Finding Fault and Seeing Merit: A Literature Review on the Washback Effects of

the College English Test in China

Abstract
As the only nation-wide English test for Chinese college students, College English Test
(CET) has been the center of close attention and concern around the country. Given the high
stakes involved with the CET for students, teachers and school administrators, the washback
effects of the test have been hotly debated. It is commonly believed that the implementation of
CET has lead to a test-oriented college English education. This literature review revisits the
positive and negative washback effects of the CET that have been proposed over the years on
both teaching and learning in college English classes at higher education institutions in China
and presents a more comprehensive picture of mutual influences between the test and the
teaching-learning process.
CET Overview
The College English Test (CET) is a large-scale high-stake English education test for
non-English-major college students in China. It is a standardized achievement test administered
by the National College English Testing Committee on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Its
official purpose is to evaluate objectively and accurately the English proficiency of non-English
majors in institutions of higher learning in China, in order to improve the quality of English
teaching provided for these students (National College English Testing Committee 2006, p.3).
The CET is a test battery, which consists of the written tests of Band 4 (CET-4) and Band 6
(CET-6), and the CET Spoken English Test (CET-SET), consistent with courses on the National
College English Curriculum Requirements. In the most recent version, the total score of the
written test is 710 points divided in 4 sections: listening comprehension (249 points, 35%),
reading comprehension (249 points, 35%), cloze or error correction (70 points, 10%), and
writing and translation (142 points, 20%) (Ying & Cheng, 2008).
In China, the College English Test (CET) is considered one of the most important exams
that measure individuals level of English proficiency. For college students, a desirable score on
the CET is representative of their academic success and an important factor for securing
employment and opportunities abroad (Cheng 2008). Although the Ministry of Education has
never stipulated that passing the CET is a prerequisite of degree conferral, a majority of higher
education institutions have a English proficiency requirement for graduation, for which the CET
serves as the criterion (Pang et al. 2002; Cheng 2008). CET results can also be interpreted as
indicators of professional value and are thus seen as a determinant for better pay in todays
market economy (Pang et al. 2002). By using data mining techniques, Chen and his colleagues
found that CET performance played an important role in students salaries after graduation: if the
students gained good marks in the CET, they earned a higher salary than those who did not
perform well in the exam (2013).
At the institution level, the passing rate on the CET is often considered as one of the
criteria to judge the prestige of a university (Cheng, 2008) and average CET scores are regarded
as the main indicator of the quality of English teaching (Zhu, 2003). Therefore, the stakes with
which the CET is involved are extremely high. As an achievement test in nature, the CET is in
line with the curriculum laid out in the College English Teaching Syllabus by the Ministry of
Education. Thus, given its status among students, teachers and school administrators, it can be
reasonably inferred that the CET has a significant impact on college English teaching and
learning, namely washback.
 The biggest negative washback of the CET that has been in the center of heated debates
for the past decade is that it has lead to test-oriented education. The assumption is that focusing
solely on short-term benefits, both universities and students prioritize the task of improving test
scores and become uninterested in spending time improving their actual ability to communicate
in English. In the findings of a large-scale survey conducted by Han et al. (2004), the CET was
said to be obstructing quality-oriented English college education. The actual purpose of college
English, according to the Ministry of Education, is to provide quality English education that
improves students communicative competence in English. However, the overemphasis on the
test defeats this purpose. However, does this conclusion sum up all the impact of the CET or is it
much more complex? To answer this question, this literature review looks at different studies
that investigate the positive and negative washback effects of the CET on both teaching and
learning and hopes to present a clearer picture of the interplay between College English
education and the CET.
Theoretical Models
The washback effects mentioned in this literature review refer to the following three
theoretical models: Alderson and Wall's (1993) Washback Hypotheses, Hughes (1993)
Trichotomous Model, and Baileys (1996) model. According to Alderson and Wall, a test can
affect the central aspects of teaching and learning such as content of instructions, learning speed
and intensity, learning strategies, attitudes toward learning, etc. Based on Alderson and Wall's
definition of washback, Hughes pointed out that the participants, processes and products of
teaching and learning are three distinct elements that will be affected by the characteristics of a
specific test. Hughes focuses on the participants perceptions and attitudes and how these
subjective reactions to taking a test affect the way participants learn in that subject. Baileys
model suggests that the direction of washback effects induced by a given test, positive or
negative, depends on whether the targeted knowledge and skills of test-takers are enhanced or
diminished as a result of the test-preparation or test-taking experiences.
Although the aforementioned three models vary at certain dimensions, when applied to
the CET context, they collectively provide a comprehensive presentation of the different effects
of CET on College English teaching and learning.
