| Washback refers to the influence of testing on teaching and learning. It is often associated with"high-stake"tests, whose results have a major impact on the lives of the test-takers. As a"high-stake"test, CET4 exerts both beneficial and harmful effects on English education. In order to increase its validity and achieve more beneficial washback, CET4 is constantly under reform. Does its reform achieve its intended effects? However, few empirical researches have been performed on it.The purpose of the present study is to analyze the change of CET4, and to explore what are the washback effects of CET4 and its reform on English education. The methodological techniques to be applied are the analysis of the previous CET4 papers, the questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews. The subjects are 82 college English teachers and 521 non-English major students (grade 1 and grade 2) from 5 universities in Changchun and Jilin City.The results show that CET4 is moving to measure students'general abilities to use English, and that it is taking measures to weaken its power as a"high-stake"test. Although CET4's reform exerts some influence on English teaching and learning, it is counteracted by the factors from its format and content, teachers, students and society. The study also reveals that CET4 engenders more positive washback than negative one, and that the intensity of washback varies in different participants of the test. What's more, the research exposes that the evidence of CET4 washback exists in the process of English skills training, the students'motivations, the policies of colleges, and the teachers'attitude toward tests and teaching.Based on the findings of the research, strategies for improving the positive washback of CET4 have been proposed. They are making the language teaching goals explicit to the stake-holders of CET4, introducing further reform of CET4 formats and contents, adopting CET-SET as an obligatory test, and offering training and assistance to teachers.
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