ABSTRACT
The present chapter explores the relationship between washback and curricular innovation. The chapter begins by examining the assertions that have been made about the nature of that relationship. It then goes on to consider the related research evidence. In the following discussion, the term washback is interpreted broadly. Instead of adopting Wall’s (1997, p. 291) distinction between test impact and test washback, the present chapter uses washback to refer to the effects of tests on teaching and learning, the educational system, and the various stakeholders in the education process. Where the word “impact” occurs in the chapter, it is used in a nontechnical sense, as a synonym for “effect.”
