Washback Effects Of Using National Matriculation English Test Papers On Senior High Schools’ English Teaching In Sichuan Province

Since 2017,Sichuan began to apply National Matriculation English Test(NMET)Paper III to replace Sichuan Matriculation English Test(MET)papers.After the use of NMET papers in Sichuan MET,the influences of NMET papers caused a crucial concern in public,especially the educational world in Sichuan province.With the references to the theoretical studies of washback and the practical studies of washback effects,this thesis concentrates on the washback effects of NMET after the use of NMET Paper,to get implications and suggestions for senior high school teachers’ teaching.The research questions of this study mainly focus on the following two aspects:(1)What are the positive washback effects of using NMET papers on senior high schools’ English teaching in Sichuan province since 2017?(2)What are the ways the positive washback effects be realized in senior high school English teaching?As this research focuses on teacher’s teaching,49 teachers from grade three of 5 senior high schools in Mianyang,Sichuan province are the participants in this study.In order to carry on this research,questionnaires,interviews and classroom observation will be employed to collect the data and explore the washback effects of NMET on English teaching.According to the data collected and analyzed,the major conclusions are as follows: using NMET papers since 2017 in Sichuan province has positive washback effects on teaching method,students’ thinking abilities and education evaluation in senior high school English teaching and learning.In order to realize these positive washback effects,senior high school English teachers in Sichuan Province could make corresponding changes and adjustments to senior high school English teaching after Sichuan using NMET papers.Based on the washback effect theories and the present study,the author puts forward some pedagogical suggestions to NMET designers,school administers and senior high school teachers in Sichuan province respectively for future senior high school English teaching.In general,these suggestions can be summarized as the following three aspects.Firstly,for NMET designers,the proportion of speaking and grammar in NMET could be appropriately increased.Secondly,school administers and teachers should regard students as the center of school education,and they have to pay more attention to students’ all-round development.Thirdly,teachers can make some changes and adjustments in their future teaching to adapt to the future NMET.