Research Article
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Can Exams Change How and What Teachers Teach? Investigating the Washback Effect of a University English Language Proficiency Test in the Turkish Context

Year 2018, , 155 - 176, 26.09.2018
https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.464094

Abstract



















Learning a foreign language can be
frustrating for some people and very enjoyable for some others. Emotions are
one of the most important factors in the use of English as a foreign language
located in the center of attention of many researchers. One of the
emotion-inducing contexts for learning English as a foreign language can be the
setting of an imagined community. Our focus in this study was on the emergence
of emotions, both positive and negative, of three groups of six university
students engaged in an English-speaking literature criticism TV program as an
imagined community. The program encompassed a specific day to discuss a fiction
and a final report of the program specified for publication in one of the
well-established literary bulletins. Each member constructed a specific
imagined identity in each group as critics, photographers, reporters, and
presenters competing with each other for the final selection of the best
critique and presentation on the discussion day as well as the publication of
the best report. A triangulation of data was gathered including an interview,
observation, an open-ended questionnaire as well as personal journals which
were qualitatively analyzed. The results showed the emergence of enjoyment
resulting from the constructed imagined identities in the classroom as well as
facilitative negative emotions such as anxiety leading to the consolidation of
the participants’ imagined affiliations.

References

  • Akpinar, K.D. & Cakildere, B. (2013). Washback effects of high-stakes language tests of Turkey (KPDS and UDS) on productive and receptive skills of academic personnel. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 9(2), 81-94.
  • Alderson, C., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (1996). TOEFL preparation courses: A study of washback. Language Testing, 13(3), 280-297.
  • Alderson, C., & Wall, D. (1993). Does washback exist? Applied Linguistics, 14, 115-129.
  • Azadi, G. & Gholami, R. (2013). Feedback on washback of EFL tests on ELT in L2 classroom. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(8), 1335-1341.
  • Bailey, K.M. (1996). Working for washback: A review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing, 13(3), 257-279.
  • Bogdan, R. C. & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research in education: An introduction to theory and methods. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Burrows, C. (2004). Wash-back in classroom-based assessment: A study of the washback effect in the Australian adult migrant English program. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 147-170). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Chen, L.M. (2002). Washback of a public exam on English teaching. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED472167).
  • Cheng, L. (1997). How does washback influence teaching? Implications for Hong Kong. Language and Education, 11(1), 38-54.
  • Cheng, L. (2004). The washback effect of a public examination changes of teachers’ perceptions toward their classroom teaching. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 147-170). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Cheng, L. (2005). Changing language teaching through language testing: A washback study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Cheng, L., & Curtis, A. (2004). Washback or backwash: A review of the impact of testing on teaching and learning. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 3-18). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Clark, C.M. and Peterson, P.L. (1986), Teachers' Thought Processes. In M.C. Wittrock (Eds.), Third handbook of research on teaching (pp. 255-296). New York: Macmillan.
  • Ferman, I. (2004). The washback of an EFL national oral matriculation test to teaching and learning. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 3-18). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Fullilove, J. (1992). The tail that wags. Institute of Language in Education, 9, 131-147.
  • Green, A. (2007a). IELTS Washback in Context Preparation for Academic Writing in Context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Green, A. (2007b). Washback to learning outcomes: a comparative study of IELTS preparation and university professional language courses. Assessment in Education, 14(1), 75-97.
  • Gu, Y. P. (2014). The unbearable lightness of the curriculum: what drives the assessment practices of a teacher of English as a Foreign Language in a Chinese secondary school? Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 21(3), 286-305.
  • Hayes, B., & Read, J. (2004). IELTS test preparation in New Zealand: preparing students for the IELTS academic module. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 129-148). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Huang, L. (2009). Washback on teacher beliefs and behaviours: Investigating the process from a social psychology perspective. (Unpublished PhD thesis), Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
  • Hughes, A. (1994). Backwash and TOEFL 2000. Unpublished manuscript, commissioned by Educational Testing Service (ETS). University of Reading.
  • Karabulut, A. (2007). Micro level impacts of foreign language test (university entrance examination) in Turkey: a washback study (Master’s thesis), Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/14884/
