Ｔｈｅ Ｂｒｉｅｆ Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ ＷａｓｈｂａｃｋＥｆｆｅｃｔ ｏｆ Ｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ Ｔｅｓｔｉｎｇ

［摘 要］If you teach someone something you give them instructions so they know about it or how to do it；you make them think，feel or act in a new or different way；you explain or show students how to do something.--the definition of teaching in Collins' Cobuild Dictionary)Test：To find out how much someone knows by asking them questions.(Longman's Active Study Dictionary).'Teach' and 'test' are quite close together in a dictionary，but in testing we do different things from the things we do when we teach.This article assesses the concept of 'backwash' in language teaching，looks at the consequences of testing on teaching in a broad educational context，and suggests that 'negative backwash' makes good language teaching more difficult.The two processes of testing and teaching are considered to be necessary but distinct.A system is described for distinguishing between them which is then applied to developing classroom activities for examination preparation classes，to help teachers move from testing to teaching procedures.

The notion of 'washback' is common in the language teaching and testing literature，and tests are held to be powerful determiners of what happens in classrooms.Claims are made for both negative and positive washback，and some writers go so far as to claim that a test's validity should be measured by the degree to which it has a beneficial effect on teaching.However，very little evidence has been presented to support the argument that tests influence teaching，and what evidence has appeared tends to be based on teachers' accounts of what happens in the classroom rather than on observations of teaching and learning.

［關(guān)鍵詞］washback effect validity negative washback effect positive washback effect

［中圖分類號］HD ［文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼］A ［文章編號］1009－5489(2009)01－0100－03

Ⅰ.the Definition of Washback

\"Washback\"or\"backwash\"，a term commonly used in applied linguistics.The word\"washback\"can be found in the certain dictionaries and is defined as\"the unwelcome repercussions of some social action\"by the New Webster's Comprehensive Dictionaries，and\"unpleasant after-effects of an event or situation\"by the Collins Cobuild Dictionary.The negative connotations of these two definition are interesting.But here washback refers to the influence of testing on teaching and learning.The concept is rooted in the notion that tests or examination could drive teaching and learning.Although the idea of alignment matching the test and the curriculum has been described by some as\"unethical\"and threatening the validity of test，such alignment is evident in a number of countries.Wall(1997)distinguished between test impact and test washback in terms of the scope of effects.According to Wall，impact refers to\"...any of the effects that a test may have on individuals，policies and practices，within the classroom，the school，the educational system or society as a whole.\"and whereas\"washback\"is defined as\"the effects of tests on teaching and learning.\"The study of washback has resulted in recent developments in language testing，and measurement-driven reform of instruction in general education.Research on language testing has centered on whether and how we assess the specific characteristics of a given group of test takers and whether and how we can corporate such information into the ways in which we design language tests.One of the most important theoretical developments in language testing in the past 30 years has been the realization that a language test score represent a complex of multiple influences.Language test scores cannot be simply interpreted as an indicator of the particular language ability we think we are measuring.The scores are also affected by the characteristics and contents of the test tasks.the strategies test takers employ in attempting to complete the test tasks，as well as the inferences we draw from the test results.These factors undoubtedly interact with each other.

Nearly 20 years ago，Alderson(1986)identified washback as a distinct，and at time emerging--area within language testing，to which we needed to turn our attention.Alderson(1986)discussed the\"potentially powerful influence offsets\"and argued for innovations in the language curriculum through innovations in language testing.At around the same time，Davies(1985)was asking whether tests should necessarily follow the curriculum，and suggested that perhaps tests ought to lead and influence the curriculum.Morrow(1986)extended the use of washback to include the notion of washback validity，which describes the relationship between testing，teaching and learning，Morrow also claims that\"...in essence，an examination of washback validity would take testing researchers into classroom in order to observe the effects of their tests in action，this has important implications for test validity.

