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A Washback Study of the Test for English Majors for Grade Eight (TEM8) in China—From the Perspective of University Program Administrators

ABSTRACT Washback and fairness are interrelated in validity research, and thus an investigation into washback inevitably involves fairness. This article reports Phase One of a washback study of Test for English Majors for Grade Eight (TEM8). Phase One was a questionnaire survey administered to university program administrators. Two research questions were addressed in this phase: (a) What are university program administrators’ perceptions of TEM8? (b) How does TEM8 affect teaching? After the questionnaire was piloted and revised, it was distributed to 809 TEM8 participating universities in March 2012. Our analyses found: (a) participants were familiar with the National Teaching Syllabus for English Majors (hereafter the Teaching Syllabus) and the TEM8 Test Syllabus, but they were less familiar with the marking criteria of TEM8; (b) most participants expressed satisfaction with the TEM8 test; (c) decisions based on TEM8 were mostly as intended, but there were also unintended uses; (d) most universities surveyed included TEM8 preparatory courses in their programs, mostly in the form of lectures; (e) the top three factors affecting teaching effectiveness were the quality of teachers, the quality of students, and the efforts of students. The findings have implications for future reforms of TEM8 and teaching for English majors.