The long-term washback effects of the National Matriculation English Test on college English learning in China: Tertiary student perspectives

The Chinese National Matriculation English Test (NMET) aims to select higher-achieving students for tertiary education. This study presents student perceptions of the effectiveness of NMET preparation for after-test college English learning. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, tertiary students reported that the NMET facilitated their learning of college English. However, they also felt that having more English speaking and listening skills for the NMET would have better prepared them to handle college workloads. The students' perceptions correlated with province of origin, senior high school and college status. Students' suggestions for the NMET included making the speaking and listening NMET subtests obligatory, and adopting the same national standards for all English curricula to narrow the gap between secondary students' English competence and the demands of tertiary education. Studying long-term washback effects of high stakes language tests and adopting the new China's Standards of English could improve test preparation and the tests themselves.