Washback and CLT

Realizing the social consequences involved in language testing, many researchers have attempted to investigate ‘washback’, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning. While it is widely acknowledged that the nature of washback is dependent on context (Burrows, 2004; Shih, 2010; Shohamy, Donitsa-Schmidt, & Ferman, 1996), the very definition of washback is problematic due to its reliance on what constitutes ‘good’ teaching and learning practices which can differ from one educational context to another. To determine whether a test has had a positive washback effect on teaching and learning, one must identify the characteristics that constitute positive washback, which is likely to espouse a preferred teaching paradigm. This article argues that the majority of washback studies to date suggest that positive and negative washback are defined by the presence or absence of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The findings from an empirical investigation into the washback of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT) in a Vietnamese context raises the need to rethink how washback is defined.