Abstract
The influence of language testing on curriculum design, teaching methods, and learning habits is referred to as the “washback effect.” This effect has an impact on the decisions made by students and teachers. Teachers may, for example, teach to a test, or learners may concentrate on parts of language acquisition that will be tested in their future courses. In language testing, the washback effect is usually categorised as either negative or positive, with the latter being referred to as wash-forward. When definitions of language competence are excessively narrow, it can be destructive to more flexible methods to language education; nevertheless, it can be useful when effective teaching techniques occur. Washback may also be helpful or bad depending on whether it aids or hinders the achievement of educational objectives. Teaching the curriculum becomes the same as teaching to the test if a test has positive washback. When there is a mismatch between the declared aims of teaching and the emphasis of assessment, negative washback can develop, leading to the abandoning of instructional goals in favour of test preparation.
Highlights
Students are increasingly eager to get international education, and English is both a key draw to a UK education and a possible stumbling block to effective study in this environment
The data related to the International English Language Competency Test (IELTS) test feedback study is informative for research and reform of large-scale tests around the world
The IELTS test has had a profound impact on all aspects of English language teaching and learning around the world, from concepts of teaching and learning to classroom practices, as well as implicit and explicit effects on the lives of test takers and other stakeholders
Summary
Students are increasingly eager to get international education, and English is both a key draw to a UK education and a possible stumbling block to effective study in this environment. Teachers taught the same test or exam abilities in a variety of ways, according to Alderson and Hamp Lyons (1996) and Watanabe (1996), with some employing a more openly “test-based,” “textbook slave” method and others using a more creative and autonomous approach. This is why, in order to satisfy their own and their students’ expectations, teachers frequently rely significantly on test-oriented resources. Whenever specific criteria are satisfied, high stakes testing and accompanying educational innovation can provide not just positive incentive for improving teaching methods, and influence and attract instructors’ pedagogical practises in desirable ways (Chapman & Snyder, 2000). High stakes testing - along with associated educational innovation-can, if certain conditions are met, provide positive motivation for improving teaching practices and shape and attract teachers’ pedagogical practices in desirable ways (Chapman & Snyder, 2000)
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