Student Washback from Tertiary Standardized English Proficiency Exit Requirements in Taiwan

Abstract

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.

The washback effect of TOEFL iBT and a local English Proficiency Exam on students' motivation, autonomy and language learning strategies

“…Washback may be explained in terms of affective factors in language learning like motivation, self-confidence, learner identity or anxiety ( Booth, 2018 , p.58). Related literature has revealed the existence of washback of high stakes tests (as student motivation increased) particularly for higher proficiency level students ( Buyukkeles, 2016 ; Pan, 2014 ; Pan and Newfields, 2013 ; Reynolds, 2010 ). Similarly, learner autonomy has been found to be related to the level of self-motivation ( Blidi, 2017 ).…”

“…Test takers' preparation strategies for TOEFL iBT were also investigated by some researchers ( Liu, 2014 ; Noviana and Ardi, 2020 ). While some studies on different high takes tests like GMATE (General Multimedia Assisted Test of English) showed a washback on the students’ preparation practices ( Gennaro, 2017 ), others did not find any washback on skill practices of students who needed to take GEPT (General English Proficiency Test) and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) ( Pan, 2014 ) or observed a modest change in their test preparation practices for a proficiency test ( Pan and Newfields, 2013 ). On the other hand, a negative washback was reported by Sağlam and Farhady (2019) who looked into the potential washback effect of the University English Language Proficiency Test prepared locally by a Turkish university.…”

Understanding Taiwanese Adolescents’ English Learning Selves through Parental Expectations

“…To cope with internationalization, Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) has made English a compulsory subject from the primary level onwards (MOE, 2006); this was taken by P1 and P5 as evidence that English is the passport to global participation. Similarly, P4 and P6 explained how English is an important subject at every transitional stage of education and is adopted as a gradation benchmark at the tertiary level (Pan, 2011), illustrating its importance in the international job market. The government's education policies are themselves powerful messages legitimizing the instrumentalist approach to language (Wee, 2008), giving English dominance over other academic subjects.…”

Consequences of test use: a case study of employers’ voice on the social impact of English certification exit requirements in Taiwan

“…A number of studies on test consequences have taken an educational perspective and focused on teachers and students in various contexts, such as the US (Alderson & Hamp-Lyons, 1996;Saif, 1999Saif, , 2006Stecher et al, 2004); Australia (Burrows, 1998(Burrows, , 2001(Burrows, , 2004; Europe (Oerke, et al, 2011;Smyth & Banks, 2012;Wall & Horak, 2006); China (Cheng, 2004(Cheng, , 2005Deng & Carless, 2010;Xie & Andrews, 2012); Japan (Watanabe, 1996(Watanabe, , 2004, and Taiwan (Chu, 2009;Pan, 2011;Pan & Newfields, 2012;Shih, 2007). A far more limited number of studies have investigated test effects at the macro level as the next section demonstrates.…”