Washback: Environment
In the big picture, it can be seen that the CET has greatly promoted the status of College
English education in China, which is considered one of its biggest beneficial positive washback
effects (Ma, 2014). Before the implementation of the CET, College English was considered a
peripheral subject that was relatively unimportant comparing to other major-specific classes.
Many higher education institutions did not have full-time faculty specializing in College English.
After the CET was introduced, because its passing rate became an official index of an
institutions teaching quality, universities became incentivized to improve their facilities for
English classes and start hiring better-qualified full-time College English teachers. With the
flourishing of College English on campuses across the country, the need for better college
English materials also lead to a big development in textbooks. Many new textbooks for College
English have been published such as New Horizon College English, New College English and
Experiencing English, as well as hundreds of vocabulary books.
Washback: Teaching
The aforementioned importance of CET passing rate pressure College English teachers
to adapt to pedagogical practice with a test orientation. Drawing on Alderson and Wall (1993),
when the content of teaching and learning is influenced by a test, such influences may be
interpreted as washback effects of the test. The influence of the CET on the content of the current
college English education in China is the most evident in the teaching of speaking. The
supplementary spoken English test (CET-SET) is an optional test, only available to candidates
passing CET-4 or CET-6 with a score over 425, and statistics have shown the pool of eligible
CET-SET-takers is very small (Zhou, 2007). According to the College English Curriculum
Requirements (CECR) manual, the major purpose of College English courses is to promote
English linguistic knowledge, practical applications, learning strategies, and cross-cultural
communicative skills among non-English majors, in which English speaking plays an important
role. However, this purpose is not being properly fulfilled because speaking skills are not heavily
tested for. According to a longitudinal study by Gu et al.(2013), an obvious decline in the
frequency of such activities as group discussion, reading aloud in chorus and reading aloud
individually happened from 2003 to 2009 and even fewer teachers paid attention to
pronunciation in 2009 compared to 2003.
A similar lack of attention can also be found in the teaching of writing. Through
questionnaire survey and follow-up interview, Li (2005) found that although 80% the teachers
said that they would include a writing component in their teaching despite the small proportion
of writing on the CET, their teaching goals of functional writing and academic writing were
inevitably limited.The reason for such limitations is the unchallenging nature of the CET writing
task, usually an argumentative essay based on a prompt of a general topic, which is much
narrower than the writing requirement of the national curriculum. Moreover, in their already
constrained curricula, teachers use textbooks and CET coaching materials as their two major
sources for teaching English writing. Thus when the content of English teaching is undesirably
restricted due to the little weight of writing on the CET, in this regard, the negative washback of
the test is evident.
In contrast, listening has become more emphasized in college English classes given that
the weight of listening was increased by 15% in a large-scale reform of the CET. Gu (2003)
conducted a washback research study of the CET on College English (CE) through classroom
observations, supplemented with interviews and questionnaire survey. A continuation of Gus
research was carried out six years later, comparing the CE classroom teaching and learning in
2003 and 2009 with the aim of investigating the longitudinal washback of the CET on CE (Gu, et
al., 2013). Obvious changes are observed in terms of semester teaching plans, teaching content
and teaching methods: half of the textbook-based Intensive Class hours were assigned to the
Oral/Writing Class and autonomous listening; the emphasized skills have changed from intensive
reading to listening and translation. All these changes synchronized with the CETs new
emphasis on listening and reduced focus on reading, which means that the CET battery is
considerably influential in the implementation of the College English Teaching Requirement.
This shift of focus is received positively among college English teachers. Gu and his
colleague (2010) conducted another longitudinal study of teachers perceptions of the CET based
on the survey data before and after the CET reform. The results indicate that CE teachers had an
overall positive reaction to the innovations with its positive washback rising. However,
according to the teachers surveyed, the CET was only one of the various factors affecting CE
teaching. It was ranked 14th among the listed 17 factors that they think influence their CE
teaching, while study atmosphere, classroom size and students english proficiency level were
ranked the top three. This is worth noting because it shows that while it is widely believed that
CET has an influence on how English is taught in CE classes, the effect might not be as
substantial as claimed.
Washback: Learning
Washback effects of CET can also be observed from the English-studying practices of the
CET-takers as well as their perceptions of the test. Rens (2011) research examined washback
effects of the CET on college students using questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
Among the 210 students responded, 68.3% said their objective of learning English was to pass
CET-4 or CET-6 by memorizing CET word lists and taking practice tests. When asked whether
and how they learn English outside the class, 23% said they had quit learning English because
they had passed the CET and 27% answer yes but very little. Thus the most obvious positive
effect of the CET is that it motivates college students to learn English both in and outside
classrooms.
