This paper explores the perceptions of college English teachers towards language test development, with a focus on the harmful backwash effects, specifically derived from teachers' misconceptions. Personal account...This paper explores the perceptions of college English teachers towards language test development, with a focus on the harmful backwash effects, specifically derived from teachers' misconceptions. Personal accounts of ten college teachers of English were cited and analyzed in themes, and misconceptions were identified through descriptive interpretations. The study reveals that English teachers at college are not well-acquainted with the conceptual bases for language testing due to little formal instructions. Uninformed decisions on testing and unintelligent teacher-assessment practices are potential sources of harmful backwash on teaching and learning. A dangerous tendency of reduced efforts in teacher-assessments is present among language teachers, due to blind faith in established tests, and the absence of language testing competence or excessive emphasis on High-stakes tests in research. More in-service teacher training and action research are called for.展开更多
文摘This paper explores the perceptions of college English teachers towards language test development, with a focus on the harmful backwash effects, specifically derived from teachers' misconceptions. Personal accounts of ten college teachers of English were cited and analyzed in themes, and misconceptions were identified through descriptive interpretations. The study reveals that English teachers at college are not well-acquainted with the conceptual bases for language testing due to little formal instructions. Uninformed decisions on testing and unintelligent teacher-assessment practices are potential sources of harmful backwash on teaching and learning. A dangerous tendency of reduced efforts in teacher-assessments is present among language teachers, due to blind faith in established tests, and the absence of language testing competence or excessive emphasis on High-stakes tests in research. More in-service teacher training and action research are called for.
