The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights

The Entrance Exam of the Universities (EEU) in Iran is a multiple-choice high-stakes test which clearly affects its stakeholders. This effect, generally known as washback, can be considered negative or positive depending on the test and its intended use. The EEU is designed to screen the high sch...

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Main Authors: Hadi Salehi, Melor Md Yunus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit UKM 2012
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/1/pp%2520609_628.pdf
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author Hadi Salehi,
Melor Md Yunus,
author_facet Hadi Salehi,
Melor Md Yunus,
author_sort Hadi Salehi,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The Entrance Exam of the Universities (EEU) in Iran is a multiple-choice high-stakes test which clearly affects its stakeholders. This effect, generally known as washback, can be considered negative or positive depending on the test and its intended use. The EEU is designed to screen the high school graduates for admission into higher education. This study aimed to investigate the washback effect of this high-stakes test on the Iranian high school English teachers. To achieve the aim of the study, a validated survey questionnaire was administered to stratified random sample of 132 high school English teachers who were teaching in the five main educational districts in the city of Isfahan, Iran. The data analysis revealed that the EEU negatively and implicitly influences English teachers to teach to the content and format of the test. Additionally, little attention was given to three language skills of speaking, writing, and listening in the classroom as these skills are not tested in the EEU.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:49342016-12-14T06:37:21Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/ The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights Hadi Salehi, Melor Md Yunus, The Entrance Exam of the Universities (EEU) in Iran is a multiple-choice high-stakes test which clearly affects its stakeholders. This effect, generally known as washback, can be considered negative or positive depending on the test and its intended use. The EEU is designed to screen the high school graduates for admission into higher education. This study aimed to investigate the washback effect of this high-stakes test on the Iranian high school English teachers. To achieve the aim of the study, a validated survey questionnaire was administered to stratified random sample of 132 high school English teachers who were teaching in the five main educational districts in the city of Isfahan, Iran. The data analysis revealed that the EEU negatively and implicitly influences English teachers to teach to the content and format of the test. Additionally, little attention was given to three language skills of speaking, writing, and listening in the classroom as these skills are not tested in the EEU. Penerbit UKM 2012-05 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/1/pp%2520609_628.pdf Hadi Salehi, and Melor Md Yunus, (2012) The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 12 (2 (spe). pp. 609-628. ISSN 1675-8021 http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~ppbl/Gema/gemahome.html
spellingShingle Hadi Salehi,
Melor Md Yunus,
The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title_full The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title_fullStr The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title_full_unstemmed The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title_short The Washback effect of the Iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
title_sort washback effect of the iranian universities entrance exam: teachers’ insights
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/4934/1/pp%2520609_628.pdf