EFL TEACHERS’ PRACTICES OF THEIR TESTING READING COMPREHENSION AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF ITS WASHBACK EFFECTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejals.v5i1.361Keywords:
washback effects, teaching reading comprehension, EFL teachers, teachers’ perceptions, teachers’ practicesAbstract
This study aims to investigate two issues. Firstly, it explores English as a foreign language (EFL) high school teachers’ practices of testing and washback in teaching reading comprehension. Secondly, their perceptions of its washback effects are scrutinized. Content analysis, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data. Sixty teachers at some high schools in Can Tho City, Vietnam were contacted to answer the questionnaire. In the end, five of them were selected to take part in the interviews. The findings indicated that designing tests has a beneficial impact on reading for EFL learners in the areas of students' passion for reading, decreasing reading boredom, students' interest in reading text content, and students' development of thinking skills. It has an impact on the teachers' time allotment, teaching strategies, and instructional materials.
References
Habib, M. (2016). Assessment of Reading Comprehension. Assessment of Reading Comprehension, 8(1), 125–147.
Khilma, N., & Novia, T. (2019). Examining Washback of National Examination: EFL Teachers and Students’ Perceptions. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), 188.
Joko, N., Nur Arifah, D., N., & Yeni, K. (2021). Teachers’ beliefs and practices in teaching reading at Islamic secondary schools in Indonesia. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 667–676.
Jorge Hugo Muñoz, M. (2009). Exploring Teachers’ Practices for Assessing Reading Comprehension Abilities in English as a Foreign Language. Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, 11(2), 71–84.
Abatayo, J., & Abri, M. A. (2020). Guidelines for Developing a Reading Test in EFL Context. Conference Paper.
Ha, X. V., Tran, N. G., & Tran, N. H. (2021). Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices Regarding Assessment in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms in Vietnam. The Qualitative Report, 26(11), 3457–3475. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.5063
Al-Husban, N. (2019). EFL teachers’ practices while teaching reading comprehension in Jordan: Teacher development implications. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 9(2), 127–145. https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v9i2.1288
Wiyaka. (2020). Washback of the performance-based test of reading for EFL learners. EduLite Journal of English Education, Literature, and Culture, 5(2), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.30659/e.5.2.202-213
Hamra, A., & Syatriana, E. (2010). Developing a model of teaching reading comprehension for EFL students. TEFLIN Journal, 21(1).
Khanshan, S. K. (2018). An Examination of the Washback Effect on Iranian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension: Any Implications for Text Difficulty in the Classroom? International Journal of Language Testing and Assessment, 1(2), 9–16.
Farhady, H., & Tavassoli, K. (2021). EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices of their language assessment knowledge. Language Testing in Asia, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-021-00135-4
Guoxing Yu. (2008). Book review: Liying Cheng, 2005: Changing language teaching through language testing: A washback study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xiv, 342 pp. ISBN: 9780521836142 (hbk), 9780521544733 (pbk), £55.00 (hbk), £21.50 (pbk). Language Testing, 25(1), 145–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532207083749
Muñoz, R. E. (2017). The Effect of Washback on EFL Learners’ Attitudes toward Tests. Studies in English Language Teaching, 5(3), 516. https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v5n3p516
Kilickaya, F. (2016). Washback effects of a high-stakes exam on lower secondary school English teachers’ practices in the classroom. Lublin Studies in Modern Languages and Literature, 40(1), 116. https://doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2016.40.1.116
Amengual-Pizarro, M. (2009). Does the English Test in the Spanish University Entrance Examination Influence the Teaching of English? English Studies, 90(5), 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/00138380903181031
Nguyen, N. H. T., & Kim, T. K. (2021). Difficulties in Reading Comprehension of English Majored Sophomores at Tay Do University, Can Tho, Vietnam. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v6i3.3590
Marín, J. H. M. (2009). Exploring Teachers’ Practices for Assessing Reading Comprehension Abilities in English as a Foreign Language. Universidad de Antioquia, 11(2), 71–84.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).


