Washback in Language Testing

Washback refers to the influence of language testing on teaching and learning. The washback effect goes well beyond the test itself to include factors, such as

curriculum, teacher and

learner behaviors inside and outside the classroom,

their perceptions of the test, and how test scores are used.

The teaching and learning activities should also aim to

prepare learners for the test.

If the content and techniques are different, it creates …………… backwash. If there is a ……………., it creates …………….. backwash

harmful consistencybeneficial

Washback can be distinguished in two dimensions:

kind; positive and negative

degree; strong and weak

There are also some other variables that affect the kind and degree of washback ; prestige, accuracy,

transparency, utility, monopoly, anxiety and

practicality.

Negative aspects of washback

Teaching Factors Teachers ………………. the curriculum

Teachers ………………. the new material and turn to …………………... Teachers replace class textbooks with …………….. identical to …………………………….

There is ……………… teaching

narrow

stop teachingreviewing material

worksheetsprevious years’ tests

unnatural

Course Content Factors

Students are taught for ………………

Students practise …………… items similar in …………………………………………...

Students apply …………………strategies in class. Students focus on ………………. and ……………. excluding language skills

examination

test-likeformat to those on the tests

test taking

grammarvocabulary

Course Characteristic Factors

Students are taught inappropriate …………………. and ………………….. strategies

It reduces the emphasis on ……… that require more complex …………… and ……………………. skills.

Students are not provided with the language …

There is a ………… atmosphere in the classroom.

language learning language using

skills

thinking problem solving

they will need for their further studies.

tense

Course Time Factors

Students enroll in ……………………………. classes or tutorials. There are ………… sessions added to regular class hours.

Some language activities are ……………. for tests.

……………………………………. is lost.

additional test-preparation

review

skipped

The valuable instructional time

Promoting Positive WashbackTest Design Use ………….. samples widely and ………………... Design ………………………….. tests. Design tests to measure ………….

Base the test on …. Base the achievement tests on …

Use ……………….. testing.

Foster learner ……………. and …………………

different unpredictably

criterion-referenced

the objectives of the program.

direct

autonomy self assessment

sound theoretical assumptions

what the program intends to teach.

Test Content Test the abilities whose ..

Use ……………. testing items. Make the tests reflect ………………………...

Assess ……………………………. skills

Use a variety of exam ………… , including …

Do not stick to only …………… skills; ………….. tasks should be considered. Use ………………. tasks and texts.

development you want to encourage.open-ended

the full curriculum

higher order cognitive

formatswritten, oral, aural and practical ones.

academic out-of-school

authentic

Logistics All the ……………, …………., …………….……….. and ………………. should understand the ………... of testing. Language ………………….. should be clear.Teachers should be given some assistance to …………… the tests and ………………. when needed. Teachers or other test users should be given ………….Schools should be given feedback on the students’ ……………… and the …………..……….in public examinations. Teachers and administrators should be involved in …………... A detailed ……………….. should be provided.

test takers teachers curriculum designers

administrators purpose

learning goals

understand procedures

feedback.

performance areas of difficulty

different phases of test preparationsscore reporting

Interpretation / Analysis The exam results should be ………….., ………… and ……… for the test takers and users. ……………….…… of public exams should be determined. The examination authorities should be …………………. Each examination board should have a …………… The examination authorities should work with ……………... ……………………………………… should be established to initiate ……………… programs and to share common ……………. and ………………..

believable crediblefair

Predictive validity

trained in test designs.

research capacity.

curriculum designers and teachersRegional professional networks

exchange

interests concerns

Communicative Language Testing“Communicative'' language testing emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a reaction against tests constructed of multiple choice items and the perceived over-emphasis of reliability. Lado in particular became a target for communicative testers.

Key criterion in identifying a good test is that it looks like a good one, the input appears to be

and the task or item type mirrors

in the real world.

“authentic”,

The communicative approach stands or falls by the degree of real life, or at least life-like communication that is achieved.

an act of communication

Communicative tests involve performance (speaking), and the performance is judged subjectively, qualitatively and impressionistically, by a sympathetic interlocutor/assessor.

In testing productive skills, emphasis is placed on

appropriateness rather than on ability to form

In testing receptive skills, emphasis is placed on understanding the communicative intent of the speaker or writer rather than on picking out specific details. And, in fact, the two are often combined in communicative testing, so that the testee must both

comprehend and respond in real time.

grammatically correct sentences.

