Washback Effect and TEM 8 Reform.docx
- 文档编号:5384286
- 上传时间:2022-12-15
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:6
- 大小:20.94KB
Washback Effect and TEM 8 Reform.docx
《Washback Effect and TEM 8 Reform.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Washback Effect and TEM 8 Reform.docx(6页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
WashbackEffectandTEM8Reform
WashbackEffectandTEM8Reform
Abstract:
Thisarticleiscomposedoffourparts.Thefirstpartisthedefinitionofwashbackeffectandthedevelopmentofthetheory.ThesecondpartisthestudyofwashbackeffectinChinasince2008.ThethirdpartisthehistoryofTEM8anditsdevelopmentandreform.ThelastpartisthediscussionofthecancelofGeneralKnowledgetestinTEM8andcommentsandsuggestionsonit.
KeyWords:
Washback,TEM8,GeneralKnowledge
摘要:
本文先对反拨效应理论的提出与发展做了整理,然后通过对2008年以来中国主流外语类期刊上刊登的有关反拨效应文章的进行了统计和归纳,指出当下反效应研究的热点问题与不足之处。
最后,针对2015年英语专业八级考试取消人文知识这一举措,从历史与现状的角度对这一考试内容的反拨效应进行了分析,解释人文知识被取消的原因,并对此提出见解与意见。
关键词:
反拨效应;专八考试;人文知识
Definitionofwashback
Washback,orbackwashisdefinedastheinfluenceoflanguagetestingonlanguageteachinginAldersonandWall’sDoesWashbackExist?
(1993).Languagetestingisbelievedtoaffectteachingandlearningbyaffectingteachersandlearners(Hughes,1989).AldersonandWalldescribetheirWashbackHypotheses(WH)asfollows:
1)Atestwillinfluenceteaching.
ThisistheWHatitsmostgeneral.However,byimplication:
2)Atestwillinfluencelearning
Sinceitispossibletoseparatethecontentofteachingfromthemethodology:
3)Atestwillinfluencehowteachersteachand
4)Atestwillinfluencewhatteachersteachandthereforebyextensionfrom2)above:
5)Atestwillinfluencewhatlearnerslearnand
6)Atestwillinfluencehowlearnerslearn
7)Atestwillinfluencetherateandsequenceoflearningand
8)Atestwillinfluencetherateandsequenceofteachingandtheassociated:
9)Atestwillinfluencethedegreeanddepthoflearningand
10)Atestwillinfluencethedegreeanddepthofteaching
11)Atestwillinfluenceattitudestothecontent,methodetc.oflearning/teaching.
12)Teststhathaveimportantconsequenceswillhavewashback.
andconversely
13)Teststhatdonothaveimportantconsequenceswillhavenowashback.
14)Testswillhavewashbackonalllearnersandteachers.
15)Testswillhavewashbackeffectsforsomelearnersandsometeachers,butnotforothers(p.123-125).
BachmanandPalmer(1996),however,regardwashbackasanaspectofimpact.“Theimpactoftestuseoperatesattwolevels:
amicrolevel,intermsofindividualswhoareaffectedbytheparticulartestuse,andamacrolevel,intermsoftheeducationalsystemorsociety”(p.29-30).Therefore,washback,asthedirectimpactoflanguagetesting,liesinindividuals,educationalsystemandsociety.
Testtakersandteachersarethosewhoaremostdirectlyaffectedbytheuseoftest.BachmanandPalmerarguesthattesttakersareaffectedbythefollowingaspects:
theirexperienceoftakingtestandpreparationfortest,theirperformancefeedback,andtheirdecisionsthataremadeonthebasisoftheirtestscores.Asforteachers,theysometimeshaveto“teachtothetest”,whichmightnotfittheirownvaluesandgoals,ortheirteachingmayberegardtobeoflowtestauthenticity,towhichthetestwouldhavenegativewashback.Onewaytoavoidsuchsituationsistoadjustthetestsothatthecharacteristicsoftestandtesttaskscancorrespondmorecloselytothoseofteaching(1996).
Assometestsareofhighrisk,theyhavegreatimpactonalargenumberofindividuals,whoarecalled“steakholders”.Thatistosay,suchtestscaninfluencetheteachingprogramandeventhesociety.Therefore,languagetestswithhighriskrequirecarefulconsiderationandassessmenttoavoidnegativeimpact.Whatneedtobedonearelistedasfollows:
first,makealistoftheintendedusesofthetestascompletedaspossible;second,listthepotentialconsequencesofusingthetestintheseways,bothnegativeandpositiveconsequencesincluded;third,rankthedesirabilityandundesirabilityofpossibleoutcomesofthetest;fourth,collectinformationtodeterminethepossibilityofeachofthevariousoutcomes(BachmanandPalmer,1996).
BothinDoesWashBackExist(AldersonandWall,1993)andLanguageTestinginPractice(BachmanandPalmer,1996),washbackeffectcanbeeitherpositiveornegative.Thatistosay,languagetestingmightbeeitherbeneficialorharmfultolanguageteachingandlearning,aswellastotheeducationsystemandthesociety.Teststhathavepositivewashbackeffectmaketeachersandlearnersdothingsthataregoodfortheimprovementoftheirlanguageskills,whileteststhathavenegativewashbackeffectdonot.Andlanguagetestswithhighriskmightpromotetheadvancementoftheeducationsystemandthesocietywiththeirpositivewashbackeffectandotherwise,languagetestscandoharmtothedevelopmentoftheeducationsystemandthesociety.Therefore,thedevelopmentoflanguagetestsrequirescarefulconsiderationsofeverypossibleconsequenceofthetesttoachievepositivewashbackeffectandavoidnegativewashbackeffect.
