A Study Of Washback Effect Of Zhejiang New NMET Continuation-task Test On Senior High School English Writing Teaching And Learning

Washback refers to the impact of testing on teaching.As a vital indicator to evaluate the quality of language testing,it has drawn wide attention from scholars at home and abroad in recent years.Alderosn and Wall,as the pioneers of the research on washback,first proposed the theory and hypothesis concerning the washback effect,which provided an important theoretical basis for subsequent empirical studies.Since the new college entrance examination reform was carried out in 2016 in Zhejiang Province,the English subject has enabled to employ continuation-task as a new writing test reform,which has undergone great changes in the form,content and evaluation standards.As a new test form integrating reading and writing,language and thinking,the follow-up study on the washback effect of the continuation-task of Zhejiang new NMET on senior high school English writing teaching and learning deserves deep consideration and research.Therefore,based on the washback hypothesis model proposed by Alderson and Wall and Hughes,this study,meanwhile combined with the practical situation of English teaching in senior high school in Zhejiang Province,puts forward three research questions:1.Does continuation-task produce washback effect on the teaching and learning of senior high school English writing?If yes,in what aspects and to what degrees?If not,what are the main reasons?2.What are major factors affecting the washback effect of the continuation-task?3.How to improve the positive washback effect and reduce the negative one of continuation-task?Integrating the quantitative and qualitative analysis methods,this investigation conducts a survey among 54 first-class English teachers and 300 students of Grade three in senior high schools in Zhejiang province through three research instruments:questionnaires,interviews and classroom observations.Besides,the data from questionnaires are analyzed through Excel 2007 software,while the data from interviews and classroom observation are translated into content analysis as by means of recording and note-based skills.The results of the study show that the CT test of new NMET does indeed produce both positive and negative washback effect on senior high school English writing teaching and learning.However,generally the positive backwash effect is greater than the negative washback effect,and the positive washback on teachers'teaching is greater than the positive backwash on learners'learning.The positive washback of the CT test mainly focuses on the change of teaching attitudes and concepts,the improvement of teaching interest,as well as changes in teaching methods,of which the positive impact on teaching methods is the greatest one.And the negative backwash of such test mainly reflects in the choice of teaching materials,teaching time allotment and teaching results,of which the negative impact on teaching results is the greatest one.In addition,the study also explores the reasons affecting the failure of positive washback production,like teachers' self-awareness,time allotment,the pressure of CEE and the pressure from schools and society.Therefore,the washback of the CT test on senior English writing teaching and learning in Zhejiang province is relative.Based on the findings above,some constructive suggestions on the present English teaching in Zhejiang province are provided,like distributing reasonable time to the CT teaching,paying more attention to cultivating students' imagination and creativity,and strengthening reading-writing integrated training of students and so on.Meanwhile,some suggestions on the proposition professors of NMET are also put forward,like reducing and shortening the difficulty and length of the given text,enhancing the interestingness and literariness of the given text,and providing students with more writing time and so on.