VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THANH HÒA AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE CURRENT FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT QUANG NINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE ĐÁNH GIÁ BÀI KIỂM TRA CUỐI KỲ CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM QUẢNG NINH M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 140 111 HANOI – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THANH HÒA AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE CURRENT FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT QUANG NINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE ĐÁNH GIÁ BÀI KIỂM TRA CUỐI KỲ CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM QUẢNG NINH M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 140 111 Supervisor: Đỗ Thị Thanh Hà, Ph.D HANOI – 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT -----------***----------- I, Vu Thanh Hoa, hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE CURRENT FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS FOR NON – ENGLISH MAJORS AT QUANG NINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE is completely the result of my own work for the Degree of Master at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me the possibility and motivation to complete this thesis.
First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Do Thi Thanh Ha, for her wholehearted guidance, invaluable suggestions, thoughtful comments and useful materials during the time of writing this thesis. Second, I would also like to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to the staff members of the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies and the lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University-Hanoi for their valuable lectures, which laid the foundation for this thesis and for their knowledge as well as their sympathy. Third, a special thank would also go to the teachers and the non-English majors at Quang Ninh Teacher Training College, who took part in the research.
Without their participation and cooperation I would not be able to complete this research paper. Fourth, I should be grateful to the librarians at ULIS for their constant help thanks to which I was able to access to all materials needed to accomplish the thesis. Finally but importantly, I would like to express my appreciation to my family and my friends who have been continuously giving me a lot of support and encouragement for the fulfillment of this challenging work. Hanoi, 2016 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The study was intended to give an evaluation on the current final achievement tests for non English majors at QNTTC from perspectives of the teachers and non- English majors at QNTTC.
In addition, this study also investigated how the current final achievement tests for non-English majors at QNTTC aligned to the CEFR. The study was carried out by means of two sets of survey questionnaires, and analysis of the current final achievement tests at QNTTC and the CEFR, using some softwares. From perspectives of the students, some test items of these tests such as phonetics, vocabulary and grammatical structures were too difficult for them to do. The teachers found that the current final achievement tests at QNTTC were not very reasonable because they lacked two skills: speaking and listening and the writing section did not test some useful skills such as writing letters, writing cards, creating stories.
The analysis of the alignment between the current final achievement tests at QNTTC and the CEFR showed that most of the vocabulary and test items in these tests were in the ranges from levels A2 to B1 and some of them were at level A2 and did not reach the target level, B1. Moreover, the current final achievement tests at QNTTC differed from other international tests (PET) in terms of length and constructs. The study will hopefully contribute to the test making at QNTTC by showing an example of evaluation on the current final achievement tests for non-English majors at QNTTC and the alignment between these tests and the CEFR. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.
iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vii LIST OF TABLES .1 Rationale of the study.2 Aims of the study .4 Scope of the study .5 Significance of the study .7 Outline of the thesis. Basic concepts of testing/ Language testing .2 The role of testing in teaching and learning .3 Types of tests according to test purpose .4 Criteria of a good test .1 What is the CEFR? .2 Levels of the CEFR .6 Target level for the non-English majors .7 Review of related studies .8 Summary of Chapter 2. 20 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Setting of the study.1 English teaching and learning of non-English majors at QNTTC .2 Brief description of the materials used for non-English majors at QNTTC .3 The testing practice at QNTTC .3 Data collection instruments .4 The alignment framework.5 Data collection and data analysis procedure .6 Summary of chapter 3. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.1 The current tests at QNTTC .1 Students’ comments on the existing tests .2 Students’ opinions towards the improvement of the tests .3 Teachers’ comments on the existing tests .4 Teachers’ opinions towards the improvement of the tests .2 The alignment between the current tests at QNTTC and the tests according to the CEFR .1 In terms of their constructs .2 In terms of contents .3 Summary of Chapter 4 .1 Summary of the study .3 Limitations and suggestions for further study.
I APPENDIX 1: KEY POINTS FOR THIRD SEMESTER .IV QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT QNTTC .IV PHỤ LỤC 2. VII BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO SV KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ. VII TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM QUẢNG NINH. X v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS AT QNTTC.
