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Washback Effects of the Cambridge Preliminary English Test At WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PRELIMINARY ENGLISH TEST AT AN ARGENTINEAN BILINGUAL SCHOOL by DAVID G. LATIMER (Under the Direction of Linda A. Harklau) ABSTRACT Internationally, commercial standardized English tests have greater influence than ever before on EFL programs as measures of student learning, school accountability, and proficiency. One of the most prominent is the University of Cambridge ESOL exams series. Businesses, universities and schools around the world evaluate students´ language competences based on this exam. Numerous studies have considered exam impact, or washback, upon curricula and teachers’ general approaches to managing exams. More extensive and detailed study is required to understand the impact such exams have on daily classroom practices and interactions between teachers and students. This study documents the overall English language program at one Argentinean bilingual school and examines, in particular, the effects the Cambridge ESOL exams upon its curricula, its teachers and upon language learning. This ethnographic research represents broad-based observations, conducted over three years, and a focused five-month investigation of the Cambridge Exams’ impact on teaching and learning at this bilingual school. The analysis reveals both positive and negative washback effects. Preparation for Cambridge Exams serves to hone students’ grammatical awareness and their abilities to negotiate test specific tasks such as “reading for specific information” or “writing an extended answer, showing control and range of language.” The exams also provide a structure that organizes the curriculum and motivates both teachers and students. However, Preliminary English Test preparatory texts used at the school work to restrict classroom interaction and limit extended output from students. The exam stifles conversation, debate, oral and written argument, and analytical skills. According to second language acquisition research, these activities produce both stronger language learners and better equipped citizens. A highly effective and broad based K-6 bilingual curriculum produces 6th and 7th grade students with remarkable communicative abilities, comfort in the L2 and eagerness to use the language for academic and social purposes. Beginning in grade 7, when Cambridge test preparation becomes the program goal and curriculum, through grade 12, most students fail to progress in the sorts of communicative and analytical language abilities they will need in future higher education and professional settings. In short, the Exam works against the language development the institution aspires to foster. INDEX WORDS: English as a foreign language, testing washback, bilingualism, communicative competence, language classroom interaction WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PRELIMINARY ENGLISH TEST AT AN ARGENTINEAN BILINGUAL SCHOOL by DAVID G. LATIMER BA, Georgia Southern College, 1990 MA, Florida State University, 1995 MA, Georgia Southern University, 1999 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GA 2009 ©2009 David G. Latimer All Rights Reserved WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PRELIMINARY ENGLISH TEST AT AN ARGENTINEAN BILINGUAL SCHOOL by DAVID G. LATIMER Major Professor: Linda A. Harklau Committee: Don Rubin Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2009 DEDICATION To My Family and Friends I thank my parents, Thomas and Carolyn, for being educators at school and at home. I appreciate their love, support, prayers, patience and belief throughout this doctoral program. I am so glad they took me to live in Central America when I was five; that experience began this journey and made my profession possible. To Wesley, Ben, Don, Russell, Spencer and Tesoro and Chris and Regina, thanks for all you have taught me, for the laughs and for friendship. I am eternally grateful to my sister, Lynn, for her assistance, unwavering support, love and caring during the dissertation, the doctoral program and always. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Quite a few wonderful people helped to inspire and to develop this research project. I wish to express my appreciation to them. I thank Dr. Linda Harklau and Dr. Don Rubin for their guidance in pursuing a project on language testing. I thank Dr. Melisa Cahnmann for introducing me formally to the study of bilingualism and bilingual education. I appreciate Dr. Carmen Tesser’s support of my language teaching and language learning, the foundations of my graduate program and this research project. