An investigation of washback at english private schools in Goiania-Go, Brazil
Mello, Katia Silene Ferreira De
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125908
Description
Title
An investigation of washback at english private schools in Goiania-Go, Brazil
Author(s)
Mello, Katia Silene Ferreira De
Issue Date
2003
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Davidson, Fred
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Division of English as a Second Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Teaching English as Second Language
English Testing Communicative Language Teaching
Test Design
Language
eng
Abstract
As an English teacher in Goiania-Brazil, I have witnessed a considerable mismatch between English Teaching and English Testing at English private schools. It is noticeable that English classes tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching but tests still follow a traditional approach that focuses on discrete-point grammar-based items. For these reasons, the purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of written English tests on teaching in Goiania, a phenomenon recognized as Washback. Class observations, interviews, a survey and an analysis of the exams were used as instruments of data collection. The results revealed that the exams contributed to a little negative washback on teaching and they did not seem to have contributed to positive washback at all. The study also showed three other interesting findings: (a) a considerable high percentage of teachers who lack preparation for test design (b) grammar has a significant role in these EFL classes; (c) tests are not the only factor that influences teaching; teachers· beliefs seem to be more influential than testing. The study suggests that the mismatch between teaching and testing seems to be a result of lack of test design preparation. It implies that collaborative work on testing among all professionals involved in teaching should be taken into consideration as one way to work out the problem. Simply changing the tests might not I make much difference unless teachers believe and participate into the process of change.
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