The Impact of the University Entrance Exam on EFL Education in Turkey: Pre-service English Language Teachersâ¿¿ Perspectiveâ¿¿

The values and world views of different nations are reflected in their educational systems (Barnwell 1996). The methodologies they use to train language teachers and to assess language proficiency not only mirror and reinforce general attitudes about language and language learning but also create closed systems that are usually highly resistant to change and innovation (Locastro, 1990). Language teachersâ¿¿ experiences as testees shape their beliefs about assessment, inform their teaching and play a central role in how they plan and implement classroom assessment practices (Bliem & Davinroy, 1997; Craig et al., 2013). Therefore, the current study, first, presents the sociocultural and historical context of how English is taught and tested in Turkey and then, it presents the beliefs and views of pre-service teachers related to assessment of English in Turkey. The views and beliefs of pre-service teachers have been gathered using questionnaires and interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of all sets of the data have been performed so that a more detailed, more representative picture is created. The results of the study not only present how language assessment policies shape and reshape teaching beliefs and practices in the country but also reveal how pre-service teachersâ¿¿ views about assessment could be situation-specific, hence difficult to understand once placed out of context.