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Introduction
In1999Polandbeganreformoftheeducationsystem.Thestructureof
thesystemofschoolschanged,whichcreatedanewtypeofschoolfor
years7to9,foryoungpeoplebetweentheagesof13and16,thelower
secondaryschool,orgimnazjum.Alongsidethestructuralreformcame
anewnationalcorecurriculumandnewlegislationforschools.Forthefirst
timeanationalsystemofexaminationswasintroducedandanetworkof
dedicatedinstitutionscreated,ledbytheCentralExaminationBoard,which
wereresponsibleforthem.Thefirstcohortoflearnerswhocompletedthe
newlowersecondaryschoolsatthefirstnationalexaminationsin2002in
artssubjects,mathematicsandnaturalsciences.In2009papersinforeign
languageswereaddedtothesuite.Priortothiseventforeignlanguageshad
beentestedonlyintheschool-leavingexamination,forlearnersinyear12,
sothisnewexaminationpresentedanewchallengeforschoolsandlearners.
Theresearchdescribedinthestudywasinitiallyconceivedtoinvesti-
gatewhethertherewasanyevidenceofwashbackfromthenewexamina-
tionontheteachingandlearningprocessingimnazjum.Inordertobeable
tostatethatanychangehadtakenplaceitwasfirstnecessarytoconduct
abaselinestudytoobtainapictureofhowEnglishwasbeingtaughtin
mainstreamlowersecondaryschools.Thistookplacein2008,theschool
yearpriortothefirstadministrationofthenewexamination.Usingques-
tionnairesandclassroomobservationenabledanimpressionofthelearn-
ingofEnglishtobereported.Thenextphaseofthestudywasconducted
ayearlater,shortlyafterthefirstexamination,andlookedtoseeifthere
weresignsofwashback.Resultsofthefirstexaminationshowedthatthere
wereineffecttwodifferentpopulationsoflearners,thosewhoobtained
highresultsforwhomthetestwaseasy,andasecondgroup,similarinsize,
whohadbeenchallengedbythetestandscoredmuchlower.Contextual
factors,suchasshortageofteachers,teacherqualificationsanddiffering
lengthsofschoollanguagelearningexperiencewerethoughttocontribute
tothis.Inthefirstthreeyearstheexaminationwaseffectivelyalow-stakes
test,withnoconsequencesarisingfromthetestresults.Thiswastreated
asaninterimintroductoryperiod.Itwasnotuntil2012thattheexamre-
sultswouldcount,togetherwithpointsfromtheothersubjectpapers,to
selectionforuppersecondaryschools.However,asisoftenthewaywith
pedagogicalresearchinschools,furtherchangescameaboutwhichwere
toresultintheforeignlanguageexambeingrevised.Changesweremade
tothepointatwhichthefirstforeignlanguagewasintroduced,loweringit
tothestartofprimaryschool.Inaddition,thesecondforeignlanguagewas
alsotostartearlier,atthebeginningofYear7,thefirstclassofgimnazjum.
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