English National Examination and Its Backwash

English National Examination in junior high school in Indonesia takes the form of multiple choice tests and it only covers reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing in indirect form. Brown’s (2004, p.37) statement that the design of effective test should point the way to beneficial backwash is very impressive. Until now, my colleague teachers in Indonesia tend to teach their students only the content area to be tested in the national examination. They do this because they will feel appreciated by students’ parents and also the headmaster if their students get good results in their national examination. The result of the national examination is very important. If the students fail to achieve the passing grade (Now 5.5), then, they can not promote to the next level / the higher class.

The problem is the design of the national examination. The area covered in the national examination is limited to reading and writing skills and language components: vocabulary and grammar. So, the teachers will spend most of their time drilling only these areas neglecting to develop the students’ listening and speaking skills. Consequently, it becomes stereotyped that Indonesian students who study abroad will keep quiet in the class but their paper and pencil test result is relatively satisfactory. Here we know that the design of the national test will influence the way the teachers teach their students. I guess if the design of the national test is improved, adopting IELT model for example, the way the teachers teach their students will differ, there will be balance in attention of the teachers to develop the four language skills. The beneficial backwash of the language testing will exist.

However, if the English national examination design is not improved, it is the task of the teachers’ forum to find the way to minimize the negative or harmful backwash of national English test. So, we, teachers, still give the best to the students.

Reading List:

Brown, H.D (2004). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. New York: Pearson Education