October 2008 home | PDF | SWF |

Title
The Washback Effect of the University Entrance Examination on Iranian English Teachers’ Curricular Planning and Instruction

Author
Mohammad Reza Ghorbani

Bio Data
TESL Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Educational Studies, UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. He has published numerous articles and presented articles in international conferences as well.

Abstract
This study examined the impact of the University Entrance Examination (UEE) on pre-university English teachers’ (PETs) teaching and curricular planning in six dimensions. Eight factors usually associated with the UEE washback effect in the Iranian EFL context were investigated in this study.
Based on stratified random sampling, 377 PETs were selected to respond to the questionnaires. As to the qualitative method sampling, eight purposively selected PETs participated in two focus group interviews. Stepwise regression was used to analyze the quantitative data from the survey questionnaires and a systematic note-based technique recommended by Kruger (2002) was used to analyze and interpret the qualitative data from the focus group interviews.
The findings revealed that time arrangement was the most affected area among the six dimensions. Based on the results from the stepwise regression analysis, only perceived students’ learning attitudes (21.2%), perceived external pressure in teaching (3.0%), and perceived professionalism in teaching (1.1%) can be used to reliably predict PETs’ perceptions of the impact of the UEE. All of the interviewed PETs perceived the negative effect of the UEE and expected the authorities to reform it based on the current teaching and testing theories.

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