A narrative inquiry into washback of highstakes and low-stakes testing on second language English writing in Hong Kong higher education

Abstract

Washback, the impact of testing on teaching and learning, is a prominent notion in language testing and assessment. Many renowned testing and assessment researchers have demonstrated positive and/or negative washback effects. Although several studies have been conducted on the relationship between tests and teachers’ and/or learners’ attitudes and behaviour, very few have used narrative inquiry to study teachers’ practical personal experiences. This research explored the washback effect on second-language (L2) English writing teaching and learning through a narrative inquiry into the experiences of an L2 English teacher at a self-financed higher education institution in Hong Kong. The participant taught English courses with both high-stakes and low-stakes tests. The study reports on the different teaching approaches used by the participant to deal with high-stakes and low-stakes tests, making meanings of these choices through the teacher’s first-hand accounts. Using narrative inquiry, the researcher’s voice was foregrounded while attending to the participant’s stories and at times it was interwoven through the participant’s experiences to make new discoveries. The data were analysed to illuminate the teacher’s stories with reference to the washback of high-stakes and low-stakes testing on L2 English writing at the tertiary level in Hong Kong.