Washback Effect of Ethiopian University English Entrance Examination on Practicing and Motivation toward Genres of Writing Skill in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

Ethiopian University English Entrance Examination is a language testing that measures learners’ performance
of the language skills to select those who could qualify to the next level of education, i.e., university.
The contents appeared in the examination can affect the teaching and learning practice either
positively or negatively. This study, therefore, is to assess the washback effect of Ethiopian University
National English Language Entrance Examination toward genres of writing skill using descriptive survey
design. Four teachers and ten students were selected from grade 12 using availability and simple
random sampling technique respectively. The data that are collected through document analysis,
interview and classroom observation were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings of
the study revealed the examinations influenced the teaching learning of writing to be aligned with the
exam. The teachers taught genres of writing skills according to the contents of the exam instead of
teaching them in line with the objectives established in the syllabus. Learning the genres of writing
skills based on past entrance exam sheets motivated the students to attend the writing classes effectively.
They were motivated to attend the writing classes when the teachers lectured based on the types
of questions which appear in the national examination. This entails that students’ and teachers’ practice
and motivation towards genres of writing skill were negatively affected by the type of questions
that appeared in the tests.