In addition to the external pressure and three internal factors mentioned above, two other more “macro” factors were also investigated. First, it was found that no matter whether the teacher perceived the pressure of the GEPT test from the MOE or not, they all had complex feelings about the MOE policies and the related projects
sponsored by the MOE. For example, Teacher A3, feeling pressured by the GEPT test, had both positive and negative attitudes towards the MOE’s overall sponsorship for School A:
Excerpt 34
In fact, students’ time is limited. So it turns out that our school got a grant from the MOE, and then every department got a small portion to run its own project.
We are a little bit like “fighting” for students to join each of our programs. I think students’ time has been divided into segments, so they’ve touched upon everything but are unable to go any deeper.
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However, we have done something good with the MOE’s sponsorship. For example, “English Corner” under the Teaching and Learning Excellence Program is very popular among students. And the evening tutoring classes for low-achieving students and GEPT preparation classes, sponsored by the MOE, benefit students as well.
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It’s just that I think we should put our grant into one or two complete long-term projects, instead of several segmental short-term plans. (Teacher A3) Teacher B4, who perceived no pressure of the GEPT test from the MOE, complained about School B’s MOE-sponsored Teaching and Learning Excellence Program in the following account:
Excerpt 35
Yes, the MOE has paid a lot of efforts to elevate students’ English proficiency.
But I found that sometimes these projects have taken up too much of students’
time. For example, some of my students in the drama contest (part of School B’s Teaching and Learning Excellence Program) did perform very well, but they got really bad grades on their required English courses. Because they had to spend a lot of time preparing for the contest, they didn’t have time to prepare for the regular English classes. I think this is kind of turning things upside down.
(Teacher B4)
It is generally perceived that the MOE-sponsored projects were not well incorporated into the regular curriculum at both schools, though some of the projects did benefit students. The same situation might apply to teachers’ reaction to the MOE-advocated graduation benchmark policy. There seemed to be room for the school to adapt any sponsorship or policy to its best use.Second, even though “globalization” is the ultimate goal for the MOE to encourage the use of the GEPT test or equivalent tests as the college English benchmark for graduation, no direct association between the two have been made by the administrators and teachers. When asked about their general impression on Taiwanese students’ English proficiency as compared to students in other Asian countries, most of the administrators and teachers perceived Taiwanese students’
superiority over Japanese students in general English proficiency. However, no general agreement was reached on comparing Taiwanese students with students in other Asian countries than Japan. When further asked about Taiwanese students’ low ranking on the performance of the TOEFL test as compared to students in other countries around the world, no one expressed particular concerns about it in the interview data. Administrator B3 attributed the low ranking possibly to the following reason:
Excerpt 36
Because Taiwanese students have better economic conditions, most of the time they took the TOEFL test just for the preparation for the next test, thus lowering the average score of the entire population (Taiwanese students). But I think I can not give you a more definite view about this issue, because I think a detailed analysis is needed for the answer. Even the test-takers’ background information is necessary for knowing why they achieved lower scores on the TOEFL.
(Administrator B3) Administrator B2 even questioned the GEPT test results as the test-taker’s actual ability of language performance in the following account:
Excerpt 37
When tested with the GEPT test, some of the local students in our school got a higher score than some international students. However, in terms of speaking ability, local students are still weaker than international students, because the latter usually come from English-speaking countries or an environment where English is often used. (Administrator B2) Administrator B2, though supporting the use of the GEPT test as the English exit
exam, still viewed the GEPT test results as one thing and the actual language performance as another. It is worth noticing that Administrator B2, who used to be the Head of the English Department at School B and knew exactly what the GEPT was testing, had such a view separating the GEPT test results from the actual language ability, not to mention other administrators, who had no TESOL background and might not even have had a clear idea of what the GEPT was testing. As a result, what is the point of connecting “globalization” with the college graduation benchmark policy? Perhaps the use of the GEPT test is more “local,” such as the quantification of students’ English proficiency for the evaluation purposes, than what the MOE originally expected. Or perhaps it is the English-speaking environment, like what Administrator B3 mentioned in excerpt 26, that is the key to the MOE’s
“globalization” rather than students’ certified English proficiency.
Summary
In summary, only the external pressure was found to have mediated the superficial washback effect of the GEPT test on teaching. Externally, no matter the pressure originated from the MOE or from the real world, most School A teachers perceived the pressure through the university hierarchy, while School B teachers did not. Such a difference might be attributed to School A teachers’ administrative experience with the university hierarchy and might explain why most School A teachers believed their textbooks were chosen for the preparation of the GEPT test, while no School B teachers felt the same way. Internally, teachers’ and