Investigating washback effects of an exit examination on teaching: a case study of the Srinakharinwirot University standardized English test (SWU-SET)

Washback effects of high-stakes tests on English language learning and teaching have been investigated extensively (Wall & Alderson, 1993 ; Alderson & Hamp-Lyons, 1996; Shohamy et al., 1996; Tsagari, 2011). Findings from these studieshelp inform stakeholders of necessary information about the effects of tests on teaching and learning. Interestingly, research studies on washback effects in Thai contexts havebeen conducted to examine the effects of high-stakes tests at the high school level (Lunrasri, 2014; Sundayana et al., 2018; Imsa-ard, 2020). Researchers are interested in investigating the role of teacher factors as mediators between such tests and teaching (Wang, 2010; Turner, 2009; Watanabe, 2004b). The investigation of teacher factors appears to have been limited to a small number of factors, such as attitude and anxiety.Additionally, the origins of the washback effects of high-stakes tests in higher education and other teacher factors are still shrouded in mystery. Thus, the present study aimedto investigate the washback effects of the Srinakharinwirot University Standardized English Test (SWU-SET), a proficiency test used as an exit examination for a public university in Thailand, and also to examine three teacher factors: knowledge, beliefs, and experience. The research questions were as follows: what are the washback effectsof the SWU-SET on teaching?; what are the washback effects of the SWU-SET on learning?; and how do teacher factors mediate the washback effects of the SWU-SET and teaching?The research design of this study was a mixed-methods design (MMR). In this study, the participants consisted of university teachers and undergraduate students.A sample of 25 full-time university teachers was selected based on their ability to use their knowledge to describe the washback effects of the SWU-SET on teaching andteacher factors. Five of the teachers who had extensive teaching experience at the public university and experience in developing the SWU-SET test in 2016 were chosen to beinterviewees. The students consisted of 4,000 first-year students who were enrolled in the foundation English courses, namely SWU121 and SWU122, in the 2019 academicyear. A sample of 20 first- year students was selected to be interviewed about the washback effects of the SWU-SET on learning. In this study, the following research instruments were utilized to collect the data: a teacher questionnaire, a teacher interview, teacher reflective journals, classroom observations, classroom materials, introspective think- aloud, a student questionnaire, a student interview, and a studentreflective journal. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed to analyze and interpret the data.The findings of this study showed that the teachers and the students realized that their goal in teaching and learning was to achieve the course objectives. At the same time, both groups were aware of the effects of the SWU-SET. The teachers’ practices indicated that the SWU-SET had washback effects on the content of teaching, teaching methods, and time allotment for test preparation. The students were aware oflearning content and learning strategies, and were motivated to learn English in order to improve their English proficiency and make them achieve success in the SWU-SET.In addition, the teachers used three teacher factors (i. e. , teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and teacher experience) to balance their teaching, bring good teaching practicesinto the classroom, and prepare students for the SWU-SET. In other words, the SWU-SET is likely to encourage teachers to help students to achieve the course objectives by improving students’ English language ability and encouraging the students to be aware of improving their English skills.This study proposed a model of washback effects on teaching by focusing on teacher factors mediating between the washback effects of a test and teaching. One of the highlights and implications is that teachers should integrate the information about the test, including the test objective, the underlying concept of the test, the test characteristics, students’ test scores, and descriptors of the test scores, into their teaching routine to achieve both the course objectives and the test objective. Teachers should get training on the connections between the underlying concept of the test andthe curriculum to maximize students’ language learning. In addition, teachers should allow students to play an active role in the assessment process.