The CET as a strong motive to learn English also resonated with the survey results in
Jins (2000) research. Since the administration of the CET-SET (Speaking English Test), positive
changes have been noticed among non-English majors. For example, students were said to be
more engaged in oral practices and were more willing to speak English in different occasions.
Currently the spoken English test (CET-SET) is only open for students who score higher than
425 on their written CET, and many students who want to be involved in more oral activities,
feel that they do not have much opportunity to do so. Ninety-two percent of the students in the
study suggested that the test should be accessible to a larger number of students so that they can
practice speaking more often with their peers.
Wang (2010) investigated the washback effects of a new CET listening module on
students learning via a questionnaire survey to 293 college sophomores and juniors. As
mentioned earlier, the students perceptions of a test can influence the process and the product of
their learning (Hughes, 1993). The survey results showed that students think positively of aspects
of the new CET 4 Listening, including the necessity of its administration, its test design, test
formats, reliability, scoring criterion and the appropriateness of its score percentage among the
total. In this case, students positive attitudes toward the CET listening can be interpreted as
signs of positive washback effects. The aspects that students think of negatively are the ones
directly related to their own English proficiency level such as test difficulty and time allotment,
from which it can be inferred that their negative perceptions of such aspects may be skewed due
to their subjective feelings of challenge and dissatisfaction with the results.
Washback: Test-taking
One criticism of the CET is that students are pressured to utilize many test-taking
strategies to pass the test and are thus left with no opportunity to practice their language skills.
However, several studies have shown otherwise. For example, Xiao (2014) used a questionnaire
scale of 51 items to collect data on the usage of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, in
comparison with that of test management strategies and test-wiseness strategies, among 350
Chinese college students. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies are believed to be able to
activate the language knowledge and skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary
and grammar. If a test could guide the students to use more such strategies during both test
preparation and test taking, it would help with the development of the students language ability,
which is a desired outcome, or according to Bailey (1996), a positive washback. On the other
hand, test management strategies and test-wiseness strategies also used by many students, are
irrelevant to language knowledge and thus unproductive in improving actual linguistic
competence. The study found that the CET has a stronger effect on cognitive strategy use than
test-wiseness strategy use. Cognitive strategy use also has a stronger prediction of CET scores
than test-wiseness strategy use, leading to the conclusion that the direction of the CET washback
as test-taking strategy use on the whole tends to be positive.
Conclusion
While a test-driven college English education is often attributed to the administration of
the CET, it is in fact the strongest motive for promoting English education on college campuses.
Higher education institutions have put more emphasis on teaching English and invested more
money in providing the necessary technology and facilities for CE classes. More materials for
non-English majors students have been developed and objectively, more English has been
learned and more language skills have been obtained by CET-takers. The CET indeed has a
considerable influence of the teaching content in CE classes, which can be restrictive. The design
of CE classes by many teachers reflects the respective weights of different English skills placed
on the CET, which is admittedly not the most conducive way to the improvement of real-life
language skills among college students. However, these teachers name the CET as only one of
the various factors affecting their teaching content. Students have mixed perceptions of the CET,
leading to positive and negative washback effects in students attitudes and behaviors. While
many students use test-taking strategies on their CET, the test actually has a stronger effect on
cognitive strategy use that activates language knowledge and skills among CET students and
results in washback effects that are positive in direction.
Implications and Recommendations
While the CET has its weaknesses and an undeniable influence on what is taught in CE
classes, it is important to recognize that it has resulted in the objective improvement in the
English skills among college students in China. Given the mixed washback effects, it would be
too radical to abolish the test, which will hugely demotivate the students to learn English.
Meanwhile, it would also be unwise to stick to the status quo, where the testing of the four
English language skills is not properly balanced. Presently, English education functions as a
means to the end of ideal English test scores, and schools and students will always prioritize the
end over its means. Under such a system, changes need to happen first in test construct and test
administration in order to have substantial effects on the quality of college English education.
Thus a gradual series of reforms of the CET that cater to the practical requirements of Chinese
college students need to be implemented. Specifically, based on the studies that examined the
students attitudes towards CET cited in this literature review, the following recommendations to
the CET should be considered: 1). Making speaking a mandatory part of the CET. A lot of the
criticisms surrounding the CET is that it produces only mute English. If speaking performance
will be counted towards students final CET scores, it will considerably increase the time
devoted to improving students speaking skills in and outside class. 2). Diversifying the writing
task. The current writing task of an argumentative essay is limiting the development of students
mastery over a range of writing skills. Incorporating writing tasks that tap into different writing
skills can benefit students in effective written communication in English. Finally, with the
division of disciplines becoming more intensive in the current academic environment, another
possible direction of CET reforms might be testing English for specific purposes to increase
motivation among students.
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