In real life, the different skills are not often used entirely in isolation. Students in a class may listen to a lecture, but they later need to use information from the lecture in a paper. In taking part in a group discussion, they need to use both listening and speaking skills. Even reading a book for pleasure may be followed by recommending it to a friend and telling the friend why you liked it.

Communicative language tests (CLT) are distinguished by two main features:

CLTs are performance tests and therefore require assessment to be carried out when the learner or candidate in engaged in an extended (receptive/productive) act of communication

CLTs pay attention to the social roles candidates would assume and hence considers the roles that candidates would assume in the real world on passing the test and offers a means of specifying the demands of such roles in detail

We can specify four components of communicative competence:

Grammatical competence- knowledge of systematic features of grammar, lexis and phonology

Sociolinguistic competence - knowledge of rules of language use in terms of what is appropriate in different contexts

Strategic competence - ability to compensate for incomplete or imperfect linguistic resources in a second language by using (other) successful communication strategies

Discourse competence - ability to deal with extended use of language in context (cohesion and coherence)

Difficulties to develop communicative tests

If teaching is carried out according to the communicative approach, then tests must be designed accordingly. However a lot of teachers believe that communicative tests are hard to prepare. In fact various challenging difficulties emerge when teachers develop communicative tests.

One crucial concern is the problem of developing useful assessment instruments which can be employed accurately and efficiently in a range of typical classroom situations. Another challenge is to develop a  framework  which is based on attending to the theoretical requirements of both communicative teaching goals and test design principles. There are also difficulties associated with the English as a Foreign Language  context. While communicative theory emphasizes the importance of using authentic materials and of practicing meaningful communication in realistic social situations , these goals are almost impossible to achieve in EFL  settings.

The EFL settings make impossible for learners to consolidate and practice what is learned in the classroom in real world situations which makes it very difficult to develop communicative tests.

the extent to which it is possible to achieve the goal of meaningful communication remains entirely unclear, given the contextual requirement for simulating foreign interactions in EFL classrooms. communicative tests must also reflect contemporary theory concerning test design principles – validity, reliability, and practicality. I there is a lack of direct correlation between theory and practice, some specific discrepancies between test-design principles and efficiency requirements may occur.

Some teachers contend that it is inevitable that rating communicative tests may be subjective as it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong responses in real life situations.

The following are tips for developing communicative tests:o Communicative tests may be context specific. That is a test for a group of business learners may differ from a test designed for university students

o Testees must respond to real life situations.

o Some criteria for communicative tests may be related to the degree of politeness , formality, …

o Performance in communicative tests reflects an underlying competence that is linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, strategic…o Any communicative testing should consider this multi-dimensional nature of language.

Examples of communicative tests

Examples of communicative tests may include:

Information gap.

This involves two (or more) learners. Each testee has part of the information. They have to negotiate in order to get the missing information. A clear context must be specified for the test.

Letter writing.

Learners may be asked to write, for example, a business letter to ask for information or to respond to a complaint by a customer

Note taking.

Testees are involved in a listening activity in which they have to take notes and, for example, write a report

Communicative tests are often very context-specific.

A test for testees who are going to British universities as students would be very different from one for testees who are going to their company's branch office in the United States.

If at all possible, a communicative language test should be based on a description of the language that the

testees need to use.

Though communicative testing is not limited to English for Specific Purposes situations, the test should reflect the communicative situation in which the testees are likely to find themselves.

In cases where the testees do not have a specific purpose, the language that they are tested on can be directed toward general social situations where they

might be in a position to use English.

If students are going to be tested over communicative tasks in an achievement test situation, it is necessary that they be prepared for that kind of test, that is,

that the course material cover the sorts of tasks they are being asked to perform.

For example, you cannot expect testees to correctly perform such functions as requests and apologies appropriately and evaluate them on it if they have been studying from a structural syllabus. Similarly, if they have not been studying writing business letters, you cannot expect them to write a business letter for a test.

Tests intended to test communicative language are judged, then, on the extent to which they simulate real life communicative situations rather than on how reliable the results are. In fact, there is an almost inevitable loss of reliability as a result of the loss of control in a communicative testing situation.

If, for example, a test is intended to test the ability to participate in a group discussion for students who are going to a British university, it is impossible to control what the other participants in the discussion will say, so not every testee will be observed in the same situation, which would be ideal for test reliability.However, according to the basic assumptions of communicative language testing, this is compensated for by the realism of the situation.