Hong Kong secondary students’ perspectives on selecting test difficulty level and learner washback: Effects of a graded approach to assessment

Abstract

This sequential mixed-methods study investigates washback on learning in a high-stakes school exit examination by examining learner perceptions and reported behaviours in relation to learners’ beliefs and language learning experience, the role of other stakeholders in the washback mechanism, and socio-educational forces. The focus is the graded approach of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education English Language Examination (HKDSE-English), incorporated in 2012, that allows test-takers to choose between easier and more difficult sections for reading and listening-integrated skills papers. Inductive coding of focus groups involving 12 secondary students fed into the development of the Washback on Students’ Learning questionnaire, which was administered to another 150 learners. Exploratory factor analyses of identified washback effects revealed four major types straddling different settings (classrooms, tutorial schools, learners’ personal environment), and seven categories of mediating variables pertaining to learners themselves, other stakeholders, and societal influences. Simultaneous multiple regressions identified influential clusters of mediating variables and showed the strongest predictors for each macro-level washback type varied. At least one intrinsic and one extrinsic factor category significantly contributed to all types, reaffirming learner washback as a socially situated, negotiated construct. Implications related to the consequences, use, and fairness of the graded approach are discussed.

Examining the predictive validity of the Duolingo English Test: Evidence from a major UK university

“…In this sense, the DET scores in this data set may be a purer measures of test-takers’ ELP than in the future, when test-takers are more rehearsed, test-wiseness strategies are explicitly taught, and test-takers might have access to more resources to help them game the system and optimise their scores. This may especially be the case in exam-oriented societies that have established test preparation industries and cram school traditions (e.g., Clark & Yu, 2021; Tsang & Isaacs, 2022). However, Cushing and Ren’s (2022) analysis of postings on Chinese online discussion fora (2020–2021) suggested that at least one online poster felt that rigorous drilling, question pattern analysis strategies, and the use of contextual cues, which are apparently coached for IELTS and TOEFL iBT, may not be useful for DET, which requires knowledge of English structures under response time pressures.…”

The Influence of High-Stakes English Examinations on Students’ Out-of-Classroom English Learning Practices: A Comparative Study

“…Attempts to respond to the paucity of washback studies on learners and learning have been on the rise [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. A study by Allen [1] investigated washback of the IELTS test on learners in the Japanese tertiary context is one example of such studies.…”

“…That is not much seems to have been made to avoid a notion that washback on learning is rooted only in classrooms. To date, only a few researchers have attempted to extend washback studies beyond the classroom territory [7,[10][11][12].…”

“…Tsang [7] examined the mediating factors that affect students' learning beyond the classroom in Hong Kong. In Turkey, Buyukkeles' [10] study revealed that tests had no significant washback on students' intrinsically motivated learning behaviors regardless of their language proficiency.…”

Predictability of IELTS in a high-stakes context: a mixed methods study of Chinese students’ perspectives on test preparation

“…For students in our research sample, IELTS is also a determining factor in whether they can enter their second-year courses with English as the medium of instruction and obtain the degree from the UK university; thus, its consequences on students' learning are significant. That said, insufficient research has been carried out with regard to the impact of testing from the perspective of test-takers (Tsang & Isaacs, 2021;Elwood et al, 2017;Tsagari 2013), especially Chinese students (Dong, 2019). This study, gathering and analysing data using a mixed method approach, therefore throws new light on the perspectives of students.…”