WASHBACK

A facet of consequential validity, discussed above, is "the effect of testing on teach- /\

ing and learning" (Hughes, 2003, p. 1), otherwise known among language-testing ,
specialists as washback. In large-scale assessment, washback generally refers to the
effects the tests have on instruction in terms of how students prepare for the test.
"Cram" courses and "teaching to the test" are examples of such washback. Anot;l1er
form ofwashback that occurs more in classroom assessment is the information thAt
"wa,shes back" to students in the form of useful diagnoses of strengths and
weaknesses.
Washback also includes the effects ofan assessment on teaching and learning
prior to the assessment itself, that is, on preparation for the assessment. Informal
performance
assessment is by nature more likely to have built-in was~back effects
because the teacher is usually providing interactive feedback. Formal tests can also
have positive washback, but they provide no washback if the students receive a
simple letter grade or a single overall numerical score.
The challenge to teachers is to create classroom tests that serve as learning
devices through which washback is achieved. Students' incorrect responses can
become windows of insight into further work. Their correct responses need to be
praised, especially when they represent accomplishnients in a student's interlanguage.
Teachers can suggest strategies for success as part of their "coaching" role.
Washback enhances a number of basic principles of language acquisition: intrinsic
motivation, autonomy, self-confidence, language ego, interlanguage, and strategic
investment, among others. (See PUTand TBP for an explanation of these principles.)
One way to enhance washback is to comment generously and specifically on
test performance. Many overworked (and underpaid!) teachers return tests to students
with a single letter grade or numerical score and consider their job done. In
reality, letter grades and numerical scores give absolutely no information of intrinsic
interest to the student. Grades and scores reduce a mountain of linguistic and cognitive
perfornlance data to an absurd molehill. At best, they give a relative indication
of a formulaic judgment of performance as compared to others in the classwhich
fosters competitive, not cooperative, learning.
With this in mind, when you return a written test or a data sheet from an oral
production test, consider giving more than a number, grade, or phrase as your
feedback.
Even if your evaluation is not a neat little paragraph appended to the test, you
can respond to as many-details throughout-the test as time will-permit. Give praise
for strengths-the "good stuff" -as well as constructive criticism of weaknesses.
Give strategic hints on how a student might improve certain elements of performance.
In other words, take some time to make the test performance an intrinsically
motivating experience from which a student will gain a sense of accomplishment
and challenge.
A little bit of washback may also help students through a specification of the
numerical scores on the various subsections of the test. A subsection on verb tenses,
for example. that yields a relatively low score may serve the diagnostic purpose of
showing the student an area of challenge.
Another viewpoint on washback is achieved by a quick consideration of differences
between formative- and summative tests, mentioned in Chapter 1. Formative
tests, by defrnition, provide washback in the form of information to the learner on
progress toward goals. But teachers might be tempted to feel that summative tests,
wr..ich provide assessment at the end of a course or program, do not need to offer
much in the way of washback. Such an attitude is unfortunate becatLc;e the end of
every language course or program is always the beginning of further pursuits, more
learning, more goals, and more challenges to face. Even a final examination in a course
should carry with it some means for giving washback to students.
In my courses I never give a final examination as the last scheduled classroom
session. I always administer a final exam during the penultimate session, then complete
the evaluation of the exams in order to return them to students during the last
class. At this time, the students receive scores, grades, and comments on their work,
and I spenasome of the class session addressing material on which the students
were not completely clear. My summative assessment is thereby enhanced by some
beneficial washback that is usually not expected of final examinations.
Finally, washback also implies that students have ready access to you to discuss
the feedback and evaluation you have given. While you almost certainly have known
teachers with whom you wouldn't dare argue about a grade, an interactive, cooperative,
collaborative classroom nevertheless can promote an atmosphere of dialogue
between students and teachers regarding evaluative judgments. For learning.to continue,
students need to have a chance to feed back on your feedback, to seek clarification
of any issues that are fuzzy, and to set new and appropriate goals for
themselves for the days and weeks ahead.