Comparative Analysis of the Effects of High-Stakes English Exams on Students' Views of Teachers' Teaching Qualities

Abstract

High stakes exams might have an impact on test takers' learning objectives. It is unclear how the high-stakes English exams have affected students' evaluations of EFL teachers' teaching qualities, given their diverse academic backgrounds. Thus, the goal of this study was to bridge the knowledge gap by employing a mixed method of embedded research design and collecting data via questionnaire, Focused Group Discussion (FGD), and document analysis. The questionnaire was administered to a stratified random sample of 382, 12th grade students. The students with their one-semester academic achievements were selected from eight secondary schools (Arjo Gudetu, Biftu Gimbi, Biftu Nekemte, Darge, Gimbi, Guliso,  Sena Gimbi and Sire) found in East and West Wollega zones, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, multivariate and one-way ANOVA. The data gathered through document analysis and FGD were to substantiate the questionnaire. The contents of the five consecutive years of past Ethiopian Secondary School Leaving Certificate English Examination (ESSLCEE) questions were analyzed quantitatively. The qualitative method was used to conduct FGD with the selected student participants of different academic achievement levels from each school. The recorded data was subsequently transcribed, translated, analyzed, and discussed thematically. From the study, it is noteworthy that students with varying academic backgrounds exhibit washback variability. Although there are variations in mean scores between students with varying levels of academic achievement, these differences are not statistically significant when it comes to the students' perceptions of teachers’ teaching qualities. That is, the high-stakes ESSLCEE has a greater detrimental impact on the low-achieving groups than it does on the high-achieving ones.The findings imply that there are disparities in students' views about their EFL teachers teaching qualities because of the washback of the high-stakes English examination. The study's conclusions have led to the forwarding of recommendations, and the findings have implications for test takers, educators, testers, curriculum designers and policy makers in Ethiopia and elsewhere.