WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE ORDINARY NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TEST (O-NET) ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN NINTH GRADE

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) had any washback effects on English language teaching and English language learning in Grade 9 as well as to explore teachers’ and students’ opinions towards the O-NET. The population was English teachers and Grade 9 students in the Secondary Educational Service Area Office 6 in Chachoengsao province in the academic year 2013. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in this study. For quantitative data, the participants consisted of 75 English teachers and 400 Grade 9 students. The instruments were questionnaires for both teachers and Grade 9 students. The independent samples t-test, means, and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. For qualitative data, the samples comprised 6 English teachers and 60 Grade 9 students. The instruments were semi-structured interviews of English teachers and group interviews of Grade 9 students. The content analysis was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that: 1) most English teachers agreed that the contents of the O-NET emphasized critical-thinking skills and the O-NET preparation had impact on teaching in classrooms. However, they had varied opinions towards the O-NET in terms of the consistency between the contents of the O-NET and contents in textbooks as well as using the O-NET scores to indicate how well students learned in classrooms; 2) the majority of Grade 9 students agreed that the O-NET could be used to check students’ language proficiency and the O-NET emphasized critical-thinking skills. However, they had varied opinions about the O-NET in terms of the consistency between the contents of the O-NET and contents in textbooks as well as the consistency between the contents of the O-NET and curriculum; 3) washback of the O-NET had negative impact in some aspects of language teaching. The results showed that teachers taught tested contents and used the O-NET related materials, adapted test-items from previous O-NET to school tests, allocated time for test-preparation, assigned homework relevant to the O-NET, and had high test anxiety; and 4) washback of the O-NET had both positive and negative impact on the aspects of language learning. Positive washback occurred when students focused learning on communicative skills and studied English harder to enhance their English abilities rather than to get high O-NET scores. In contrast, negative washback occurred when students spent time preparing for the test and had high level of test anxiety.