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Linda, my committee chair, not only for her eternal patience and support and for tireless readings and revisions of my work but also for being an exceptional educator and advisor. I am also grateful to the many wonderful teachers and students in Buenos Aires whose participation made this project possible. These dedicated language teachers and learners inspired this research and my own views of teaching. I hope that the professional and personal ties we have forged will continue to benefit both parties through the years. I thank Estela Maggi and my Argentinean family for their support and warmth during this project. I want to thank Dr. Teresa Perez-Gamboa for her role in my academic preparation and for her contributions to this project. I also wish to thank her for offering me teaching opportunities the last two years, opportunities that have made completion of this dissertation possible. Additionally, I want to thank Dalcy Moreno for her transcription work and her insights in support of this project. Her assistance saved me countless hours in the research process. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………………………..v LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………1 Background…………………………………………………………...………...…2 Research Questions…………...…………………………………………………...4 Research Implications……………………………………………………………..5 2 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………….6 Elite Bilingualism…………………………………………………………………6 Language Testing Washback………………………………………………….…26 Chapter Summary…………………………………………………………….….60 3 METHODS…………………………………………………………………………….63 Research Questions………………………………………………………………63 Research Methodology: Grounded Theory………………………………………63 Setting and Participants…………………………………………………………..69 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………..76 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………….79 An Outline of Findings Chapters………………………………………...………80 vi 4 SETTING THE SCENE: THE SCHOOL AND THE TEST………………….........…81 The Colegio Prestigioso…………………………...…………………...………..81 The Test Context: The PET and CEFR……………………………………….…98 Chapter Summary………………………………………..…………………..…114 5 A CULTURE OF CORRECTION AND GRAMMAR………………………………115 PET Impact on Curriculum and Global Goals………………………………….116 A Culture of Correction…………………………………………………...……117 Grammar Instruction…………………………………………………….……...128 The Role of Mock PET Exams……………………………………...………….134 Summary and Conclusions………………………………………………..……137 6 CAMBRIDGE PET ESOL EXAM EFFECTS UPON TEACHER-STUDENT ORAL INTERACTIONS IN AN EFL CLASSROOM………………………………………140 Communicative Language Teaching, Output, and Interaction…………...…….140 Classroom Interaction in Washback Research………………………………….146 Oral Communication in Primary Grades at the Colegio Prestigioso……….…..151 Speaking Abilities of 7th-Form Students: Student-talk During Oral Interviews……………………………………………………………………….152 Maximum Opportunities for Interaction and Student Output in 7th-Form Classrooms……………………………………………………….……………..155 Typical Opportunities for Interaction and Student Output in 7th-Form Language Classes………………………………………………………………162 Quiet Students: Teacher-dominant scenarios………………….………………..167 Conclusion……………….……………………………………………………..174 vii 7 DISCUSSION………………………………………………………………………...176 Summary of Findings………………………………….……………………….177 Research Implications for Language Testing………….…………………….....185 Implications for South American Bilingual Education Literature…………...…189 Implications for EFL and Testing in Schools…………………………………..189 Directions for Future Research…………………………………………………193 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………....……195 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….………203 Appendix A: An Overview of the PET Masterclass Text………………..….…203 Appendix B: Teacher Initial Interview Protocol……………………..….…..…209 Appendix C: Sample of Follow-up Interview Protocol…………….……..……213 Appendix D: El Colegio Pilot Study 2005 Data Inventory………………..……217 Appendix E: Dissertation Data Inventory…………………….……………..…219 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The Trichotomy Washback Model………………………………………………….….55 Table 2: Association of Language Testers in Europe “Can-Do” Statements………….…….....109 Table 3: PET Content – An Overview………………………………………………………....111 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Outside the U.S., particularly in urban centers, bilingual immersion schools are a common approach used to address a society’s foreign language education needs (Swain and Johnson, 1997; Kinberg, 2001). Such schools typically feature half-day instruction in students’ native languages and half-day in the foreign language; often the target language is English (EFL). (Kinberg; Baker, 2001; (Cummins, 1998; Johnson and Swain, 1997). Many of these bilingual immersion schools as well as the academic programs, such as universities, or career institutions such as private companies or government agencies to which students wish to gain entry,
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