| English test and English teaching are the two inseparable parts in the process of teaching. Test serves teaching, while teaching has washback effect on the test. 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, NMET exerts both beneficial and harmful effects on senior English education.According to the theoretical background, the purpose of the present study is meant to study the washback effects of NMET writing on Senior English writing teaching based on Alderson and Wall's Washback Hypotheses by adopting a descriptive research method. The methodological techniques to be applied to are the questionnaire, classroom observation and interview. The subjects are 196 senior English teachers from high schools in Nanchang and Fuzhou city.According to the research, NMET writing has exerted both positive and negative washback on Senior English writing teaching. Firstly, a time allotment in teaching writing in high school isn't distributed reasonably and more time is spent on writing teaching before NMET test; Secondly, NMET writing task has a strong washback effect on the training of the students'linguistic competence and communicative competence; Thirdly, teachers'insufficient understanding of the assessment criteria to the NMET writing task, teachers'level, limited time for completing the writing task and the pressure of the high-stake test are the major factors impeding the positive washback.Based on the findings of the research, strategies for improving the positive washback of NMET writing task have been proposed. Teachers should be provided with more extensive professional development opportunities; time in teaching writing should be distributed more reasonably; there should be multiple schemes for senior high school graduates to enter universities so as to release teachers'pressure.
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