Washback Effects Of TEM4 Writing On English Majors

Washback,a complex phenomenon in language testing,refers to the influence a language test exerts on language teaching and learning.In recent years,theoretical and empirical studies on washback at home and abroad have yielded a wealth of findings,especially for large-scale high-stakes tests.The Test for English Majors Band 4(TEM4),a high-stakes English examination for second-year English majors,was revised again with the writing section turning into an integrated reading-to-write task in 2016.Extant washback studies conducted from students’ perspective on the revised TEM4 are scarce and those focusing on its individual component are even fewer.This study employed a mixed methods research design to explore the washback effects of the current TEM4 writing on English-major sophomores,including their perceptions,learning process and learning outcomes,based on the research framework established on the basis of previous washback models and empirical studies.129 English majors at a university in Shanghai were investigated via a questionnaire and then 7 of them were interviewed.Descriptive statistics were used to process the quantitative data in SPSS 22.0.The results showed that English majors were mildly negative about the TEM4 writing test and lacked an adequate and clear understanding of the integrated readingto-write task.They felt stress,anxiety,and other negative emotions to different degrees for different reasons,but the overall impact was not significant.More students regarded improving their overall English proficiency and preparing for further education and employment as their primary goal of writing study,but the short-term goal of score gains was still prevalent.Their learning process was less affected by the TEM4 writing,and most students did not intensify their regular writing practice or spend more time and energy preparing for the test albeit their tendency to improve their test-taking skills a month before the test by analyzing model essays and memorizing templates.Few students paid attention to the skills and strategies that test developers intended to promote,and thus little expected improvement in their writing skills was reported.Based on the research findings,implications for English majors’ writing learning and improvement of TEM4 writing for better fulfillment of its positive washback and suggestions for future research on this topic are provided.