Writing in the ENEM exam and writing at the third grade of high school: washback on teaching practices

Author(s)

Monica Panigassi Vicentini

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
• Defense date: 2015-03-06

Examining board members

Matilde Virginia Ricardi Scaramucci; Ana Cecília Cossi Bizon; Miriam Sester Retorta

• Advisor: Matilde Virginia Ricardi Scaramucci

Abstract

The Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio ¿ a Brazilian high school examination known as ENEM ¿, which was officially a nationwide achievement test, became an entrance examination in 2009. Along with that, it has also become a high-stakes test for those who seek admission to the Brazilian public universities. This new status provides great potential for ENEM to cause washback on the process of teaching and learning. This impact is of great concern to testing and assessment researchers since the study of washback can lead to debates about teaching and learning and to refinements of the examinations. Although some washback studies have been conducted in the Brazilian context, there is a lack of studies regarding the washback of ENEM¿s writing test on teaching and learning. Therefore, this research has sought to fill this gap by investigating the washback of the writing test on the teaching practices of two third-grade high school teachers, one from a public school and the other from a private school. We chose the third year of high school because it is known that, in Brazil, this stage is directly influenced by entrance examinations. We have run a qualitative study based on ethnographic instruments such as classroom observations, field notes and interviews with the teachers and with some of their students. Our findings reveal the existence of washback on the private-school teacher¿s perceptions, attitudes and practices; in the public school, however, washback is present only on the teacher¿s perceptions and attitude, that is, in her discourse, but not in her practice. Different factors mediate the process of washback being generated (WATANABE, 2004). While in the private school, test-related factors, such as its nature, format and skills being tested facilitate the existence of washback, the same does not happen in the public school. Personal factors such as teachers¿ beliefs and the extent to which teachers know the test also determine the occurrence or absence of washback in both contexts. The dimension of value, which means, the evaluation of washback as positive or negative, a complex matter in the studies of washback, is also addressed in this research. The study confirms that the value depends on the people who the evaluation is for (ALDERSON 1992). The private school teacher and her students, for instance, agree on the beneficial effect of teaching to ENEM, whereas this study sees the same approach as strategy coaching and, therefore, harmful. Our results also confirm the hypothesis that the same test can cause different effects, of higher or lower intensities, in some teachers and students, but not in others. In addition to contributing to the area of study and to putting ENEM into discussion, this dissertation points out to the necessity of more washback research about the writing test in ENEM (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/00105-0 - Writing in the ENEM exam and writing at the third grade of high school: washback on teaching practices
• Grantee: Monica Panigassi Vicentini
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master