APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English
EVALUATION
The relationship between teaching and testing
We have discussed two very important criteria of a good test: validity and reliability.
Another requirement is that a test should exert beneficial effect on teaching in cases when the tests are likely to affect teaching. This effect on teaching and learning is called washback /backwash. It might happen that a test is considered to be so important that the preparation for it may dominate the whole teaching and learning. If the teaching is poor and inappropriate and the testing is good, that is, the test administered is a valid test, based on the real communicative needs of the students and includes tasks very similar to those that they have to perform in real life, testing will have beneficial washback. But if the content and the testing techniques are very far from the objectives of the course, if the teaching is good and appropriate, testing is not, there may be a harmful washback.
The proper relationship between teaching and testing should be that of a partnership, testing should support good teaching, and if it is necessary it should exert a corrective influence on bad teaching. Within teaching systems, individuals need to be given feedback of their achievement, but in some cases teachers’ assessments of their students might not be sufficient, especially if the achievements of groups of learners are to be compared in order to make decisions. That is why tests are necessary, but it is very important that tests should be of good quality.
