Washback of the Center Listening Test on Learners' Listening Skills and Attitudes

Abstract

In 2006, an English listening test was added to the National Center Test for University Admissions (NCT) in Japan. We investigated whether including the Center listening test on the NCT has had positive washback on students' listening skills and attitudes toward studying listening. In Study 1, test scores of university freshmen dating back to 2002 were analyzed to investigate the improvement in students' listening skills. In Study 2, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate students' motivational aspects. The results revealed three findings. First, the test scores did not show a marked improvement in listening skills after the Center listening test was introduced. Second, the Center listening test might influence students in different majors to a different degree. Third, the majority of students favored the introduction of the Center listening test, and most were encouraged to study listening and felt their preparation had a positive effect on their score.