Interest in exploring issues of test washback and impact has grown considerably over the past 15 years
as awareness has developed of the impact that tests and test results have at a ‘macro’ as well as a ‘micro’
level; testing and assessment influence not only the career and life chances of individuals but also social
policy and practice in areas such as language and educational planning, migration and citizenship, as well
as professional life and employment in an increasingly globalised world. Today many language testers
locate concepts of washback and impact within the theoretical notion of ‘consequential validity’ in which
the social consequences of testing are part of a broader, unified concept of test validity. Consequential
validity continues to be a core topic for theoretical debate and empirical research within the language
testing and assessment community alongside related themes of fairness and ethics.