That is to say，backwash effect can be beneficial or harmful.Looking back，we can see that examinations have often been used as a means of control，and have been with us for a long time ：a thousand years or more，if we include their use in Imperial China to select the highest officials of the land.Those examinations were probably the first civil service examinations ever developed.To avoid corruption，all essays in the Imperial Examination were marked anonymously，and the Emperor personally supervised the final stage of the examination.Although the goal of the examination was to select civil servants，its washback effect was to establish and control an educational program，as prospective mandarins set out to prepare themselves for the examination that would decide not only their personal fate but also influence the future of the Empire.

The use of examinations to select for education and employment has also existed for a long time.Examinations were seen by some societies as ways to encourage the development of talent，to upgrade the performance of schools and colleges，to pursue a higher position in the company.Underpinning the notion of direction is the issue of what it is that is being directed.Biggs(1995)used the term backwash to refer to the fact that testing drives not only the curriculum，but also the teaching methods and students' approaches to learning.However，Spolsky(1994)believed that\"washback\"is better applied only to accidental side-effects of examination and not to those effects intended when the first purpose of the examination is control of the curriculum\".

Whether the effect of testing is deemed to be positive or negative should also depend on who it is that actually conducts the investigation within a particular education context，as well as where，the school or university contexts，when，the time and duration of using such assessment practices，why，the rationale，and how，the different approaches used by different participants within the context.

Ⅱ.Positive washback effect on language teaching and learning

Well-developed language tests may help the students to develop poistive attitudes towards the language teaching.The evaluation may provide the learners with a sense of achievement by providing them chances to show their abilities to use the target language.Take the class progress tests，for example.The progress test is considered as an effective teaching method to measure the extent to which the students have mastered the material taught in the classroom.Its main concern is to stimulate learning，reinforce what has been taught and confirm progress.The good performance in the test may encourage the students to work harder and provide them more confidence.The test can help students to develop a better understanding of the target language and help them to master the language.Test can be used to improve instruction，and students can learn from their errors，consolidate the language taught and redirect their future effort in learning.The tests can motivate the students to learn the language.N.Keys found in his research that giving students tests once a week improved students' achievement more than once a month.This was because the former provided more information than the latter，the students' motive to learn was strengthened.I agree with this point because when I was a teacher of intensive reading in English major，I have used the same method to test the students.During each of my class，I would give the students a quiz，the content was variable which extended to any thing，such as words，sentences and translation，the most effective way of testing their use of language is to let them retell the main idea of the passage.It is a good chance to improve their oral English and other qualities.

As for teaching，the tests can provide teachers timely feedbacks，thus improve the quality of teaching.Teaching is directed towards assessment which in practice can often well evaluated by means of testing.Language testing is very important to language teaching，the relationship between them can be witnessed in various factors，language testing serves language teaching in following aspects a providing goals for language teaching.Tests can help the teachers make sound decisions on teaching materials，teaching pace，classroom activities based on the analyses of strengthen and weakness shown by the students.

Through the tests，the teachers would know what area of the subject they need to be retaught.And they also can determine if students are ready to advance to the next unit or instrution.The teachers can assist in reinforcing learning and motivating students for further learning.The tests are the reasonable way to provide an objective basis for grace.Testing can make teachers keep an eye on the latest linguistic theories.Language testing has become a very important branch of linguistics and established its key position in applied linguistics.In comparison with other practical activities of applied linguistics，language testing has，in fact，always been the main activity to which linguistic principles and methodology are applied.Therefore from language testing teachers can observe the latest development of linguistic theories.

The direct testing has a number of attractions.First provided that we are clear about just what abilities we want to assess，it is relatively straightforward to create the conditions which will elicit the behavior on which to base our judgements.Secondly，at least in the case of the productive quite straightforward.Thirdly，since practice for the test involves practice of the skills that we wish to foster，there is likely to be a helpful washback effect.

Indirect testing attempts to measure the abilities which underlie the skills in which we are interested.

