PROMOTING POSITIVE WASHBACK

Abstract

The aim of the article is to promote positive washback during study. Washback or backwash, also known as measurement-driven instruction, is a common term in applied linguistics referring to the influence of testing on teaching and learning, which is a prevailing phenomenon in education. It is a truism that "what is assessed becomes what is valued, which becomes what is taught."  The effect of Washback of English language tests on English teaching inside the classroom has long been recognized by scholars. The paper presents some empirical studies that focus on the washback of some English language tests on different aspects of classroom teaching, including the washback on course content, teaching activities and teaching materials. Positive and negative washback takes place due to a factors such as differences in features of the test content, differences in teachers’ usage of teaching methods, differences in tests’ coordination to course syllabus, etc. The mechanism of washback of the English language test on classroom teaching is quite complicated and serves to bring out some scholarly and pedagogical implications. Though present studies focus more on how to promote positive washback of English language tests on classroom teaching.                                                                                                               

Keywords: washback, promote, testing, study.