A Study Of The Washback Effect Of NMET-Spoken English Test (Jiangxi) On Senior High School English Teaching And Learning

Washback effect means the impact of tests on teaching and learning, it has attracted the attention of many scholars and educators since 1990 s. They have done a great deal of theoretical and practical researches on it, which has enriched the testing theories and has made great contributions to the teaching reform and development. However, the studies of washback effect in China are few and limited, which should be improved in terms of theory as well as practice. Besides, the washback study of National Matriculation English Test-Spoken English Test(NMET-SET) is few and far between. Then, what washback effect does NMET-SET(Jiangxi) exert on senior high school English teaching and learning?In order to further understand the washback effect of the NMET-SET on senior English teaching and learning, this study made an investigation based on the washback theories of Hughes(1993) and Alderson & Wall(1993), combining with the actual teaching situation in China. We adopted the questionnaires designed by Qi(2004), and the participants were 53 English teachers and 245 Senior Three students, who were from four senior schools of Jiangxi province. We also adopted interviews on 5 teachers out of the group, and made classroom observations of 3 teachers who were randomly chosen.The data of the questionnaires were analyzed by means of descriptive statistical analysis through SPSS 17.0. The teachers' interviews and classroom observations were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively.The results of this study show that the NMET-SET(Jiangxi) has produced great impacts on senior English teaching and learning, and the impacts can be concluded as following: 1) The oral test exerted a positive washback effect on teachers' teaching attitudes and motivation; 2) The oral test did not exert a positive washback effect on teachers' teaching practice(mean=2.99); 3) The oral test exerted a positive washback effect on students' learning attitudes and motivation; 4) The oral test did not exert a positive washback effect on students' learning practice(mean=2.50). And the cause of the above results may lie in the low-weighted oral test, and some problems exist in the reliability and validity of the test as well. In addition, other factors such as teaching beliefs and students' beliefs also influence the washback effect of the NMET-SET.Basing on the above findings, the paper put forward some practical suggestions on promoting the positive washback effect of NMET-SET(Jiangxi). From the aspect of the test itself, it is essential to increase the weight of the oral test in the NMET, design an authentic and interactive testing environment, and establish more detailed scoring criterion, so that the strong effect of high-stakes test could promote the oral English teaching. From the aspect of teachers' teaching, they should update their teaching views and approaches to improve the students' communicative competence more effectively. From the aspect of students' learning, they should be aware of the importance of the oral ability and balance the relationship between oral English and the NMET. Furthermore, they should learn for communication instead of tests.