Investigating washback in Japanese EFL classrooms

Watanabe, Yoshinori

doi:10.1075/aralss.13.09wat

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Alderson and Wall themselves discussed four studies that had empirically addressed the issue of washback in the past (Hughes, 1988;Khaniya, 1990;Wall & Alderson, 1996;Westdorp, 1982). More recently, a number of studies have further confirmed the existence and complex nature of the washback effect (e.g., Alderson & Hamp-Lyons, 1996;Shohamy, Donitsa-Schmidt, & Ferman, 1996;Wall, 1996;Watanabe, 1992Watanabe, , 1996aWatanabe, , 1996b. All in all, the empirical studies to date seem to confirm the existence of the washback effect in various places with a variety of different effects, but these studies also indicate that washback is not a simple or straightforward phenomenon that conforms neatly to popular notions about the effects of tests on language learning.…”

Section: The Negative and Positive Consequences Of Washbackmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Alternatives in Language Assessment

Brown¹,

Hudson²

1998

TESOL Quarterly

289

154

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Language testing differs from testing in other content areas because language teachers have more choices to make. The purpose of this article is to help language teachers decide what types of language tests to use in their particular institutions and classrooms for their specific purposes. The various kinds of language assessments are classified into three broad categories: (a) selected‐response assessments (including true‐false, matching, and multiple‐choice assessments); (b) constructed‐response assessments (including fill‐in, short‐answer, and performance assessments); and (c) personal‐response assessments (including conference, portfolio, and self‐ or peer assessments). For each assessment type, we provide a clear definition and explore its advantages and disadvantages. We end the article with a discussion of how teachers can make rational choices among the various assessment options by thinking about (a) the consequences of the washback effect of assessment procedures on language teaching and learning, (b) the significance of feedback based on the assessment results, and (c) the importance of using multiple sources of information in making decisions based on assessment information.

show abstract

Section: The Negative and Positive Consequences Of Washbackmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Alternatives in Language Assessment

Brown¹,

Hudson²

1998

TESOL Quarterly

289

154

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These teachers were very critical of the widespread practice of teachers having 'every single mistake corrected', and they wanted 'a balanced marking scheme' that would set out explicit and agreed common criteria for marking. In Hong Kong, as in Melbourne, consideration of the psychological and social impact of the assessment on learners À the individual washback (see Alderson and Wall, 1993;Andrews, 1994;Watanabe, 1996;Cheng, 1998;Watanabe, 2000) À was always significant in teacher decision-making, although interpretations of this varied considerably according to context. In Melbourne it is the fate of the individual and their life chances that are paramount in teachers' thoughts, demonstrated in Extract 2 in the discussion of whether a student is 'tertiary material' (see lines 67À68).…”

Section: Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary schools

Davison

2004

Language Testing

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A growing concern in teacher-based assessment, particularly in assessing English language development in high-stakes contexts, is our inadequate understanding of the means by which teachers make assessment decisions. This article adopts a sociocultural approach to report on the background and findings of a comparative study of ESL teachers’ assessment of written argument in the final years of secondary school in Australia and Hong Kong. Using verbal protocols, individual and group interviews and self-reports, the study explored the different assessment beliefs, attitudes and practices of teachers working with senior secondary Cantonese-speaking students acquiring English as a second language. The study found that the Australian teachers varied considerably in their approach to assessing student work with two somewhat conflicting assessment orientations revealed: the legalistic assessors who ‘ticked the boxes’ according to the published assessment guidelines and those assessors who relied much more on professional judgment. In Hong Kong, there was much more variability in the underlying assessment criteria with consensus reached through reference to community norms rather than explicit statements of performance. The article concludes that traditional notions of validity may need to be reconceptualized in high-stakes teacher-based assessment, with professional judgment, interaction and trust given much higher priority in the assessment process.

show abstract

“…So far the vast majority of foreign language washback studies -such as those by Alderson and Hamp-Lyons (1996), Burrows (2001Burrows ( , 2004, Chen (2002), Cheng (2004), Ferman (2004, Hawkey (2006), Lam (1994), Lewkowicz and Zawadowska-Kittel (2008), Qi (2005), Saif (1999), Valazza, (2008, Watanabe (1996aWatanabe ( , 1996bWatanabe ( , 2004a, Horak (2006, 2008) HampLyons, (1996), Shohamy, (1993), and Watanabe, (1996a) Their studies indicate that teaching beliefs, experience, and educational backgrounds appear to shape teacher behaviors and to some degree, learning outcomes.…”

Section: Teacher Washback Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Washback from Tertiary Standardized English Proficiency Exit Requirements in Taiwan

Pan¹,

Newfields²

2013

Journal of Teaching and Learning

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent decades more and more tertiary institutions around the world have adopted some sort of English proficiency exit requirements. This study explores, from students' perspectives, what washback effects have been brought about by such exit requirements. Extensive questionnaire and interview data were collected from 737 students from 8 tertiary institutions with English proficiency exit requirements and 678 students from 9 institutions without. Results suggest minor differences between the two groups of students in terms of their motivation to learn English, how they prepared for tests, and the time they reputed devoted to their English studies. Implications and directions for further research are suggested.

show abstract

Investigating washback in Japanese EFL classrooms

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

The Alternatives in Language Assessment

The Alternatives in Language Assessment

The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary schools

Student Washback from Tertiary Standardized English Proficiency Exit Requirements in Taiwan

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About