Ⅲ.Negative Washback Effect on language teaching and learning

Tests in general，and perhaps language tests in particular，are often criticized for their negative influence on teaching-so-called\"negative washback\"which has long been identified as a potential problem.For example，nearly 50 years ago，Vermon(1956)claimed that teachers tended to ignore subjects and activities that did not contribute directly to passing the exam，and that examinations\"distort the curriculum\".Wlseman(1961)believed that paid coaching classes，which were intended for preparing students for exams，were not a good use of the time，because students were practicing exam techniques rather than language learning activities，and Davies(1968)believed that testing devices had become teaching devices；that teaching and learning was effectively being directed to past examination papers，making the educational experience narrow and uninteresting.In general education，F(xiàn)ish(1988)found that teachers reacted negatively to pressure created by public displays of classroom scores，and also found that relatively inexperienced teachers felt greater anxiety and accountability pressure than experienced teachers，showing the influence of factors such as age an experience.Noble and Smith(1994)also found that highstakes testing could affect teachers directly and negatively and that teaching test-taking skills and drilling on multiple-choice worksheets is likely to boost the scores but unlikely to promote general understanding.

The washback effect of language testing may be harmful in two aspects ：inaccurate tests and misunderstanding of the nature of language testing.They are the two sources of harmful washback effect.

1.Inaccurate tests

The first of these concern test contents and techniques.If we want to know well someone can write，we can't know his writing ability accurately by means of multiple choice test and the appropriate way to test his writing ability is writing compositions However，there are still big problem.When testing is carried out on a very large scale，when the scoring of tens of thousands of compositions might seen to be practical proposition，great accuracy is sacrificed for reasons of economy and convenience.The use of multiple-choice items in large scale tests lead to imitation in circumstances，but such imitation tends to be of very poor standard.Good multiple-choice items are quite difficult to write.A great deal of time and effort has go into their construction.Too many multiple-choice tests are written where such care and attention are not given.The result is a set of poor items that cannot possibly provide accurate measurement.And sometimes students are misled by these poorly written distracters before they get to the right answer.

2.Misunderstanding of the nature of language testing

Besides the inaccurate tests，teachers' misunderstanding of the nature of language testing is another cause of harmful washback effect.To many teachers，there is one best test for any given situation，ignoring the differences in teaching objectives，testing context and test takers.The gap between what to be taught and to be expected to perform may lead to a deep mistrust of testing from the learners and little confidence in teaching and test development from the teacher as well.

Conclusion ：Traditionally，tests have come at the end of the teaching and learning process for evaluative purposes.However，with the widespread expansion and proliferation of high-stakes public examination systems，the direction seems to have been largely reversed.Testing can come first in the teaching and learning process.Particularly when tests are used as levers for change，new materials need to be designed to match the purposes of a new test，and school administrative an management staff，teachers，and students are generally required to learn to work in alternative ways，and often work harder，to achieve high scores on the test.In addition to these changes many more changes in the teaching and learning context can occur as the result of a new test，although the consequence and effects may be independent of the original intentions of the test designs，due to the complex interplay of forces and factors both within and beyond the school.

However，it is worthwhile pointing out here that performing well on a test does not necessarily indicate good learning or high standards and it only tells part of th story about the actual teaching and learning.When a new test emerging a traditional type or an alternative type of assessment emerging is introduced into an educational context as a mandate and as an accountability measure，it is likely to produce unintended consequences，which goes back to Messick's(1994)consequential validity.Teachers do not resist changes.They resist being changed.As English stated well，the end point of educational change--classroom change--is in the teachers' hands.When the classroom door is closed and nobody else is around，the classroom teacher can then select and teach almost any curriculum he or she decides is appropriate，irrespective of reforms，innovations，and public examintions.

［參考文獻(xiàn)］

［1］S.(1995).Exploiting washback from standardized tests.In J.D.Brown

［2］Messick，S.(1996).Validity and washback in language testing.Language Testing

［3］William A.Hehrens Consequences of Assessment

［4］Liying Cheng Washback in Language Testing