Speaker
ABSTRACT
While Japan’s college entrance examinations have been shown to influence English teaching practices, limited attention has been paid to the diversity of high school types and curricula and their interplay with these exams. Students who do not pursue higher education or bypass the English Center Test are notably underrepresented in existing research. Drawing on its qualitative data set and government statistics, this study addresses these gaps by exploring the intricate relationship between the Japanese high school system and its college entrance exam structure. Japanese high schools are highly stratified academically and socio-economically (Matsuoka, 2019), comprising schools ranked by academic performance, as well as school types including vocational schools and colleges of technology that do not necessarily aim for university. Although the overall high school enrollment rate is 98.8% (MEXT, 2022), not every student takes the English Center Test or aims for university. This diversity results in significant variations in English curricula, learning experiences, and the extent of washback effects from exams. By exposing these disparities, this study underscores the importance of incorporating structural factors into any discussion of English education policy. Neglecting these foundational elements risks marginalizing key student populations and undermining the broader goals of national-level English education reforms.
KEYWORDS
college entrance examinations,
washback effects,
English education policy
| TITLE | Rethinking washback: How stratified high schools shape English learning |
|---|---|
| RELEVANT SIG | Global Issues in Language Education |
| FORMAT | Research-oriented Oral Face-to-face presentation (25 minutes, including Q&A) |
