Washback Of The Innovated CET-4/6:Removed High-stakes And Students' Learning

A test,when attached to very high stakes,could be very powerful and bring about serious consequences to teaching and learning practice in classrooms.While this has been evidenced in plenty of research,this study set out to examine whether these consequences could be eliminated if the stakes attached to the test are controlled or removed,with data from the area of College English in the Chinese higher educational context.Since the mid-1980s,Chinese higher education sector has been using College English Test Band 4 and Band 6(CET-4/6),a large scale testing system,to measure externally the English proficiency level of undergraduates who take majors other than English.CET-4/6 is very influential in China not only because of its large scale,but also because of the uses of its results for certification in school settings and for employment in social settings.These uses,intended or unintended,have attached to the test very high-stakes,which,in turn,have entailed severe consequences to the College English education around the country and are regarded,in a large part,responsible for the "low efficiency and low effectiveness" issue of College English education.This has been evidenced in multiple research.In response to the issue and keen to improve the College English education,both the Chinese government and universities have taken rigorous measures to innovate the CET-4/6 on one hand,and to stop the abuses of the test results of CET-4/6,on the other.For instance,a new CET-4/6 syllabus was issued in 2006 and around the same time,the Minstry of Education released a press conference to advocate universities to disconnect the CET-4/6 from the degree certification,which is a significant move to remove the stakes in the school context.The two initiatives were intended to remedy the resultant negative washback effects and lead to improved College English quality.A question arising therein is:will the removal of high-stakes attached to CET-4/6 help to eliminate the serious consequences as intended?If yes,to what extent?If not,why?This study reports a survey involving 546 College English students in a Chinese local university with the aid of questionnaire and interview.SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze the data collected.Three types of statististic methods were used,which are descriptive analysis,corresponding analysis and a multinomial logistic regression model.Research findings reveal that the removal of the high-stakes in the school context does help to redirect the students' English orientation and motivation to English learning itself in a way,but not completely.For example,with the uses of CET-4/6 for degree suspended,employment has taken over the top list of reasons for taking the test.This is because the use of CET-4/6 for employment is still widespread in the social settings.The analysis also reveals that little influence on students' English learning approaches are visible.Students'English learning habits and restrictions from teachers,teaching materials etc.,could be the reasons.Overall,it seems that a lot more needs to be done before the negative consequences of CET-4/6 to be completely eliminated and students are completely directed to English learning.