Washback of the Reformed College English Test Band 4 (CET-4) in English Learning and Teaching in China, and Possible Solutions

Abstract

This chapter reviews the key research on the washback of the College English Test Band 4 Test (CET-4), a compulsory high-stakes, large-scale, and nationwide English proficiency test to measure English proficiency of non-English major university students in China. The review results show a mixture of positive and negative effects of washback on both English learning and teaching. To reduce the negative effects of the washback, the following solutions are proposed: (1) The quality assurance body of College English teaching should use a wider range of indicators to gauge the quality of English teaching and learning rather than solely relying on the outcomes of the CET-4. (2) The Spoken English Test should be designed as a compulsory subset so that the English-speaking skill would no longer be devalued and ignored in College English teaching and learning. (3) The proportion of the Chinese to English translation section should be decreased to discourage using rote memorization of bilingual vocabulary lists as a main test preparation strategy. (4) The CET-4 should use the integrated format to replace the separate testing of listening, reading, and writing so that communicative English competence can be effectively assessed.

Appendix 4.1: Summary of the Key Studies on the Washback of the Reformed CET-4

Studies	Research method	Participants and data collection methods	Positive effects	Negative effects
Shao (2006)	mixed-methods	45 teachers from three teachers’ colleges were surveyed 356 students from the three teachers’ colleges were surveyed Of 45 teachers, four were interviewed Each interviewed teacher was observed for four hours of English teaching	70% of the students reported that they were motivated to learn English due to the CET-4	The CET-4 did not exert much influence on freshmen However, the CET-4 produced negative effect for sophomores, who would sit the CET-4 soon The teaching strategies, teaching materials (i.e., The sample papers were exclusively used in teaching), and teaching activities (e.g., Only practicing the skills tested in the CET-4 but ignoring the skills which were not tested in the CET-4, such as the spoken English) were exclusively focused on the CET-4, as the test was approaching
Chen (2007)	mixed-methods	154 teachers were surveyed Of the surveyed teachers, 112 were interviewed	Teachers felt that the revised CET-4 had positive effects on their curricular planning and instruction: (1) 100% of teachers reported that they were motivated to integrate listening and speaking skills in the teaching activities rather than only targeted reading and writing as in their previous teaching (2) Over 87% teachers reported that the teaching focus was shifted from grammar drilling to developing communicative competence	A positive correlation was found between teachers’ perceptions of the importance of the CET-4 and the perceptions of the pressure in their teaching
Gu (2007)	mixed-methods	2609 students nationwide were surveyed 1220 teachers nationwide were surveyed English teaching of 38 teachers at three universities was observed Focus-group interviews were conducted with teachers, students, and administrators	(1) The majority of the teachers, students, and administrators felt positively about the CET-4 because the university attached greater importance to English teaching and learning due to the compulsory nature of the test (2) The CET-4 also promoted the implementation of the new version of the National College English Teaching Curriculum and Syllabus and Requirements	(1) When the CET-4 approached, teachers used the CET-4 preparation materials predominantly in teaching. As a result, they could not cover all the contents in the English textbooks, and the pace of English teaching was also accelerated (2) The administrators used the CET-4 results as the sole indicator to evaluate the quality of English teaching quality and students’ English proficiency
Ren (2011)	mixed-methods	35 teachers were surveyed 210 students were surveyed Among 35 teachers, 22 were interviewed Among 210 students, 30 were interviewed		(1) The CET-4 encouraged rote memorization of linguistic forms (e.g., memorizing vocabulary lists) and practicing past CET-4 papers to prepare for the test. As a result, students were unable to use English in authentic situations (2) Classroom assessments highly resembled the formats and the contents of the CET-4 (3) Teachers were unwilling to train students’ communicative competence in English (4) Teachers’ promotion was linked to the CET-4 success rate achieved by their students (5) It suppressed teachers’ creativity in teaching
Li et al. (2012)	quantitative	150 students at a university were surveyed	Most of the students surveyed felt the CET motivated them to invest greater effort to learn English (2) The CET-4 enabled students to set a clearer goal for English learning	(1) The students felt pressure and anxiety in English learning (2) The students put much effort in practicing reading and listening skills, which were given more weight in the CET-4, and they tended to neglect the writing and speaking skills, as the two skills were either given little weight or not tested
Xiao (2014)	quantitative	284 students were surveyed	The CET-4 moderately promoted cognitive strategy use and weakly promoted test management strategy use	The students’ English learning strategies were test-oriented (e.g., using test-wise strategies) rather than developing competence of language use
Xie and Andrews (2012)	quantitative	870 students were surveyed		The students’ perceptions of test design and test use affected their test preparation strategies, which were dominated by analyzing past test papers, rehearsing test-taking skills, practicing sample test papers intensively, and memorizing model writing essays in a rote manner
Zhan and Andrews (2014)	qualitative	24 students were required to keep diaries and were also interviewed following the diary entries		(1) The students favored learning strategies of rote memorization over developing their English communicative competence (2) The students used the past CET-4 papers as the only learning materials
Sun (2016)	mixed-methods	A CET-4 test developer from the development committee was interviewed Eight CET-4 test users from educational and social contexts (two deans of the two universities, two directors of the government employment offices; and four human resources managers of four companies) were interviewed 416 students from two universities were surveyed and they also took a retired CET-4	The students’ perceptions of the high demands of the CET-4 led them to spend more effort in preparing for it	The student had high perception of instrumental uses of the CET-4. Such perception had stronger association with use of rehearsing and cramming strategy (e.g., memorizing model essays to prepare for the CET-4 writing) than use of long-term skill development strategies