Teacher agency and washback: insights from classrooms in rural Bangladesh

Abstract Although washback has been widely explored by applied linguists and education researchers, little attention paid to teacher agency in relation it. It is critical understand how language teachers navigate their pedagogy respond the broader curricular goals at a time when schools are being governed using examination test data as accountability mechanisms. Drawing on from classroom observations interviews with two English rural Bangladeshi school, this article illustrates these exercised even under strong political pressure improve students’ data. The findings indicate that traditional understanding of deterministic may be insufficient account for complex ways which educational context washback. study concludes theoretical, empirical, pedagogic implications research education.