本文是一篇英语论文，笔者认为写作能力是一种重要的生产能力，但形式和内容是统一固定的，这就需要在学习中培养应试技能，合理优化高考写作部分，可以提高学生的应用写作能力。
Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Research Background
National Matriculation Test (NMET), also called Gaokao, is one of the mostsignificant and influential tests in China, which determines the fate of millions ofsenior high school students each year. The main purpose of the NMET is to select thestudents to enter universities and colleges. NMET contains Chinese, Mathematicsand English, which are compulsory subjects. The English portion, called NationalMatriculation English Test (NMET) is the focus of this study.
Guided by the NMET test syllabus, National Education Chinese Ministrydesigned and developed the NMET and it has implemented a new policy that certainprovinces and municipalities are permitted to design NMET papers independently. Atpresent, national unified test papers (NUTPs) and Local test papers (LTPs) coexist inChina. Most provinces or municipalities adopt NUTPs. Meanwhile, severalprovinces and municipalities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, andJiangsu have adopted the LTPs. Accordingly, this research focuses on the localNMET, namely, the NMET(Tianjin).
The NMET is a standardized norm-referenced proficiency test developed by theNEEA, which is directly under auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Education (Qi,2007). In China, since the NMET test system was established in 1952, controversiesrelated to it have never stopped. Some people believe that the NMET is a crucial andeffective way to select qualified students for universities and colleges and it also canpromote English Education and its reform, while other people criticize the NMET,insisting that it results in test-oriented education.
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1.2 Purpose of the Research
The “twice-a-year” examination policy has just been implemented for the firsttime in 2017 since it was introduced in 2014. What is the washback effect of thereform on senior students’ learning? The purpose of this paper is to explore thewashback effect of the reform of NMET (Tianjin) on students through theinvestigation of the general learning situation of senior students, followed byexploring their attitudes as well as behaviors in terms of learning time allocation,classroom activities practice and classroom activities mastery .
Table 1.1 Structure and Content of the NMET (Tianjin）
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Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Definitions of Related Concepts
2.1.1 Washback
Washback, also known as washback effect, usually refers to the impact ofexaminations on teachers and students. Although many researchers have definedwashback from their own perspectives, the definition of washback and its influenceon teaching and learning are still controversial.Hughes (1989) claimed that the washback effect was “the influence of languagetest on teaching and learning”, including positive and negative effects, depending onwhether the test can promote or inhibit teaching.
Messick (1996) interpreted the washback effect as “the impact of theintroduction or use of language testing, the extent to which language teachers andlearners take actions to promote or inhibit language learning”; he believed that oncethe test is employed, it will stimulate the corresponding impact, that is, the washbackeffect.
Bachman and Palmer (1996) claimed that the washback effect was the influenceof examination on society, education system and inpidual, which operates at themicro level (the influence of specific examination on inpidual teachers and students)and the macro level (the influence of examination on the whole society and educationsystem). They pointed out that the washback was a more complex phenomenon. It isnot only limited to the influence of simple examinations on teaching, but also shouldbe evaluated by combining social objectives, social values, the education system ofexaminations and the potential consequences of examinations.
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2.2 Theoretical Basis
In the field of language education, some scholars studied the washback of thetest from different aspects of the testing fields. The subsequent effects of testinvolves both micro and macro aspects (Bachman & Palmer, 1996).
As is shown in Figure 2.1, the effect of the test results is mainly manifested atthe macro (society, educational system) and micro (inpidual) levels. The microlevel refers to all relevant test-holders affected by the test, such as the examinee, thepolicy-maker, the examinee’s colleagues or employers. The left side of the arrowindicates the values and goals that test scores represent in the social and educationalsystem. The right side of the arrow indicates the scope and target of the impact of testresults on the society and educational system. The washback effect is part of theimpact of test results (Bachman & Palmer, 1996).
Among the early the studies, Alderson and Wall’s (1993) washback hypotheses,Hughes’ (1993) basic model of washback, Bailey’s (1996) basic model of washbackand Green’s (2007) model of washback direction have been considered the mainframeworks in conducting washback studies of language testing.
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Chapter Three Research Design...................................33
3.1 Methodological Approach.......................................33
3.2 Research Questions.............................................33
3.3 Research Participants..............................................34
Chapter Four Results and Discussion................................45
4.1 Students’ General Learning Situation....................................... 45
4.2 Students’Attitudes toward the Reform..............................45
4.3 Students’ Behaviors under the Reform............................ 55
Chapter Five Conclusion.........................................71
5.1 Summary of the Major Findings...........................................71
5.2 Implications for English Teaching.......................................71
Chapter Four Results and Discussion
4.1 Students’ General Learning Situation
In this chapter, the results of the questionnaire are to be analyzed and discussed,and the impact of the reform on students’ learning will be presented from threedimensions: students’ current learning situation, students’ attitudes and learningbehaviors. Learning behaviors include time allocation, classroom activities practiceand mastery.
Table 4.1 Learning Motivation
To find out the learning motivation of senior high students, ranking questionwas designed to show the overall situation as well as the detailed features of eachgrade. Generally speaking, the most important purpose for students is “to deal withNMET(Tianjin) ” (4.34), followed by “ the need for future career development ”(3.36). However, statements like “to meet parents and teachers’ expectations ” (2.29)and “to go abroad ” (2.26) are least important (Table 4.1). It is evident that themotivation for learning English in senior high school is perse because more students begin to learn English for their own future development rather than learningpassively under the pressure from their teachers and parents. However, the highestscore is “to deal with NMET (Tianjin) ” (4.34), which means test-oriented learning isstill the main feature of English education in senior high schools.
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Chapter Five Conclusion
5.1 Summary of the Major Findings
Through processing and analyzing the data from the questionnaire, the researchquestions proposed in Chapter 3 can be answered as followed:
Research question one: What is the students’ general situation of Englishlearning?
Firstly, getting a good score in the NMET is taken as the strongest learningmotivation by students, followed by the need for future career development as thesecond important motivation. Few students take their personal interests or goingabroad as their motivation to learn English, which indicates that students’ Englishlearning is triggered by the instrumental motivation. Driven by this motivation,students might be hard-working enough, but they might languish in English learning,without enjoying it.
Secondly, students are confident with their grammatical knowledge and readingskills, while they feel weak in listening and speaking skills. This proportion isaligned with that measured in NMET. The measurement of reading and grammar inNMET takes a large proportion and the task difficulty is rather high, while listeningtasks are low in difficulty. Speaking section is not included in NMET. For this reason,students place much attention to the skills that are tested in NMET, so they areconfident about the skills being tested since they have put in much time to practicethem under the teachers’ help. Students confirm that teachers do a lot to improvetheir reading and grammar. But they do not think teachers are supportive for theirlistening and oral skill. As a result, they do not think they do well in these two skills.The results are almost the same among students across the three grades, but SeniorThree are under greater pressure.
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