Exploring Washback Effects of the High-Stakes University-Entrance Test on the EFL Teaching-Learning Process in Iran

Although greater emphasis is nowadays put on the learner as the crux of the learning and assessment processes, high-stakes tests and test-based inferences are still widely practiced for gate-keeping purposes or as levers to improve education across the globe, especially in centralized educational systems. This paper reports on a study which probed the impacts of the high-stakes university-entrance testing practice in Iran on L2 teaching-learning processes and on student's learning power. The participants were 32 EFL teachers and a random sample of 70 high school students in Tehran. Data triangulation method was used to collect the data. Specifically, the instruments included two (teaching-learning) style questionnaires and one impact questionnaire along with semi-structured interviews. The results evidenced a detrimental teaching-learning style conflict in the L2 classroom. Whereas students generally preferred to learn English through interactive, collaborative, and project-based activities using audio-visual materials, their teachers prioritized solo pedagogical activities, emphasized individual studying of textbooks, and made no use of audio-visual aids. Further evidence indicated that the national high-stakes test negatively impacts every aspect of the teaching-learning process, especially the style mismatch in the L2 classroom, and diminishes student's learnacy for effective lifelong learning. The findings resonate with the learning-oriented approach in the field of educational assessment known as 'assessment for learning' (rather than of learning) which seeks to promote student's learning power besides assessment.