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Review of washback research literature within Kane's argument-based validation framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2015

Liying Cheng
Affiliation:
Queen's University, Kingston, Canadaliying.cheng@queensu.ca
Youyi Sun
Affiliation:
Queen's University, Kingston, Canadayouyi.sun@queensu.ca
Jia Ma
Affiliation:
Queen's University, Kingston, Canadajia.ma@queensu.ca

Abstract

No area of language assessment research in the past 20 years has received a greater increase in attention than washback research. Beginning with the seminal work of Alderson & Wall (Alderson & Wall 1993; Wall & Alderson 1993), an evolving body of empirical washback studies has been conducted worldwide, especially in countries where English is not the dominant language. A systematic search of the pertinent literature between 1993 and 2013 identified a total of 123 publications consisting of 36 review articles and 87 empirical studies. The focus of this review is on the empirical studies. A further breakdown of these empirical studies reveals 11 books and monographs, 27 doctoral dissertations, 40 journal articles, and 9 book chapters. This intensity of research activity underscores the timeliness and importance of this research topic and highlights its maturity, which in turn calls for this systematic review.

Information

Type
State-of-the-Art Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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