Full Play To The Positive Backwash Effect

Full Play To The Positive Backwash EffectAbstract Backwash has usually been described in terms of the effect of examing on verbiage teaching and catching. Backwash goat be harmful or beneficial, as Arthur Hughes states. (Hughes 1989) This paper set out to see how far this term lav be applied to the ways in which both the students and teachers can benefit from actors line outpouringing.Key words corroborative backwash beneficial testing motive validity and reliabilityI. The Backwash Effect and the LearnersIn language learning, two terms argon often mentioned, subservient motivation and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation refers to the utility value of the language itselfthe usefulness of English as a tool in learning, commerce or international communication. Testing process instrumental motivationcandidates usually teach test to further their educational or c arer prospects. If the testing brings the positive backwash effect into full play, it will motivate th e candidates to learn better after they cheat what they have achieved and what they need to catch up with. But if the result of the testing is simply given as pass, fail, or a mark, the candidates will surely be demotivatedthey do not know what they have to remedy. Another serious situation is that the tests are set by outside bodies which stool their own syllabuses, standards and criteriathe language learners are trained some skills which are incumbent for their future learning but the tests do not provide the corresponding situation to measure the learners ability. That is the extent to which the learning choosed for the testing is apparently relevant to classroom learning or the need of the learner has been limited. As Hughes pointed out, If a test is regarded as important then preparation for it can come to dominate all teaching and learning activitieslearners are misled to strain every nerve to thump by it. Which thus hinder the normal sequence in both learning and teachi ng?II. The Backwash Effect and the TeachersAll teachers are motivated by the testing and angle their teaching to what is being tested. Because they believe Motivation of the students is one of the most important factors influencing their success or failure in learning the language. (McDonough, 1986) They overly consider that the influence that the testing has on teaching is either positive or negative. The negative backwash effect is likely to be greatest where teachers are inexperienced or lack of confidence. If the teachers do not know how they can teach under the binding force of the testing and do not know well to develop the materials arranged according to the subject, the teachers will be de-motivated and puzzle over the direction which they should head for. But if the teachers know how to make the testing an impetus to promote their future teaching, by identification with the other teachers outside the college they know what success they have made .It will even drive them t o put prototype effort into the future job. Therefore, it is important that testing should reflect the skills and approaches of the progressive language teachers and make better use of the testing to encourage teachers in their readying. The greater positive backwash effect, the more teachers are likely to be motivated by the testing.III. The Development in the TestingIn the past few years, with the development of the training projects, the research in this field is on its way to the progress. Instrumental motivation in language testing has been retained (learning is still connected to promoting, enrolling and earning) but testing is acquired an integrative dimension. So many changes taking place in the testing have been contributed to this dimension1. A change in the underlying theory of language learning.2. A change in the approaches to language teaching.3. A change in the purposes or testing.4. A change in the criterion for evaluating a language testing.5. A change in the testi ng concerning all the aspects of language teaching.When we set language tests, do we really test the candidates language ability? Are we really essay to test what can enable candidates to use a language effectively? Language teachers we have been told, when act as a tester, must concern with a whole host of different validity and reliability factors. Certainly, in language testing just as much as elsewhere, validity and reliability are important. But a valid and reliable test is of little use if it does not prove to be a practical one as Weir stated, This involves questions of economy, eternal rest of administration, scoring and interpretation of results. The longer it takes to construct, administer and score, and the more skilled personnel and equipment that are involved, the higher the costs are likely to be.(1990) So how to achieve hunky-dory reliability tests, how to enhance validity of the testing and how to make the tests more practical have become language teachers major c oncern.IV. Practical Concerns in Evaluating TestsTests are way of gathering information. They are constructed according to certain criteria which are intended to safeguard the quality of this information. as Nunan once said, and it is easy to reach the agreement that the teachers should test what they require the learners to do. Nunan. D also said, It is important that, in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a given curriculum, all elements be inter-grated, so that decisions made at one level are not in conflict with those made at another. For instance, in courses based on principles of communicative language teaching, it is important that these principles are reflected, not only in curriculum documents and syllabus plans, but also in classroom activities, patterns of classroom interaction and in tests of communicative performance. (Nunan, 1987)In China a criterion-referenced test which is named TEM 8 (Test for English Majors Grade Eight) is discussed here for us to ass ess and discuss in detail whether this test can achieve beneficial backwash and how we