The washback effect of testing on students’ learning in efl writing classes

Bu çalışma öncelikle sınavların genel olarak öğrenme üzerindeki olumsuz etki- lerinin neler olduğunu inceleyen literatür taramasını göstermekte, sonrasında ise İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak gören 2 yazma becerileri sınıfında uygulanan küçük çaplı bir araştırma hakkında bilgi vermektedir. Sınavların yabancı dil öğrenen öğrenciler üzerindeki etkileri konusuyla ilgili literatüre çok kapsamlı bir araştırma olmuştur. Uygulamada, öğretmenlerin çoğu dönem başlarında hazırlanan müfre- datla uyumlu olarak hazırladıkları, zamanı belirlenmiş sınavlarla öğrencilerini değerlendirirler. Negatif etkilerin düzeyi ve yapısı cinsiyet, yaş, öğrenmenin amacı ve düzeyi gibi faktörlere bağlı olarak değişir. Bu çalışma İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak gören başlangıç düzeyindeki öğrencilerinin yazma becelerileri üzerinde sınavların olumsuz etkilerini ve nedenlerini araştırmaktadır. Araştırmanın sonuçları, öğrencilerin sınav olduklarını bildikleri zaman kaygı düzeyinin arttığını ve performanslarının düştüğünü göstermektedir.

İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen öğrencilerin yazılı anlatım derslerindeki sınavların öğrenme başarısı üzerinde olumsuz etkileri

This study displays the literature review that investigates what the drawbacks of exams are on learning in general, then gives a brief account of a small scale research conducted in two EFL writing classes. There has been extensive research in related literature on the impact of testing on students learning a foreign lan- guage. In practice most of the teachers assess their students with scheduled exams which they conduct in accordance with the syllabuses prepared at the beginning of the semester. The level and form of the negative effects change according to some factors such as gender, age, the aim and level of learning. This study investigated the negative effects of testing and their reasons on elementary level EFL students’ writing. The results indicate that learners’ anxiety level increase and their per- formance decrease when they know that it is an assessment.

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