A Study On The Washback Effect Of Post-reading Writing In The New College Entrance Examination On The Teaching And Learning Of High School English Writin

Washback is the impact of testing on teachers,students,teachers’ teaching and students’ learning.The National Matriculation English Test(NMET)is organized and administered by National Testing Committee in China and is as an important way for colleges and universities to select students,the result of which determines whether students can enter key universities,and is also an important indicator of teachers’ teaching ability.As a large-scale and high-risk test,the change of its question type will inevitably have a huge impact on teachers’ teaching and students’ learning.This research is designed to combine qualitative and quantitative research methods to study the washback effects of the Continuation Task of NMET on the teaching and learning of English writing in senior high schools.First of all,the literature review about domestic and abroad studies on the Continuation Task and washback was conducted.Based on that,the concepts of the Continuation Task and washback were defined,and research design and methods were determined.Then,24 English teachers and over 200 students from four senior high schools in Wanzhou District were investigated by questionnaires.SPSS26.0 statistical software was applied to analyze the washback effects of the Continuation Task of NMET on the teaching and learning of senior high school English writing.Then four teachers and fifteen students were selected to conduct semi-open interviews to obtain first-hand information and supplement the contents of the questionnaires.Finally,two teachers’ classroom teachings were observed in order to obtain a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding.Based on the washback hypothesis model of Alderson,Wall,Hughes and other scholars,from the perspective of teachers and students in Wanzhou District,this study mainly answers the following three research questions: First,what aspects does the new NMET affect the teaching and learning of English writing in senior high school?Second,what are the positive and negative washback effects of the new NMET on the teaching and learning of English writing in senior high school? Third,how to make full use of the positive washback effects of the Continuation Task and avoid the negative ones?Research findings are as follows:(1)The new NMET has an impact on the teaching and learning of English writing in senior high school,including teachers’ teaching motivation,teaching behaviors and teaching attitudes,as well as students’ learning motivation,learning behaviors and learning attitudes.(2)the Continuation Task of the new NMET has washback effects on the teaching and learning of English writing in senior high school.In general,the positive washback effects are greater than the negative ones.(3)The washback effects on teaching are reflected in the changes of teaching contents,methods,activities,attitudes and evaluation.The washback effects in learning are reflected in the changes of learning methods and attitudes.Finally,corresponding strategies are put forward from four aspects of experts of NMET,schools,teachers and students.As for the experts of NMET,they should communicate with front-line teachers,discuss the research results of the Continuation Task and ensure the quality of the proposition to help the NMET reform.Schools should improve the curriculum to meet diverse needs of students,strengthen teachers’ training and improve teaching skills of the Continuation Task and provide a continuation-task-friendly environment to create a scholarly campus atmosphere.As far as teachers are concerned,they also need to do the following seven things: first,teachers change the traditional concept of the Continuation Task;second,the teaching objectives of writing should be clarified;third,the teaching of the Continuation Task should be arranged reasonably;fourth,abundant reading and writing materials should be chosen;fifth,teaching activities and methods should be updated;sixth,scientific feedback on writing should be given;seventh,students’ enthusiasm in reading and writing should be aroused.With regard to students,changing their conventional concepts of the Continuation Task and forming good reading and writing habits are of great importance.