Abstract
The Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA) is adding an Oral component to the Use of English (UE) exam from 1994. It is hoped that this change will have a positive backwash effect on the teaching and learning of English in the Sixth Form , by encouraging even the most exam- oriented teachers and students to give due emphasis to practice of the speaking skill. In this paper we describe the background to the development of the new Oral, we discuss the general notion of backwash and we speculate on how the backwash from the new Oral might affect the future direction of Sixth Form English Language Teaching. As input to our speculations, we draw upon information from a questionnaire completed by more than 500 Sixth Form students from the final "pre-Oral" cohort, in which they reveal some of their perceptions about English and their English lessons.
| Keywords: | use of English oral examination; backwash effect; English instruction |
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