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Presenters
Dr Abdol Mehdi Riazi
Associate Professor in Applied linguistics,
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences
Macquarie University, NSW 2109, AUSTRALIA

Dr Naser Rashidi
Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics,
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences,
Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran,

Kiomars Razavipur
PhD student of TEFL,
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences,
Andimeshk Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran,

Title
"What is assessed becomes what is valued, which becomes what is taught" 

Abstract

This study examined the impacts of Iranian secondary school English final test on one of their immediate stakeholders, namely, teachers in terms of their methodology of teaching, and their approach to test construction. 20 high school English teachers were interviewed and their constructed achievement tests were collected and compared. An assessment literacy test was also given to teachers. Findings showed that teachers, regardless of their diverse assessment competencies, constructed tests that were a reflection of the fixed structure of final examinations following no particular theory or model of communicative or linguistic competence in test construction. The majority of teachers pointed to the absence of oral skills in their syllabuses since they are not supposed to be tested. Almost all agreed that if oral skills were to be tested they would tailor their teaching content and methodology to the test requirements. Moreover, there was a mismatch between the way vocabulary taught and the way it was tested in the exam which showed the absence of test washback in this regard.  Furthermore, all participants pointed out that they teach in a different way in private language institutes placing more emphasis on oral skills and less on grammar. It is implied that if the tail should continue to wag the dog, measures should be taken to direct the tail in a desired way.