Washback effect of standardized high-stakes tests on academic achievement in english lesson

Washback, defined as the effect of exams on teaching and learning processes, has been analyzed under two main categories: positive and negative washback. Exams with significant outcomes can influence participants, educational policies, classroom practices, schools, educational systems, and society as a whole. This research aims to examine the washback effect of centralized exams on the academic achievement in English of primary and secondary school students. The research was designed according to the correlational survey design, which is among the general survey models of quantitative research methods. The sample of the research was selected from students who had taken the LGS (Transition from Primary to Secondary Education) exam at the 8th grade in 2020 and, as of 2024, were in 12th grade of different types of high schools. The study group of the research consisted 806 high school students, 416 females and 390 males, from the final classes of schools in Batman city center and its districts during the spring semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. The research aimed to identify differences in participants' achievement levels based on their June 2020 LGS exam scores in the English section and compared with scores obtained from the same participants four years later using the same test questions. Using parametric analysis methods (independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA), it was found that students' average scores in the English section of the June 2020 LGS were 48.01 out of 100, but dropped to 39.31 when retested four years later. Statistically significant differences favoring the initial LGS exam were observed in both comparisons based on school and overall student performance in LGS and LGS-Repeat test scores. Gender-based analysis showed a significant difference in LGS scores favoring females, whereas no statistically significant differences were found in LGS-Repeat and LGS-Difference scores by gender. However, students' LGS scores showed statistically significant differences according to the type of school they attended. Based on the research findings, it has been determined that the YKS (Higher Education Institutions Examination) exam system and its content exert a strong negative washback effect on students' academic achievement in English. Keywords: washback, standardized high-stakes tests, foreign language education