  • Lam, H.P. (1994). Methodology washback and insider’s view. In D. Nunan, R. Berry, & V. Berry (Eds.), Bringing about change in education (pp. 83-99). Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
  • Leki, I., & Carson, J. (1994). Students’ perceptions of EAP writing instruction and writing needs across the disciplines. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 81–101.
  • Leki, I., & Carson, J. (1997). Completely different worlds: EAP and the writing experiences of ESL students in university courses. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 39–69.
  • Li, X. (1990). How powerful can a language test be? The MET in China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 11, 393-404.
  • Madaus, G. F. (1988). The Influence of Testing on the Curriculum. In L. N. Tanner (Eds.), Critical Issues in Curriculum (pp. 83-121). Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.
  • Manjarres, N.B. (2009). Washback of the foreign language test of the state examinations in Colombia: A case study. Arizona working papers in SLAT, 12, 1-12.
  • Özmen, K. (2011). Washback effects of the inter-university foreign language examination on foreign language competences of candidate academics. Novitas-ROYAL Research on Youth and Language, 5 (2), 215-228.
  • Perrin, G. C. (2000). The effect of multiple choice foreign language tests of listening and reading on teacher behaviour and student attitudes. (Unpublished PhD thesis) Lancaster, England, Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University.
  • Plakans, L. (2008). Comparing composing processes in writing-only and reading-to-write test tasks. Assessing Writing, 13, 111–129.
  • Plakans, L. (2009a). The role of reading strategies in integrated L2 writing tasks. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8, 252–266.
  • Plakans, L. (2009b). Discourse synthesis in integrated second language writing assessment. Language Testing, 26, 561–587.
  • Plakans, L. (2010). Independent vs. integrated writing tasks: A comparison of task representation. TESOL Quarterly, 44, 185–194.
  • Plakans, L., & Gebril, A. (2012). A close investigation into source use in integrated second language writing tasks. Assessing Writing, 17, 18–34.
  • Qi, L. (2005). Stakeholders’ conflicting aims undermine the washback function of a high‐stakes Test, Language Testing, 22, 142–173.
  • Qi, L. (2004). Has a high-stakes test produced the intended changes? In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: research contexts and methods (pp.147-170). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Saville, N., & Hawkey, R. (2004). ‘The IELTS Impact Study: Investigating washback on teaching materials’, In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 19-36). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Sevimli, S. E. (2007). The Washback Effects of Foreign Language Component of the University Entrance Examination on the Teaching and Learning Context of English Language Groups in Secondary Education: A Case Study (Master’s thesis), Gaziantep University, Gaziantep. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/.
  • Shohamy, E. (1993). The Power of Tests. Washington DC: National Foreign Language Center.
  • Shohamy, E., Donitsa-Schmidt, S., & Ferman, I. (1996). Test impact revisited: Washback effect over time. Language Testing, 13(3), 298-317.
  • Smith, M L (1991). Put to the Test: The Effects of External Testing on Teachers. Educational Researcher, 20(5), pp 8-11.
  • Spada, N., & Fröhlich. M. (1995). Communicative orientation of language teaching observation scheme (COLT). Australia: Macquarie University National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research
  • Spratt, M. (2005). Washback and the classroom: The implications for teaching and learning of studies of washback from exams. Language Teaching Research, 9 (1), 5-29.
  • Stecher, B., Chun, T., & Barron, S. (2004). The effects of assessment-driven reform on the teaching of writing in Washington State. In L. Cheng & Y. Watanabe & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods (pp. 53-71). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact. ELT Journal, 59(2), 54–155.
  • Tsagari, D. (2007). Review of Washback in Language Testing: What Has Been Done? What More Needs Doing? Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 497709).
  • Wall, D. & Alderson, J.C. (1993). Examining washback: The Sri-Lankan impact study. Language Testing, 10, 41-69.
  • Wall, D. & Horak, T. (2007). Using baseline studies in the investigation of test impact. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 14 (1), 99-116.
  • Watanabe, Y. (1996). Does grammar translation come from the entrance examination? Preliminary findings from class-room based research, Language Testing, 13(3), 318-333.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2000). Washback effects of the English section of the Japanese university entrance examinations on instruction in-pre-college level EFL. Language Testing Update, 27, 42-47.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2004a). Methodology in washback studies. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 19-36). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2004b). Teacher factors mediating washback. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 129-148). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Wall, D. (2005). The impact of high-stakes examinations on classroom teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wesdorp, H. (1982). Backwash effects of language testing in primary and secondary education. Journal of Applied Language Study, 1(1), 40-55.
Year 2018, , 155 - 176, 26.09.2018
https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.464094