VIII FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS. X FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS. X vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1. QNTTC Quang Ninh Teacher Training College 2.
TTI Teacher training institution 3. CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment 4. TOEFL Testing English as a Foreign Language 5. IELTS International English Language Testing System 6.
TOEIC Test of English for International Communication 7. KNLNN Khung năng lực ngoại ngữ 8. RMM Pearson Reading Maturity Metric vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) .1: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the test items in phonetics in Test number 1 .2: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the test items in phonetics in Test number 2 .3: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the test items in grammar and vocabulary in Test number 1 .4: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the test items in grammar and vocabulary in Test number 2 .5: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the reading texts in Test number 1 .6: Analysis of the degree of difficulty of the reading texts in Test number 2 .7: The analysis of question items of the reading texts of Tests number 1 and 2 .8: The comparison between Tests number 1 and 2 .9: Comparison of the length between the current tests at QNTTC and the reading – writing tests of PET. 43 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Students’ accomplishment of a test .2: Students’ difficulty/ difficulties when doing the test .3: Students’ interests in test items .4: Students’ comments and suggestions .5: Teachers’ making the English achievement test .6: Teachers’ attitudes toward the current test .7: Teachers’ comments on the current test.
35 ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Rationale of the study Nowadays English has become increasingly important as a means of global communication. In the process of global integration, Vietnam has realized the importance of English language learning and teaching; Thus, English has been widely used in many fields and it has become a compulsory subject at many schools and universities. Quang Ninh Teacher Training College (QNTTC) was established in 1959 and now it is considered the oldest institution in providing undergraduate teacher education in Quang Ninh. In 1991, the organization was restructured from four provincial teacher training institutions (TTI): Quang Ninh Early childhood TTI, Quang Ninh Primary TTI, Quang Ninh Education Management TTI and Quang Ninh Low Secondary TTI.
Having awareness of the importance of English, the college authorities have paid due attention to the matter of improving the quality of teaching and learning English. In the teaching and learning in general and in the teaching and learning foreign language process in particular, testing and assessment play a significant role. The importance of language testing is recognised by virtually all professionals in the language education. Teachers should not be confined to imparting teaching and learning with testing.
Testing is of special importance in educational system that is highly competitive as testing is not only an indirect stimulus to learning, but plays a crucial role in determining the success or failure of an individual’s career with direct implications for his future career. In the World Yearbook of education 1969, Lauwerys and Seaton state: “Thus, testing is an important tool in educational research and for programme evaluation, and may even throw light on both the nature of language proficiency and language learning.” 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Nga (1997:1) shares the same idea: “Tests are assumed to be powerful determiners of what happens in classrooms and it is commonly claimed that they affect teaching and learning activities both directly and indirectly”. It cannot be denied that testing is an important part in teaching and learning process, but has it been paid enough attention yet? Having taught English for students at a high school and then at QNTTC for 5 years, the author of this study has designed tests for both English majors and non-English majors. She has also administered and marked these tests.
Her teaching experience shows that there still remain some problems that need to be solved such as the test content, the gap between what is tested and what is taught, the reuse of tests from years to years, from classes to classes. As a result, tests may lack validity and reliability. Hughes (1990:1) also gives another comment on recent language testing: “It cannot be denied that a great deal of language testing is of very poor quality. Too often language tests have a harmful effect on teaching and learning and too often they fail to measure accurately whatever it is they are intended to measure”.
Moreover, teachers frequently lack formal training in educational measurement techniques and they tend to be alienated from the testing process. A well designed test is necessary for all language learners even though they have different levels. On the ground of the problems already mentioned, it is thought that achievement tests for the non-English majors at QNTTC should be designed to assure the accuracy and fairness for all students so that they can produce good backwash in the teachers’ teaching and give students satisfaction and encouragement in study. Those reasons above encourage me to conduct the study “An evaluative study on the current final achievement tests for non-English majors at Quang Ninh Teacher Training College” 1.2 Aims of the study The study aims at evaluating the current final achievement tests at QNTTC.