Washback effect of Turkish foreign language proficiency exam YDS: A scale development study

Abstract

Investigating the possible washback effects of Foreign Language Proficiency Exam called YDS which has been administered in Turkey since 2013, could provide valuable data on how testees feel about taking this exam. Test takers in Turkey mainly take this test to document their foreign language levels, however there are many concerns related to the content and the washback effects of this test on testees. In this study, it was aimed to design a scale and collect data regarding the possible washback effects of YDS. In the initial phase, with the help of volunteer participants, a 19-item-scale was developed having taken the feedback of 6 experts who were professionals in ELT, scale development and language assessment. Secondly, the scale was piloted in order to carry out exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Thirdly, the newly developed scale’s psychometric qualities (validity and reliability) were measured. After it was confirmed that the scale which had 4 factors and 13 items was a valid and reliable tool, the data including the views of Turkish academicians were gathered focusing on the washback effects of the YDS via this scale in the final phase. The overall data of this study were obtained from 84 state universities with the contribution of 2683 academicians from different disciplines. The findings revealed that YDS has negative backwash effects on Turkish academicians regarding certain sub-categories including test strategy, motivation, perception and psychological effects.