The Washback of the General English Proficiency Test on University Policies: A Taiwan Case Study

Abstract

Within the context of Taiwan, where growing numbers of universities seek teaching excellence and better English learning outcomes, passing a designated English test has been imposed on thousands of university students as one of their degree requirements. This educational policy has become feasible only after the debut of the indigenous General English Proficiency Test (GEPT). Very few studies, however, have examined the impact of the GEPT on universities'; policies. This research elicited empirical data from two applied foreign language departments of technological universities. One department did not lay down any English test as a degree requirement, whereas the other required its daytime students to pass the listening and reading tests of the GEPT';s intermediate level. In each department, the department chair and two or three teachers were interviewed; in addition, departmental documents and records were reviewed. Results showed that teachers had to consider social and educational factors, school factors, and parental and student factors before they decided if they would implement their English requirement. Finally, a model is provided to portray the complexity of the GEPT';s washback on departmental and school policies.

Notes

¹Washback, also known as backwash, is an educational phenomenon that is broadly defined as “a part of the impact a test may have on learners and teachers, on educational systems in general, and on society at large” (Hughes, 2003, p. 53).

²According to the LTTC (n.d.-b), the registration fees for the first stage of the elementary, intermediate, high-intermediate, and advanced levels are 460, 650, 800, and 1,650 New Taiwan dollars (NTDs) respectively. Those for the second stage of the test levels in the same sequence are 620, 1,100, 1,200, and 2,300 NTDs. One U.S. dollar is worth about 33 NTDs. That is, if the benchmark for graduation is the first stage of the intermediate level, students might have to pay only 650 NTDs to pass the benchmark, which is much more affordable than other English tests (e.g., the TOEFL).

³The research report is a section of my doctoral dissertation, which also investigated the washback of the GEPT on teaching and learning. Other portions have been published in Canadian Modern Language Review, English Teaching and Learning, and English Teaching: Practice and Critique.

⁴Department A did not have a deputy head of the department.

⁵The GEPT did not alter both departments' curricula except for a GEPT preparation course, which was offered to Department B students after they were required to pass the test.