A Study Of English Teachers’ Perceived Washback Of The Continuation Task Test On Senior High School English Writing Teaching

Washback refers to the effect of language tests on language teaching and learning.Alderson and Wall,as the pioneers in the study of washback,first proposed the hypothesis concerning the washback,which provided an important theoretical basis for subsequent empirical studies.Since the new college entrance examination reform was conducted in 2021 in Jiangsu province,the English subject has begun to employ continuation task as a new writing test type.Compared to the previous writing test type,the new one has undergone great changes in the form,content and evaluation standards.As a new test type integrating reading and writing,language knowledge and thinking capacities,its washback on senior high school English writing teaching in Jiangsu province warrants deep consideration and research.Therefore,based on the washback hypothesis model proposed by Alderson and Wall as well as Bailey,meanwhile combined with the practical situation of English writing teaching in senior high schools in Jiangsu Province,this study puts forward three research questions:(1)What are the senior high school English teachers’ perceptions of the continuation task?(2)What are the senior high school English teachers’ perceived washback of the continuation task on what to teach in English writing teaching?(3)What are the senior high school English teachers’ perceived washback of the continuation task on how to teach English writing?Based on previous theoretical and empirical studies at home and abroad,90 high school English teachers in Suzhou,Jiangsu Province were surveyed who all had been teaching English for more than three years.Four high school English teachers were interviewed.The aim is to explore senior high school English teachers’perceived washback of the continuation task on their writing teaching.The results of the study indicate:(1)they considered that the continuation task was a test item that examined students’ overall English language skills.The design of the continuation task is more scientific than previous writing test items,and the continuation task enriches the format of the test.At the same time,they generally considered the continuation task was somewhat difficult.(2)The continuation task brought both positive and negative washback to both what to teach and how to teach English writing in Jiangsu Province.In general,the positive effect are much greater than the negative ones.The positive washback of the continuation task is reflected in:(1)increased teachers’motivation and attention to teaching writing;(2)a more diverse selection of teaching materials;(3)teaching methods have changed.A variety of writing teaching methods are used,with the process writing method being used most frequently;(4)more attention is paid to the subtle expression of language and to the training of students’ thinking capacities and imagination;(5)the focus of teaching is beginning to shift towards the development of narrative writing skills and strategies.In addition,the negative washback of the continuation task is reflected in:(1)the difficulty of the continuation task test has a negative impact on teachers’ time allocation for teaching writing;(2)teachers have not yet fully moved away from the traditional way of writing assessment.Not enough attention is paid to cohesion and coherence in the marking process.The study also explored the factors that influence the positive washback of the continuation task on teaching,such as teachers’perceptions of the new test item,time arrangement of writing lessons,the pressure from National Matriculation English Test(NMET)and the pressure from schools and society.Based on the findings above,some constructive suggestions on the present English writing teaching in Suzhou city,Jiangsu Province are proposed,like allocating a reasonable amount of time for teaching the continuation task,enhancing teachers’ teaching skills,using teaching materials creatively,and integrating reading and writing training to achieve reading for writing.Meanwhile,some suggestions for the design of the continuation task test are also put forward.For example,(1)Adding elements of communicative use of language to the continuation task test;(2)Expanding the genre of the continuation task by using an argumentation essay or expository essay for the reading material before writing;(3)Combining written expression test and reading comprehension test into one,and adding reading comprehension questions to the given reading material;(4)Reducing the difficulty of the given reading text appropriately(Wang,2022)...