The Washback Effect of University Entrance Exam on EFL Teachers’ Methodology and Test Development

This study aims at discovering whether university entrance exam (UEE), a high-stake selection test in Iran, influences the high school and pre-university EFL teachers` methodology and test development. The participants of this study included thirty high school and pre-university EFL teachers who were randomly selected from ten different schools. To answer the research questions, five types of materials were employed in this study. The results of this study indicated that the UEE made an impact on the EFL teachers` methodology and test development; however, it needs to be pointed out that the observed impact did not surface uniformly among the targeted grades. To be exact, the results of this study showed that UEE does not influence the high school teachers` methodology and test development as much as it influences the pre-university teachers` teaching methodology and test development. Further, the study showed that UEE has negative washback effect on the content of the English course in high schools and pre-university centers in Iran.