The reported activities and beliefs of the students preparing for the Specialised English Test (SPE)
The purpose of this study is to explore the 'washback effect' of a high stakes test known as the Specialised English Test (SPE) which is used to admit English-major applicants into English departments at universities in Iran. A belief commonly held about the SPE Test is that students admitted to university since its introduction in 2002 have been more proficient and successful than pre-2002 students. However, no research has been done on how the test might be affecting the learning of the students. I examined the reported learning activities of the students to see what they reported they did in order to prepare for the test and why. As the SPE test preparation is done partly independently (by out-of-school resources), I also considered the students' reported learning beliefs to examine how the test was interacting with those criteria. Thus, reported activities and learning beliefs were the main themes of this study. I collected the data from two contrasting groups- students who were going to take the SPE Test and students who were going to take the GE Test. I used three instruments to collect the data: questionnaire, letters, and interviews. 1038 students responded to the questionnaire, 91 students wrote the
Abbasabady, Mahmoud Moradi
The reported activities and beliefs of the students preparing for the Specialised English Test (SPE). The purpose of this study is to explore the 'washback effect' of a high stakes test known as the Specialised English Test (SPE) which is used to admit English-major applicants into English departments at universities in Iran. A belief commonly held about the SPE Test is that students admitted to university since its introduction in 2002 have been more proficient and successful than pre-2002 students. However, no research has been done on how the test might be affecting the learning of the students. I examined the reported learning activities of the students to see what they reported they did in order to prepare for the test and why. As the SPE test preparation is done partly independently (by out-of-school resources), I also considered the students' reported learning beliefs to examine how the test was interacting with those criteria. Thus, reported activities and learning beliefs were the main themes of this study. I collected the data from two contrasting groups- students who were going to take the SPE Test and students who were going to take the GE Test. I used three instruments to collect the data: questionnaire, letters, and interviews. 1038 students responded to the questionnaire, 91 students wrote the
report activity beliefs student prepare specialised english test purpose_study explore effect high stake test know specialised english test use admit english major english department university iran belief commonly_hold test student admit university since introduction successful pre student however test might affect learn student examine report learning activity student see report order prepare test why test preparation partly independently out school resource also_consider student report learn belief examine test criterion thus report activity learn belief main_theme study collect_data two_contrast groups student_take test student_take test use instrument collect_data questionnaire letter interview student respond questionnaire student_write