can improve the backwash effect of the test. According to Hughes, there are eight steps to make our ideal into realities1. Test the abilities whose development you want to encourage.2. Sample widely and unpredictably.3. Use direct testing.4. Make testing criterion referenced.5. Base achievement tests on objectives.6. Ensure test is known and understood by students and teachers.7. Where necessary, provide supporter to teachers.8. Count the cost.Lets look at the diagram below which collates the difference between the syllabus designed for Language teaching and that designed for tests (TEM8)Syllabus designed for language teachingSyllabus designed for test TEM 8ListeningListeningTo understand VOA and BBC program from on -the -spot reporting concerning about the politics, economy, culture and education technology, etcetera1. To understand all kinds of English conversation and speech, or interview, o r special topic debate on the communicative occasion.According to the editors Messina and Feng Qinghua, the practice session test elect here is entirely based on the teaching syllabus of English major and TEM8 syllabus in higher education. From the diagram, we can draw a closing that the TEM8 test is basically based on the principle that language should be test in the same way as it is taught.The listening task is split into two parts. The former part contains (1) talk (2) conversation (3) news broadcast. There are fifteen multiple-choice questions as a whole. The latter part contained (1) note-taking (2) gap-filling.In writers opinion the structure of the test accords with Weirs theory. The advantages of employing multiple-choice format largely are that scoring can be perfectly reliable and scoring can be rapid and economical.The advantage of not employing multiple-choice format largely is that it prevents the learners from getting the harmful backwash. Hughes also has a comment on it It should hardly be necessary to point out that where a test which is important to students is multiple choices in nature, there is a danger that practice for the test will have a harmful effect on learning and teaching. Practice at multiple choice items (especially when, as happens, as much attention is paid to improving ones ameliorate guessing as to the content of the items) will not usually be the best way for students to improve their command of a language. (Hughes, 1989)For the note-taking, as we have no listening recording of the test in hand, however, having carefully examined the tape-script and the key answers to it, we notice that although the test focuses on whether the students have received the massage that was intended to, the material is not spoken test. In real life situation, the listeners mostly have contextual clues to facilitate understanding, it is extremely difficult for students to backtrack and focus on very special feature of discourse while listen ing to and attempting to understand a non-interactive, uninterrupted monologue. (Weir, 1990) Therefore, preserving the spoken text should be in the testers consideration.In TAKE NOTE written by Michael Berman, he points out that the note-taking materials should be suitable for the study of styles and registers in contemporary English during the process of listening, it is very important to be possibly aid by questions from the speaker and the candidates should be encouraged to write in their own words, to centralize on elements of major importance and use key words abbreviations or symbols they should be reminded that there is rarely time or need for direct quotation. (Berman, 1980) Look at the criterion of the scoring and the key to the note taking of this test it does not have this attempt. Should it be improved later on? It is still a question as far as the beneficial backwash concerns.Having consulted the sources of the variant materials of the test, they are seen that native speakers wrote them all. It is in accordance with Hughes theory that the direct testing implies the testing of performance skills, with texts and tasks as authentic as possible. (Hughes, 1989) So one involvement also deserves our attention, that is, both syllabuses in above diagrams are widely arranged for the requirement of the learners. The likely outcome is that much preparation for the test will be limited to it. The positive backwash effect will be hence in full play.V. ConclusionAs Hughes says that the best way to test peoples opus ability is to get them to write. Hughes makes further his theory by saying that (1) We have to set writing tasks that are properly representative of the population of tasks that we should expect the students to be able to perform. (2) The tasks should elicit samples of writing which truly represent the students ability. (3) It is essential that the samples of writing can and will be scored reliably. TEM8 test is basically based on this theory. b esides when we fully realized that the students and those responsible for teaching know and understand what the test demands of them, and the sample items made available to everyone concerned with preparation for it, the test can augment its reliability. (Hughes, 1989)Different attitudes and approaches to syllabus design and testing can be put on a continuum. (Hu, 1988) Tests exist to enable learners to make retrospective statements about the military posture of learning. If we are really trying to test what it is that enables a person to sue a language effectively, as a language teacher we have to take into account a multiplicity of factors that involved in the testing. Thus the teaching was tied very closely, right from the start, to learners real needs. A test designed to control these needs. A test designed to test effectively both language knowledge and language skills. The most important of all is that it has been possible for the authorities to practice TEM for about three years, then the test can be further developed into a more satisfying one based on the linguistic fundamental criteria and the test can create more positives for the learners. It is up to us language teachers future effort.