ABSTRACT
It is now well accepted that tests can have important consequences – for students, whose future may be determined by their test results, and for their teachers, whose self-esteem, reputation and even career progression may be affected by how successful they are at preparing their students to cope with test requirements. If the test is ‘high stakes’, defined by Madaus as a test ‘whose results are seen – rightly or wrongly – by students, teachers, administrators, parents, or the general public, as being used to make important decisions that immediately and directly affect them’ (Valette, 1988: 87), a phenomenon known as ‘washback’ may occur. Washback is the term that is used when students and teachers ‘do things they would not necessarily otherwise do because of the test’ (Alderson and Wall, 1993: 117). They might, for example, pay more attention to certain parts of the teaching syllabus at the expense of other parts because they believe these will be emphasised on the test. They might practise certain types of questions rather than others for the same reasons. The washback of a test
can either be positive or negative to the extent that it either promotes or impedes the accomplishment of educational goals held by learners and/or programme personnel.
