The Washback Effect of the CSAT-English on Students' Learning

Abstract

본 연구는 학생의 학년에 따라 달라지는 수능 영어, EBS수능 연계 정책 및 수능 영어 절대평가 정책의 환류효과에 대해 살펴보고자 하였으며, 이를 위해 고등학교 1, 2, 3학년 학생과 고등학교 영어 교사 각각에 대한 설문조사를 실시하였다. 설문 조사의 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 우선, 학생의 학년에 따른 환류효과의 차이와 관련하여, 학생들의 학습 태도, 학습 자료 및 시험 대비 전략 모두에서 통계적으로 유의미한 환류효과의 차이가 나타났으며, 이를 통해 학년에 따른 환류효과의 정도 차이가 존재한다는 것을 알 수 있다. 그러나 학년에 따른 평균의 변화 양상을 살펴보면, 시험 대비 전략만이 유일하게 학년의 상승에 따라 환류효과의 강도가 세지는 것으로 나타나고, 나머지 두 항목은 학년의 상승에 따라 부분적으로 혹은 전체적으로 환류효과의 강도가 약해지는 것으로 나타났다. 다음으로, 고등학교 영어 교사를 대상으로 진행한 설문 조사를 통해 학생의 학년에 따라 달라지는 교사의 교습의 차이를 중점적으로 살펴보고자 하였다. 그 결과, 많은 교사들이 수업 태도는 모든 학년에 걸쳐 동일하지만, 사용하는 교재와 이를 가르치는 방식은 학생의 학년에 따라 달라진다고 답변하였다. 특히, 수업 교재와 관련해서, 대부분의 교사들이 1, 2학년 수업에서는 정규 교과서를 주로 사용하는 데 반해, 수능 시험이 임박한 3학년 학생 수업에서는 EBS 연계 교재를 주로 다룬다고 하였다. 또, 수업 방식과 관련해서, 저학년 수업에서는 학생들의 의사소통능력을 향상시키기 위한 활동이 다수 진행되는 한편, 3학년 수업은 수능 중심으로 이루어지거나 학생들이 주로 준비하고 있는 대학 입시 제도에 부합하는 활동들이 주로 진행되었다. 이상에서 살펴본 연구 결과를 바탕으로 본 연구의 시사점은 다음과 같다. 우선, 학습 측면별로 서로 다른 변화 양상을 보인 것을 토대로, 앞으로의 환류효과에 대한 연구는 학생들의 다양한 학습 측면을 종합적으로 고려하여 진행되어야 한다. 특히, 특정 학습 측면에서 나타난 특성을 학생들의 학습 전체에 일반화하는 것을 경계해야 한다. 다음으로, 학년에 따른 교사의 교습에 차이가 나타나고 이로 인해 학생들의 학습 교재 및 학습 방식에서 학년에 따른 차이가 발생한 점을 바탕으로, 학생에 대한 환류효과를 분석하는 연구에서 학생 외 이들의 학습에 영향을 주는 이해관계자 혹은 주변인에 대한 분석 또한 이루어져야 한다. 학생들의 학습이 이들 스스로의 의지만으로 결정되기보다는 일정 부분 주변 이해관계자에 의해 영향을 받기 때문이다.

Washback is gaining more and more attention not only from language assessment researchers but also from policy makers and educators. The term washback refers to the influence of language testing on teaching and learning, and the research into washback investigates the relationship between testing, teaching, and learning (Alderson & Wall, 1993). Washback can be conceptualized as an important component of consequential validity (or a consequential aspect of construct validity) that has been recently embraced as an important test validation (or evaluation) criterion in the measurement community (Messick, 1989). The current study attempts to examine the washback effect of the English section of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT-English) on students learning of English in the South Korean educational context. More specifically, the present study focuses on the impact of two different types of factors that can create or moderate the washback effect of the CSAT-English on learning and teaching: (1) some characteristics of the CSAT (i.e. the required linkage between the CSAT and Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) test prep materials, the newly-introduced criterion-referenced nature of assessment) and (2) the chronological distance between the present time point and the test-takers CSAT test date represented by the students school year (or grade). The second type of factor (i.e. time-related) in particular is included here in this study in order to investigate the potential relationship, if there is any, between the students school grade and the washback intensity of the CSAT-English. It is worthwhile to mention here that the first type of factors can be seen not only as external testing policies (i.e. the EBS-CSAT linkage policy and criterion-referenced assessment) but also as important parts of test characteristics at the same time. From the causal analysis perspective, the EBS-CSAT linkage and criterion- referenced assessment can be viewed as independent variables in this study, while the students school grade can be considered to be a moderating variable. On the other hand, the dependent variables represent three different learning practices that can potentially be impacted by the CSAT-English: (1) learning attitudes, (2) learning contents, and (3) learning strategies. Student survey questions were created to address issues related with these independent, moderating, and dependent variables. For this study, surveys were conducted on high school students in different grades, and an unstructured group interview was conducted with teachers who are currently teaching English in high school. First, the result of the student survey showed that all three main categories in the students questionnaire represented a significant difference in the washback intensity between the grades. However, the learning strategies were the only section in which the degree of the washback became stronger as the students grade went up. In the case of the learning attitudes and contents, on the other hand, a partially or entirely inverse relationship between the students school year and the intensity of the washback was revealed. Second, the result of the teacher survey indicated that the differences in the degree of the washback between the different grade groups can be regarded as the consequences of the teachers behavior that varies across the students school year. The students learning contents and learning strategies, in particular, were highly affected by the teaching materials used and the way teachers teach students. Two important implications can be derived from the findings of the current study. First, it is important to investigate the stakeholders or factors that are related to the learners when conducting the washback study on the learners. A supplementary research conducted on the teachers found that students learning practices are highly affected by teaching contents and methods. Likewise, the washback on the learners and their learning is not explained just by the characteristics of the learners themselves but is also highly related to other stakeholders who are in close contact with them, such as teachers. Another implication of the results of the study is the need for comprehensive study on various learning practices. The current study found a partially or entirely inverse relationship between the students grade and the intensity of the washback in some of the learning practices, such as the learning attitudes and learning contents. The result of the study indicates that the nature of the washback on the learners could be inaccurately defined if ones research focuses on a single aspect of learning. Hence, the washback studies on the learners ought to consider various kinds of learning practices for the precise understanding of the relationship between the learners and the influence of a test on their learning.