based on the major findings,this study puts forward some suggestions for listening teaching and learning from the perspective of the washback on teaching and learning,in order to improve the listening level of senior high school students and teachers.