Revealing English competency challenges: exploring washback effects of public examination

Abstract

"Public Examinations have been a matter of concern in a country like Bangladesh where English is taught in isolation. Public examinations of Bangladesh act like an achievement test that eliminate listening and speaking skills in English and discourage students to practise those skills. As a result, even after completing higher secondary level, students remain incompetent in English though it is a compulsory subject from the very primary level of the education. This study explored the reasons behind incompetence in English even after completing higher secondary level of study. In particular, this study focuses on how washback effects of public examinations shape students’ proficiency in English. This study is conducted following a qualitative approach. I have used face-to face interviews and classroom observation to collect data for this study. The analysis revealed that public examination shapes students’ proficiency level; practicing proportion of English language among individual students and institutions is very limited as the language exposure is not enough. Besides, schools and colleges apply both formative and summative assessment to enhance students learning but applying traditional assessment instead of alternative assessment leads to ineffective learning outcome. Also, though public examination is creating motivation in fostering academic involvement but the procedure of the exam is directly demotivating students to practise all four skills equally in English language. Lastly, public examinations play crucial role in shaping curriculum and overall educational system of Bangladesh."