Washback Effect Of New CET-4 Test In The Context Of University In Ethnic Regions:A Study On The Part Of Teachers

Washback refers to the influence of testing on teaching and learning. In China, College English Test is a large-scale and high-stakes test. In reality, being successful in CET-4 and CET-6 is the key to the success in work for many in China and also for many Chinese who wish to do further study. In order to promote the implication of College English Curriculum Requirements.CET has undertaken a significant reform in 2005. Since then, many researchers have begun to do the innovated CET washback related study. To promote CE teaching, in 2013, CET was undertook further reform. The present study attempts to investigate the washback effect of the 2013 new CET-4 on Yi Li Normal University.Present study mainly focuses on following questions:1) what are the Yi Li Normal University English teachers'attitudes toward new CET-4? 2) In what aspects does the new CET-4 have washback effects on Yi Li Normal University college English teaching? 3) Does what teachers state about the washback effects of CET-4 on their teaching in questionnaire survey match with their actual teaching in real context? If not, then in what aspects and why not? Data was collected from teacher's questionnaire and complemented by classroom observation. The participants of the questionnaire are 19 teachers from Yi Li Normal University Foreign Languages College who have been teaching college English at least five years.The major findings of the study:English teachers from Yi Li Normal University hold positive attitude to the 2013 new CET-4 and most of the innovation measures. They think the 2013 new CET-4 can reflect students English proficiency accurately, but a little difficult for students in Yi Li Normal University. The score distribution and time allotment of the test are fairly reasonable. Most of teachers claim that CET-4 have washback on their CE teaching, however the influences cannot be observed in classroom observation. In Yi Li Normal University, students have to pass CET-4 to obtain their bachelor's degree, so Yi Li Normal University attach great importance to students'CET-4 score and use it as a measure to evaluate teaching. However, there is never have any unified CET-4 related teachers training in this university. It would be very hard for teachers to learn the CET-4 innovation comprehensively and get full understanding of related innovation. At the end of the study, the author proposes some suggestions to universities in ethnic region and English teachers respectively.