African Educational Research Journal - Wash-back effect of Iranian students’ pre-university English textbook and university entrance examinations

Oct 15, 2026

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This study examines the wash-back effect of university entrance examinations as high-stakes tests and the pre-university English textbook on EFL teaching and learning. A 16-item teacher-perspective questionnaire was administered to 40 female and male teachers in pre-university schools in Education District No. One, Shiraz, Iran. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 17 using the Chi-square test. Results indicate alignment with prior research supporting wash-back on teaching materials across educational levels and highlight classroom practices focusing supplementary materials toward exam demands.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research questions and null hypotheses

Theoretical models of wash-back

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 6(4), pp. 303-316, December 2018 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.64.18.098 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Wash-back effect of Iranian students’ pre-university English textbook and university entrance examinations: Teachers-based perspectives Shiva Sadighi, Mortaza Yamini, Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri*, Lotfollah Yarmohammadi and Mustafa Zamanian Department of English, Shiraz Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Iran. Accepted 10 December , 2018 | ABSTRACT
In this study, we investigated the possible wash-back effect of the university entrance exam as a highstakes test and the pre-university English textbook. A 16-item teacher's perspective questionnaire was given to 40 female and male teachers teaching at pre-university schools in Education District No. One, Shiraz, Iran. The data obtained were subjected to SPSS version 17 using Chi-square test to be analyzed. The results showed alignment with those studies which supported the wash-back effect of the high-stakes exams on the teaching materials at different educational levels. Our EFL teachers’ perceptions in the study highlighted that the fourth-graders’ teachers mostly used supplementary materials geared toward university entrance exams’ demand, contrasting with the main textbook's educational objectives. Further pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research would follow.
Keywords: Wash-back, teaching materials, high-stakes tests, EFL teachers. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. Tel: 0098-917-114-0529. | INTRODUCTION The current interest in the wash-back impact that a test exerts on the teaching and learning has become so pervasive and widespread across the globe. This article offers an extended definition and the research done on wash-back, followed by theoretical frameworks. Bachman and Palmer (1996) have made a distinction between the extent or intensity of wash-back and its direction (beneficial or damaging) . Bailey (1996) also states that the design of the test and the tasks it includes can guide wash-back in a favorable or detrimental direction. Regarding intensity, Cheng (2005) believes that it is the degree to which the testees adjust their behavior to the demands of a test. If wash-back encourages the forms of teaching or learning intended by the test developers, one can say it has beneficial direction; however, if it discourages the styles of teaching or learning, it has a damaging path. Hamps-Lynson (1998) stated that the appropriateness of wash-back depends on both the judgments made and also the educational goals. Our study focuses on the impact that the entrance university exams, as high-stakes tests, may have on the teaching materials (textbooks taught in the last year of high schools) and learning of these materials. To see if the direction is mutually positive/negative is another aim of the researchers leading to the extent the two sides of the coin, exams, and textbooks, are aligned and support each other or not. There are some wash-back studies on high-stakes examinations in different countries in which English is used as a foreign or second language, for instance, Sri Lanka (Alderson and Wall, 1993), Hong Kong (Cheng, 1997 , 1999), and Israel (Shohamy et al. , 1996) . They investigated the effects of high-stakes tests on teaching and learning (Andrews et al. , 1997; Burrows, 1999; Lam, 1993; Shohamy et al. , 1996; Watanabe, 1997) . Highstakes tests influence different stakeholders such as students, classroom teachers, administrators, materials developers, and publishers. However, according to Bailey (1999), learners are the most important participants because the wash-back processes have a direct relationship with language learning. Moreover, there is a lack of study on the analysis of textbooks and their effects on learners, teachers, learning processes involved, and also teaching methodology employed by the teachers. So, this study is going to fill the gap by focusing on

FAQs

What are the study’s two main aims regarding wash-back?

The study focuses on the impact entrance university exams may have on teaching materials and learning, and whether the exam and textbook directions align positively or negatively while supporting or opposing each other.

How is the wash-back effect examined in this research?

A 16-item questionnaire capturing teachers’ perspectives is used, and responses are analyzed with SPSS version 17 using the Chi-square test.

Which theoretical framework does the study use and why?

The study uses Bailey’s (1996) framework because it specifies different participants and types of products that examinations may affect.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley