The Negative Impact of Exam-Driven Input on English Grammar Acquisition Among Chinese Senior High School Students

As a dominant phenomenon in Chinese senior high school English teaching, exam-driven input revolves around meeting standardized test requirements. It structures teaching around high-frequency test points and error-prone areas, rooted in the stimulus-response reinforcement of behaviorism. While it may temporarily boost exam scores, it causes a severe disconnect between test-oriented grammar performance and real-world application. For example, students with 140+ in Gaokao English struggle to write error-free emails, and 62% fail to use the subjunctive mood correctly in writing despite specialized training.This study uses a mixed-methods approach: quantitative analysis of 120 Gaokao mock exam writing samples (from high-intensity exam-training urban School C and low-intensity rural School M) and qualitative interviews with 16 teachers and students. Quantitative results show urban-rural differences: School C has lower grammar error density (mostly below 10% in practical writing) but narrower error types and repeated errors; School M has higher error density (often over 10%) with scattered errors. Qualitative interviews confirm exam-driven input limits students to fragmented knowledge, hindering grammar rule internalization.Theoretically, three frameworks explain the negative effects: compared to Krashen’s "comprehensible input" (i + 1, emphasizing meaning/context), exam-driven input is mechanical and decontextualized; Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory shows exam training overloads working memory with external load (e.g., memorizing test skills), reducing deep semantic processing; de Bot’s Dynamic Systems Theory reveals exam input disrupts synergy between grammar, vocabulary, and pragmatics, causing non-linear grammar stagnation.In conclusion, exam-driven input distorts grammar acquisition, leading to fragmented knowledge and a score-competence gap. Short-term reforms include task-based teaching for contextualized input; long-term reforms involve optimizing assessment (e.g., increasing contextualized discourse tasks in Gaokao) and balancing educational resources to shift from "learning for exams" to "learning for application."