Journal of Foreign Language Education and Technology, 5(1), 2020 http://jflet.com/jflet/ 108 Washback in Education: A Critical Review and Its Implications for Language Teachers Ka Long Roy Chan (roylongckl@gmail.com) The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4521-9124 Abstract: Even though washback has been widely researched in recent years, especially on its form in various intra- and inter-national examinations (e.g. IELTS and TOEFL), research on how washback affects teachers and their teaching practices is still scarce. The aim of the current paper is to provide an up-to-date and holistic review on the theories in washback as well as to draw researchers’ and TESOL teachers’ attention to how washback should be examined with relation to language education, especially in teacher trainings. Key models in washback and several recent studies which investigate washback in different aspects are discussed, and at the end of the paper, implications and suggestions on washback for teachers and researchers are addressed. More should be done on washback especially on how teachers should respond to the effect. Keywords: Washback, Teacher Training; Language Testing Introduction Washback (or ‘Backwash’) is a widely discussed topic in fields like applied linguistics and general education. It refers to “the influence of testing on teaching and learning” (Barnes, 2017, p.1). In general, researchers agreed that washback is a sophisticated mechanism which is affected by a multitude of factors. For example, direction of washback (positive or negative) (Watanabe, 2004), washback intensity (Green, 2007), different stakeholders in washback (Pan, 2009) etc. Most of the previous studies focused on examining whether certain examinations create a positive or negative washback (Kılıçkaya, 2016). Meanwhile, the subjects in the Received: November 19, 2019 Accepted: December 16, 2019 Published: December 18, 2019