An Empirical Study Of Washback Effect Of CET-4on English Teaching And Learning In Private Colleges

"Washback", belonging to testing category, refers to the influence of testing on teaching and learning. It is a comparable new researching field in the language testing circle, and gaining increasingly more concerns to it. Scholars home and abroad have been devoted into washback effect study on its complicated working mechanisms, and have got big harvests on theoretical studies as well as especially empirical studies. In recent years, foreign language washback study has prevailed which has partially promote the innovation and development of foreign language teaching and learning.Washback usually connected with "high-stake" test that is, for example, decisive in admission of up-grade of education, diploma issuing and chance of employment. CET4is a typical "high-stake" test since it is still chained to diploma in many colleges, and favored by most enterprises. Its positive and negative influence on college English teaching and learning is always debatable. In order to promote its positive washback and alongside bring down its negative washback, innovations and development has undergoing continuously.As the development of Chinese high education, private colleges have become a important supplement to private high education. There are319private colleges nationwide, where Hubei province ranks top one in number, for it has28. How does CET4washback the college English teaching and learning in private college? The empirical study taking private colleges as its subjects is very rare.Given these, this thesis focuses on the empirical study to investigate the washback of CET4and its reform on college English education. It is made up of six chapters. Chapter1gives a general introduction to the present study. Chapter2is the literature review of the theories and empirical researches concerning "washback". Chapter3describes the methodology of the present study. The objectives of the research are to explore the reform of CET4through the time, find the evidence of the existence and intensity of CET4washback effects in private colleges, examine whether CET4reform achieves its intended positive washback effects, and seek strategies to achieve more beneficial effects of CET4.The subjects are60college English teachers and600non-English major students (grade1and grade2) from3private colleges in Wuhan City. The methodological techniques to be applied are the questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews. The findings and implications are based on the data collected from the above instruments for the trustworthiness of the research. Chapter4presents and discusses the results of the research. Chapter5illustrates the findings and draws the implications on how to achieve more beneficial washbacks of CET4on college English teaching and learning. Chapter6is the conclusion of the thesis.What we should pay special attention to is, data released in the research tell that, administrators of private colleges attach great importance to CET test; the "learn-to-test" phenomenon is much severe; the majority of teachers and students approve intensive training for CET4; and accordingly, the researcher suggests that lowering stakes of CET4; Further advancing CET4reform; making spoken English test compulsory; and highlighting teachers’roles in boosting positive washback.