RecentStudyonWashbackinChinaSince2008
LanguagelearninghasbeenboomingfordecadesinChina,whichpromotestherevolutionanddevelopmentoflanguageteachingandtesting,aswellasresearchonlanguageteachingandtesting.However,thestudyonwashbackisnotasabundantasitshouldbeaswashbackisofgreatimportanceinlanguagetesting.8majorlinguisticjournalsweresearchedforthepurposeoffindingoutthefocusandtendencyofstudyonwashback.Articlespublishedsince2008to2015arelistedinthechartinappendix.
Accordingtothechart,thereareonly10washbackrelatedarticlespublishedinthese8majorlinguisticjournalsinChinainrecent8years,whichindicatesnomorethan2everyyear.Intheyearof2008,2010,2011and2013,therewasnowashbackrelatedpaperpublishedinthesejournals,andthepublicationnumberisfluctuatingwithnonoticeabletrend.Itisneitherincreasingnordecreasingastimegoesby.Besides,allthese10articlesareaboutthewashbackeffectofEnglishtest,andnootherforeignlanguagearereferredto.BothofthetwofactsindicatethatinChina,thereisnosystematicstudyonthewashbackeffectoflanguagetesting.
Amongthe10articles,7areaboutspecificEnglishtestinChina.Forexample,CETandTEM.Itisademonstrationthatstudyonwashbackisoutoftherealitydemand.AstherearealargenumberofChinesecollegestudentstakinghighriskEnglishtestslikeCETandTEMinChina.SuchEnglishtestsmighthaveimpactontheircollegegraduation,jobhuntingandcareerpromotion,allofwhichareofgreatsignificanceintheirlife.Therefore,tostudythewashbackeffectofsuchlanguagetestinChinaistofindoutitsimpactonindividualtesttakesandlanguageteachers,aswellastheeducationsystemandsocietysothatthepositivewashbackeffectcanbeachievedandthenegativewashbackeffectcanbeavoided.
Amongtherest3articles,onetalksaboutthedifferentrolesoflanguagetesting,teachingandtestuseandhowthesethreepartscooperatetogethertoachievethebestresult(Yang,2015),one(Chen,2009)isthereviewofChangingLanguageTeachingThroughLanguageTesting:
AWashbackStudy,andthelastoneisOi’sreviewandcommentonrecentstudiesonwashback,inwhichtheauthor’sfocusisGreen’swashbackeffectmodel(2012).Inherwork,QipointsoutthatthelimitationsofcurrentstudyonwashbackinChinaareunclearnessofthedefinitionofwashbackandlowvalidityandreliabilityofthestudy.
Insummary,thenumberofwashbackstudyisnotabundant,thestudyfocusislackofvariety,andtheoreticalstudyisundervalued.Therefore,thewashbackeffectstudyshouldbepaidmoreattentionto,thestudyshouldfocusondifferentaspectsofwashback,andtheoreticalstudyshouldnotbeneglected.
HistoryandDevelopmentofTEM8
TestforEnglishMajors(TEM)isatestsystemisdesignedbyChina.ThepurposeofTEMistocheckoutwhetherEnglishmajorshaveacquiredlanguageskillsthatthesyllabusrequires.TEM8istestforseniorstudentswhomajorinEnglish.Itaimsatcheckingthestudents’abilityofobtaining,comprehendingandprocessinggeneralandprofessionalinformationtoseewhetherthesestudentsarecapableofcommunication.
TEM8startedin1991.Withmoreandmoreuniversitiesandstudentsparticipatinginthetest,itsauthorityisincreasingandfunctionofteachingevaluationisbecomingmoreandmoreobvious.Therefore,studyonthevalidityofTEM8andfurtherimprovementofthevaliditybecameurgent.
Studyonvalidityfocusnotonlyonthetestitself,butalsoonthewashbackeffectonteaching.Improvementofthepositivewashbackeffectonteachingis,alsotheimprovementoftestvalidity.Toimprovethepositivewashbackeffectonlanguageteachingthusimprovethevalidityofthetest,TEM8experiencedtwicereforms.
Thefirstreformtookplacein2005.Adjustmentsaremadefromfollowingthreeaspects.First,adjustmentintesttimeandnumberoftesttasks.Thewritingpartrequired100morewordsthantheoriginal300wordsandtimeforwritingtheessaywasreducedto45minutesfromtheoriginal60minutes.Second,adjustmentinthecontentlisteningmaterial.Newlisteningmaterialareofmoreinteractivenessandauthenticity.Third,adjustmentinstudents’skills.GeneralKnowledgewasaddedasanewtasktoteststudents’knowledgeaboutlinguistics,Englishspeakingcountriesandliterature(ZouandChen,2010).
Thesecondreformtookplacein2015.Adjustmentarealsomadefromthesamethreeaspects.First,adjustmentintesttimeandnumberoftesttasks.15minutesisaddedforthenewtypereadingcomprehension:
questionanswering.TranslationfromEnglishtoChineseisnolongertobetested.Therefore,timefortranslatingtaskisreducedfrom60minutesto25minutes.Besides,therequiredwordnumberforwriti
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Washback Effect and TEM Reform