Abstract

References

  • Akpinar, K.D. & Cakildere, B. (2013). Washback effects of high-stakes language tests of Turkey (KPDS and UDS) on productive and receptive skills of academic personnel. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 9(2), 81-94.
  • Alderson, C., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (1996). TOEFL preparation courses: A study of washback. Language Testing, 13(3), 280-297.
  • Alderson, C., & Wall, D. (1993). Does washback exist? Applied Linguistics, 14, 115-129.
  • Azadi, G. & Gholami, R. (2013). Feedback on washback of EFL tests on ELT in L2 classroom. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(8), 1335-1341.
  • Bailey, K.M. (1996). Working for washback: A review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing, 13(3), 257-279.
  • Bogdan, R. C. & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research in education: An introduction to theory and methods. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Burrows, C. (2004). Wash-back in classroom-based assessment: A study of the washback effect in the Australian adult migrant English program. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 147-170). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Chen, L.M. (2002). Washback of a public exam on English teaching. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED472167).
  • Cheng, L. (1997). How does washback influence teaching? Implications for Hong Kong. Language and Education, 11(1), 38-54.
  • Cheng, L. (2004). The washback effect of a public examination changes of teachers’ perceptions toward their classroom teaching. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 147-170). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Cheng, L. (2005). Changing language teaching through language testing: A washback study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Cheng, L., & Curtis, A. (2004). Washback or backwash: A review of the impact of testing on teaching and learning. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 3-18). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Clark, C.M. and Peterson, P.L. (1986), Teachers' Thought Processes. In M.C. Wittrock (Eds.), Third handbook of research on teaching (pp. 255-296). New York: Macmillan.
  • Ferman, I. (2004). The washback of an EFL national oral matriculation test to teaching and learning. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 3-18). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Fullilove, J. (1992). The tail that wags. Institute of Language in Education, 9, 131-147.
  • Green, A. (2007a). IELTS Washback in Context Preparation for Academic Writing in Context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Green, A. (2007b). Washback to learning outcomes: a comparative study of IELTS preparation and university professional language courses. Assessment in Education, 14(1), 75-97.
  • Gu, Y. P. (2014). The unbearable lightness of the curriculum: what drives the assessment practices of a teacher of English as a Foreign Language in a Chinese secondary school? Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 21(3), 286-305.
  • Hayes, B., & Read, J. (2004). IELTS test preparation in New Zealand: preparing students for the IELTS academic module. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 129-148). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Huang, L. (2009). Washback on teacher beliefs and behaviours: Investigating the process from a social psychology perspective. (Unpublished PhD thesis), Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
  • Hughes, A. (1994). Backwash and TOEFL 2000. Unpublished manuscript, commissioned by Educational Testing Service (ETS). University of Reading.
  • Karabulut, A. (2007). Micro level impacts of foreign language test (university entrance examination) in Turkey: a washback study (Master’s thesis), Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/14884/
  • Lam, H.P. (1994). Methodology washback and insider’s view. In D. Nunan, R. Berry, & V. Berry (Eds.), Bringing about change in education (pp. 83-99). Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
  • Leki, I., & Carson, J. (1994). Students’ perceptions of EAP writing instruction and writing needs across the disciplines. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 81–101.
  • Leki, I., & Carson, J. (1997). Completely different worlds: EAP and the writing experiences of ESL students in university courses. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 39–69.
  • Li, X. (1990). How powerful can a language test be? The MET in China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 11, 393-404.
  • Madaus, G. F. (1988). The Influence of Testing on the Curriculum. In L. N. Tanner (Eds.), Critical Issues in Curriculum (pp. 83-121). Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.
  • Manjarres, N.B. (2009). Washback of the foreign language test of the state examinations in Colombia: A case study. Arizona working papers in SLAT, 12, 1-12.
