Washback effects of a high-stakes exam on lower secondary school English teachers’ practices in the classroom

Abstract

The aim of the article is to investigate the effects of the foreign language section of TEOG (Transition Examination from Primary to Secondary Education) on language teacher practices in the classroom. The participants of the study include 30 English language teachers working at lower secondary schools in Turkey. The results of the study indicate that language teacher practices in the classroom are greatly affected by several factors such as the style and content of the language exam. The main harmful washback of this exam is found to be the neglect of teaching several skills such as listening, speaking, and writing as these skills are not assessed, and stakeholders such as students and parents require reasonable level of success on these texts. Some other factors negatively affected have been found to be the selection of course books, the medium of instruction, classroom assessment as well as anxiety.

A Review of the Washback of English Language Tests on Classroom Teaching

“…However, some teachers did experience confusion in terms of the objectives listed in the textbooks. The negative washback was more severe in the study on the washback of the foreign language section of TEOG in Turkey by Kılıçkaya (2016) who observed that the teachers were given textbooks selected by the Ministry of Education. The adoption of these textbooks was mandatory, so all the teachers had to use them.…”

“…Therefore, Barnes (2016) argued that teachers' reliance on skills checklist prevented a more holistic and process-centered way of teaching. Kılıçkaya (2016) studied the foreign language section of TEOG (Transition Examination from Primary to Secondary Education) in Turkey. The author noted that the secondary school language teachers in the study focused on teaching grammar, vocabulary, and reading which were the major elements of the content of the language section of TEOG.…”

“…Building on the findings of the above three studies, one type of negative washback of English language tests on classroom teaching could be the restraint on the language skills taught in the classroom because of a strong inclination to devote more classroom teaching to the skills tested in the exams (Barnes, 2016;Kılıçkaya, 2016;Widiati, 2015). As a result, other significant language knowledge or skills are excluded from classroom teaching.…”

“…In sum, the above three studies demonstrated that part of the negative washback of English language tests could be the requirement imposed on the teachers to adopt textbooks that were strictly built on the content of the text. This could either confuse the teachers because the textbooks might not be in line with the course syllabus (Cheng, 1997;Hamp-Lyons, 1998) or render the teaching materials inadequate (Kılıçkaya, 2016).…”

“…She furthered argued that such teaching style was by no means appropriate for classroom teaching. In another study on the washback of the foreign language section of TEOG in Turkey, Kılıçkaya (2016) observed that teachers relied on direct instruction. The only occasions where students played a more active role was when they read short conversations similar to those tested in the language section of TEOG.…”