{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125908"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125908","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"An investigation of washback at english private schools in Goiania-Go, Brazil","abstract":"As an English teacher in Goiania-Brazil, I have witnessed a considerable mismatch between English Teaching and English Testing at English private schools. It is noticeable that English classes tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching but tests still follow a traditional approach that focuses on discrete-point grammar-based items. For these reasons, the purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of written English tests on teaching in Goiania, a phenomenon recognized as Washback. Class observations, interviews, a survey and an analysis of the exams were used as instruments of data collection. The results revealed that the exams contributed to a little negative washback on teaching and they did not seem to have contributed to positive washback at all. The study also showed three other interesting findings: (a) a considerable high percentage of teachers who lack preparation for test design (b) grammar has a significant role in these EFL classes; (c) tests are not the only factor that influences teaching; teachers· beliefs seem to be more influential than testing. The study suggests that the mismatch between teaching and testing seems to be a result of lack of test design preparation. It implies that collaborative work on testing among all professionals involved in teaching should be taken into consideration as one way to work out the problem. Simply changing the tests might not I make much difference unless teachers believe and participate into the process of change.","abstract_html":"As an English teacher in Goiania-Brazil, I have witnessed a considerable mismatch between English Teaching and English Testing at English private schools. It is noticeable that English classes tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching but tests still follow a traditional approach that focuses on discrete-point grammar-based items. For these reasons, the purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of written English tests on teaching in Goiania, a phenomenon recognized as Washback. Class observations, interviews, a survey and an analysis of the exams were used as instruments of data collection. The results revealed that the exams contributed to a little negative washback on teaching and they did not seem to have contributed to positive washback at all. The study also showed three other interesting findings: (a) a considerable high percentage of teachers who lack preparation for test design (b) grammar has a significant role in these EFL classes; (c) tests are not the only factor that influences teaching; teachers· beliefs seem to be more influential than testing. The study suggests that the mismatch between teaching and testing seems to be a result of lack of test design preparation. It implies that collaborative work on testing among all professionals involved in teaching should be taken into consideration as one way to work out the problem. Simply changing the tests might not I make much difference unless teachers believe and participate into the process of change.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mello, Katia Silene Ferreira De"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Division of English as a Second Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Davidson, Fred"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003","date_published":"2003","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Testing Communicative Language Teaching","Test Design"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright by Katia Silene Ferreira De Mello, 2003"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125908","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Davidson, Fred"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mello, Katia Silene Ferreira De"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2003"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Division of English as a Second Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Testing Communicative Language Teaching","Test Design"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by Katia Silene Ferreira De Mello, 2003"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125908"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["As an English teacher in Goiania-Brazil, I have witnessed a considerable mismatch between English Teaching and English Testing at English private schools. It is noticeable that English classes tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching but tests still follow a traditional approach that focuses on discrete-point grammar-based items. For these reasons, the purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of written English tests on teaching in Goiania, a phenomenon recognized as Washback. Class observations, interviews, a survey and an analysis of the exams were used as instruments of data collection. The results revealed that the exams contributed to a little negative washback on teaching and they did not seem to have contributed to positive washback at all. The study also showed three other interesting findings: (a) a considerable high percentage of teachers who lack preparation for test design (b) grammar has a significant role in these EFL classes; (c) tests are not the only factor that influences teaching; teachers· beliefs seem to be more influential than testing. The study suggests that the mismatch between teaching and testing seems to be a result of lack of test design preparation. It implies that collaborative work on testing among all professionals involved in teaching should be taken into consideration as one way to work out the problem. Simply changing the tests might not I make much difference unless teachers believe and participate into the process of change."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An investigation of washback at english private schools in Goiania-Go, Brazil"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Davidson, Fred"],"dc:creator":["Mello, Katia Silene Ferreira De"],"dc:date":["2003"],"dc:description":["As an English teacher in Goiania-Brazil, I have witnessed a considerable mismatch between English Teaching and English Testing at English private schools. It is noticeable that English classes tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching but tests still follow a traditional approach that focuses on discrete-point grammar-based items. For these reasons, the purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of written English tests on teaching in Goiania, a phenomenon recognized as Washback. Class observations, interviews, a survey and an analysis of the exams were used as instruments of data collection. The results revealed that the exams contributed to a little negative washback on teaching and they did not seem to have contributed to positive washback at all. The study also showed three other interesting findings: (a) a considerable high percentage of teachers who lack preparation for test design (b) grammar has a significant role in these EFL classes; (c) tests are not the only factor that influences teaching; teachers· beliefs seem to be more influential than testing. The study suggests that the mismatch between teaching and testing seems to be a result of lack of test design preparation. It implies that collaborative work on testing among all professionals involved in teaching should be taken into consideration as one way to work out the problem. Simply changing the tests might not I make much difference unless teachers believe and participate into the process of change."],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125908"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by Katia Silene Ferreira De Mello, 2003"],"dc:subject":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Testing Communicative Language Teaching","Test Design"],"dc:title":["An investigation of washback at english private schools in Goiania-Go, Brazil"],"dc:type":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Division of English as a Second Language"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z"}