Washback Effect of Technology-Based Tests on Secondary School Students' Learning Behaviour in ELT: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This study investigates a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that synthesizes how the available review studies demonstrate the influence of technology-based tests on the learning behaviors of secondary school students in English Language Teaching (ELT), particularly where high-stakes outcomes dictate educational pathways. Twenty review articles from credible open-access journals, such as Language Testing in Asia (Springer), Frontiers in Psychology, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature), TESL-EJ, Forum for Linguistic Studies, and ERIC-indexed sources, were found between 2020 and 2025 using the PRISMA 2020 protocol. All of the chosen studies are publicly available review papers, systematic reviews, critical reviews, bibliometric analyses, or narrative reviews. Four main themes were identified by qualitative thematic synthesis: (1) high-stakes, technology-based tests that dictate learning pathways and strategy adoption; (2) digital platforms and positive washback on goal-directed learning behavior; (3) negative washback from online and computer-based assessment anxiety, surface-level preparation, and disengagement; and (4) contextual and sociopolitical mediation of washback intensity. Viewing the findings, washback from technology-based test is both context-dependent and pathway-sensitive, and it is most potent and significant in situations where test results determine students' academic fates.