Teachers suffering from exam washback effect: exclusion of practicing speaking and listening skills in English classes

Abstract

This paper aims to inspect how washback is affecting the teaching system of teachers who are teaching in Bangladeshi Bengali medium schools of grade 9 and 10. Teachers who are suffering from exam washback always teach following exam syllabus and question patterns of previous years in English classes. Although textbook gives equal emphasize on four skills, teachers teach activities of reading and writing skills because these two skills are tested in public examination. There is a lack of practice of speaking and listening skills in classrooms. The study was conducted into six schools of both rural and urban areas using a questionnaire for the teachers who teach at grade 9 and 10.