Asymmetry and stratification: examining the washback effects of the National Matriculation English Test in Chinese high schools

This study examines the washback of the National Matriculation English Test (NMET), a high-stakes English proficiency test in China, on students’ English learning outcomes. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 3105 senior high school students via a questionnaire survey and from 21 students and 6 teachers through semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal that the washback of the National Matriculation English Test was asymmetric across three key dimensions: language knowledge, language skills and language learning-related elements. Among these, the test predominantly influenced students’ English language knowledge, followed by language skills, with the weakest impact on learning-related elements. In addition, the washback of the NMET varied significantly across learner subgroups defined by gender, grade level and school status, highlighting the stratified nature of its washback effects. These findings shed light on the complex and multifaceted nature of test washback, whose formation, scope and intensity are mediated by a range of contextual factors and learner characteristics, and also call attention to the potential of high-stakes testing to reproduce educational inequalities.