  • Özmen, K. (2011). Washback effects of the inter-university foreign language examination on foreign language competences of candidate academics. Novitas-ROYAL Research on Youth and Language, 5 (2), 215-228.
  • Perrin, G. C. (2000). The effect of multiple choice foreign language tests of listening and reading on teacher behaviour and student attitudes. (Unpublished PhD thesis) Lancaster, England, Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University.
  • Plakans, L. (2008). Comparing composing processes in writing-only and reading-to-write test tasks. Assessing Writing, 13, 111–129.
  • Plakans, L. (2009a). The role of reading strategies in integrated L2 writing tasks. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8, 252–266.
  • Plakans, L. (2009b). Discourse synthesis in integrated second language writing assessment. Language Testing, 26, 561–587.
  • Plakans, L. (2010). Independent vs. integrated writing tasks: A comparison of task representation. TESOL Quarterly, 44, 185–194.
  • Plakans, L., & Gebril, A. (2012). A close investigation into source use in integrated second language writing tasks. Assessing Writing, 17, 18–34.
  • Qi, L. (2005). Stakeholders’ conflicting aims undermine the washback function of a high‐stakes Test, Language Testing, 22, 142–173.
  • Qi, L. (2004). Has a high-stakes test produced the intended changes? In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: research contexts and methods (pp.147-170). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Saville, N., & Hawkey, R. (2004). ‘The IELTS Impact Study: Investigating washback on teaching materials’, In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 19-36). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Sevimli, S. E. (2007). The Washback Effects of Foreign Language Component of the University Entrance Examination on the Teaching and Learning Context of English Language Groups in Secondary Education: A Case Study (Master’s thesis), Gaziantep University, Gaziantep. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/.
  • Shohamy, E. (1993). The Power of Tests. Washington DC: National Foreign Language Center.
  • Shohamy, E., Donitsa-Schmidt, S., & Ferman, I. (1996). Test impact revisited: Washback effect over time. Language Testing, 13(3), 298-317.
  • Smith, M L (1991). Put to the Test: The Effects of External Testing on Teachers. Educational Researcher, 20(5), pp 8-11.
  • Spada, N., & Fröhlich. M. (1995). Communicative orientation of language teaching observation scheme (COLT). Australia: Macquarie University National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research
  • Spratt, M. (2005). Washback and the classroom: The implications for teaching and learning of studies of washback from exams. Language Teaching Research, 9 (1), 5-29.
  • Stecher, B., Chun, T., & Barron, S. (2004). The effects of assessment-driven reform on the teaching of writing in Washington State. In L. Cheng & Y. Watanabe & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods (pp. 53-71). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact. ELT Journal, 59(2), 54–155.
  • Tsagari, D. (2007). Review of Washback in Language Testing: What Has Been Done? What More Needs Doing? Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 497709).
  • Wall, D. & Alderson, J.C. (1993). Examining washback: The Sri-Lankan impact study. Language Testing, 10, 41-69.
  • Wall, D. & Horak, T. (2007). Using baseline studies in the investigation of test impact. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 14 (1), 99-116.
  • Watanabe, Y. (1996). Does grammar translation come from the entrance examination? Preliminary findings from class-room based research, Language Testing, 13(3), 318-333.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2000). Washback effects of the English section of the Japanese university entrance examinations on instruction in-pre-college level EFL. Language Testing Update, 27, 42-47.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2004a). Methodology in washback studies. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 19-36). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2004b). Teacher factors mediating washback. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis (Eds.), Washback in language testing: Research Contexts and methods (pp. 129-148). Manwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Wall, D. (2005). The impact of high-stakes examinations on classroom teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wesdorp, H. (1982). Backwash effects of language testing in primary and secondary education. Journal of Applied Language Study, 1(1), 40-55.
There are 55 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam This is me

Publication Date September 26, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2018

Cite

APA Gokturk Saglam, A. L. (2018). Can Exams Change How and What Teachers Teach? Investigating the Washback Effect of a University English Language Proficiency Test in the Turkish Context. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 155-176. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.464094