Washback Effect Of Tests Research Articles

Washback effects of multiple-choice, cloze and metalinguistic tests on EFL students writing

The washback effects of different test formats on the writing performance of students have always been of great importance. However, this area of research has not fully touched upon by researchers of second language testing. Despite the importance of the issue, there is a dearth of empirical studies to unravel the effects of different types of tests on learning. To shed some light on the current issue, the present study intends to look into the washback effects of tests on students who are learning and using some special grammatical points in writing tasks. In order to fulfil this project, we made a set question in three formats of cloze, multiple-choice and metalinguistic on a grammatical form(i.e. present perfect and present perfect continuous)to use after each session of teaching (2 sessions of training) as an activity. The researchers devised and validated three tests on the target form; each test contained 20 questions and was in different formats of cloze, multiple-choice or metalinguistic. At the end of this two-session trainings, two focused writing tasks were implemented. The results indicated that supporting teaching grammatical points with metalinguistic tests yields the highest positive washback on students writing. Finally, some practical implications were suggested.

The washback effect of Iranian high school final examinations on students’ test-taking and test-preparation strategies

During the past decades, the washback effect has attracted the attention of many testing specialists. Numerous studies attempted to explore the effects tests may have on teachers and teaching. There are, however, few empirical studies on the washback effect of tests on learners and learning. The current study investigated the effect of high school final examinations on students’ test-taking and test-preparation strategy use. Analysis of the verbal protocols obtained from the high school learners revealed that these examinations made students employ some strategies which seemed to exert a negative influence on their learning by directing them toward a measurement-driven approach to learning. The strategies, nevertheless, were not all negative; some seemed to foster the students’ mental and linguistic abilities.

Feedback on Washback of EFL Tests on ELT in L2 Classroom

Every year, competence-based tests for the students of all grades in Iranian high schools are introduced. Such tests are the certain components of high school curriculum; therefore, very much attention should be academically paid to them and particularly to their impact on teaching and learning. This study identifies the possible washback effect of English language tests on English language teaching in high schools and further describes the nature of the washback effect in the context of Iran. In order to do so, the booklets of the English language tests for final exams of all four high schools levels in June 2012 were first analysed. Then, thirty EFL classrooms were randomly observed and a questionnaire was filled up by the teachers of those classes to collect their feedback on the washback effect of the tests. Another questionnaire was filled up by thirty students who were randomly chosen from the same classes for their feedback on the washback as well. The analysed collected data indicates that there is a strong relationship between classroom teaching and what the final tests measure showing the presence of washback in all four levels of English language classes in high schools of Iran which is due largely to the scope of university matriculation in Iran. The results also explain that the nature of existing washback on what EFL teachers teach in L2 classes is negative. The negative impact is possibly resulted due to the existing restrictions of teaching and teachers in Iranian schools to meet the needs of the students just for matriculation.

Washback to the learner: Learner and teacher perspectives on IELTS preparation course expectations and outcomes

The washback effect of tests on teaching has attracted considerable attention over recent years, but the critical question of how this translates into washback on learning remains under-explored. To address this issue, questionnaires relating to academic writing instruction were distributed to 108 learners from mainland China preparing for university study in the UK, either through studying for the IELTS test or through courses in English for Academic Purposes that did not include IELTS preparation. The same 24 questions were put to learners at course entry and at course exit and the results compared between courses and between occasions. The questions were also given to 39 teachers on IELTS and non-IELTS courses and their responses weighed against those from students. The results indicate that learner perceptions of course outcomes are affected by the course focus reported by teachers, but that the relationship is not deterministic. Although test preparation courses, as predicted by washback theory, did appear to cover a relatively narrow range of skills, there is evidence here that narrow preparation strategies were not driven primarily by learner expectations.