| Many research studies have emphasized the importance of tests in mediating washback on high-stakes language learning environments. Most of these investigations to date have focused primarily on the influence of the test on teachers, whereas few have examined washback on learners. Furthermore, although these studies have identified a variety of factors that may contribute to washback, few have examined the role of extra-test factors, that is, factors associated not with properties of the test, but with the context surrounding the test. The goal of the current study was to explore washback on learners that may be the result of these potentially important contextual factors. Using a grounded theory approach, two sets of one-on-one interviews were conducted with six participants preparing to take the CAEL Assessment at the end of their English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program. The findings revealed two distinct but interrelated categories of washback influence, namely, test-specific factors, which appear to reflect the specific properties of a test, and, more importantly, a variety of interconnected contextual factors. The latter reflected extra-test factors such as learner attitudes toward language learning, affective reactions, past test experience, and other variables. Based on the findings of this study, a Contextual Washback Model was delineated to broadly characterize the combined influence of test-specific and contextual factors on the quality (positive or negative) of test washback on learners. |
