VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN TI HẠNH A STUDY ON USING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT TO MOTIVATE 9TH FORM STUDENTS AT NAM HAI LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL TO LEAN ENGLISH (NGHIEN CUU VIEC SU DUNG PHUONG PHAP DANH GIA TUYEN TAP BAI LAM NHAM TANG HUNG THU CHO HOC SINH KHÔI LỚP. 9 TRUONG THCS NAM HAI HOC MON TIENG ANH) M. Minor Thesis Field: Knglish Language ‘caching Mcthodolagy Code: 60.10 HA NOI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN TI ITANIT A STUDY ON USING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT TO MOTIVATE 9TH FORM STUDENTS AT NAM HAI LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL TO LEAN ENGLISH (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP ĐÁNH GIÁ TUVẺ TẬP BÀI LÀM NHẰM TĂNG HỮNG THỦ CHO HỌC SINH KHÔI LỚP. 9 TRƯỜNG THƠS NAM HÃI HỌC MON TIENG ANH) M.
Minor Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Supervisor: Pham Thi (anh, M. TA NOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Declaration Acknowledgements Abstract. ii Table of contents iv List of figures, tables and abbreviations vi PART A.
Rationale of the study. Aims of the study 3. Significance of the study. Scope of the sludy 6.
Methods of the studi,. Design of the study PART B. DEVLOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITEKATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of motivation 1.2 Motivationin second language learning.
Strategies to motivate language learner.2 Theoretical background of portfolio assessmen!.2 Portfolios in Language education. Portfolios in HSL as Alternative Assessment. The advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment 1. CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY.
The setting of the study. The textbook and the current methods of testing: and assessment iv PART A. INTRODUCTION ‘this chapter presents the rationale, states the aims and research questions of the study. TL also describes the significance, he scope, as well as (he methads of the research.
In addition, it further provides an overview of the research design. Rationale of the study The reform of teaching methods is one of the spirits of innovations in education at all levels of our country. Nowadays people often mention about education initiative or active leaning, which is the transfer of the central role of teachers in the classroom to the students. In this approach, stulents do not depend too much on the training process and the main keys for them are self-study, self- discovery, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-assessment.
Therefore, in order to improve the qualily of traiming, there must be nol only focus on teachers, or innovative teaching methods but also need to enhance methods of testing and assessing students. Besides, evaluation must be organized systematically to see the whole loarmng process of students, and assessment lools must combine multiple and diverse forms. So far, in Viet Nam education system, when referring to evaluation and assessment, people often think about traditional tests, which involve the using of paper-and-pencil, standardized tests to assess students’ performance under time pressure and the memorization of the knowledge. What is more, basing on the final scores, teachers and administrations assess each of individual students.
Actually, this is sometimes a bit one-sided factor as the scores do not show everything to evaluate students. Moreover, scores are only part of the assessment and teachers should not only base on scores to assess them. Additionally, currently there are many ways to examine students’ assessment im the world, and the utility of porifolo assessment as an allemative assessment is one of them. More cbviously, rescarch evidence suggests that portfolio assessment which expresses strongly one of the final aims of testing and assessing, students* achievement is “motivates students ta learn” plays ar.
important role im impacting nificance of the study ‘The famous researcher Littlewood (1984) said, "In second language learning as well as in every other field of human leaning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres". Motivation can strongly help a language learner succeed with the language. Therefore, the understanding of its role and related theory is very necessary for all the teachers as well as learners of Lnglish. If portfolio assessment method can indeed enhance students' motivation, then using and applying il in teaching and learning Friglish may have considerable improvements for Linglish classroom.
‘I'he outcomes of the study and some recommendations will supply with practical benefits to teaching and leaming English. Teachers andl learners will come to know the useful role of portfolio assessment and make use of some portfolio assessment techniques powerfully. Scope of the study As iL is slaled in the tile, the focus of this study is only on the grade nine students. Particularly, the subjects are limited to the thirty-eight students from a qinth grade class ai.
Nam Hai lower secondary school. Furthermore, within a variely of alternative assessments, the researcher examines the cffectivencss of only one type that is portfolio assessment. Last but not least, due to limited time, the study targets specially at the advantage of portfolio assessment in the field of motivation, not the other advantages as a whole. Methods of the study The research was realized with regard to both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
In order to achieve the main purpose of the study, an experimental research was conducted. To collect data, three main research instruments are made used of, namely questionnaires, students’ portfolios and interviews. As for the first instrument, there are two questionnaires- the pre-treatment questionnaire and its posl-queslionneire version. They were used to gather information lo answer the research questions.
In addition, students’ portfolios with three main sources, i. students’ cover letters, scores of portfolios and scores of a 45-minute written test were ulilived so as to seck the valid and rehable data for the analysis. Besides, the interviews were also carried out to reveal the effectiveness and feasibility of the portfolio assessment. Design of the study ‘The study is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development, and the conclusion Part Az Introduction —provides the rationale, the research questions, the arms, the significance, the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
Part B: Development — consists of three chapters Chapter 1. Literature Review — inlroduces the literature relaled to the two mai parts: theoretical background of motivation, and theoretical background of portfolio assessment. Chapter 2: The study — focuses on [he methodology used in [his research including the setting of the study such as the textbook and the current methods of testing and assessment, the subject of the sLudy, and the researcher, data collection mstruments, data collection procedures, as well as data analysis procedures. Chapter 3: Kindings, discussions, and recommendations shows major findings, discussions and offers recommendations for motivating students to leam English through portfolio assessment.
Part C: Conclusion — is a summary of the study in which the implications and recommendations for motivating students to leam English through portfolio assessment are discussed, and the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are presented PART B. DEVLOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chaplor studios @ range of literature review related Lo the sturly. The two main features presented are theoretical background of motivation and theoretical background of portfolio assessment. Theoretical background of motivation 1.1 Defining motivation “Motivation is a very complex phenomenon with many facets [.
Thus, it is nol possible te give a simple definition”. These are the words of Gardner (2006, p.242), Irom his point of views, it can be said that the term motivation is defined differently by different researchers. As for Woollolk (2001), he argues thal motivation js an internal state that. arouses directs and maintained behavior.
Sharing the same viewpoints, Harmer (2001, p.51) mentions that “at its most basic level, motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do Ihings in order to achieve something" Domyei (2001) gives an extensive explanation of motivation. He shares the same viewpoints with these auhors above, but he further suggests thal apart. [rom all the internal factors, there still cxists the extemal ones. He states “motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities".
Thus, it can be inferred from his outlooks that motivation and satisfaction of needs and desire have a mutual connection, and it is in either internal or external to the individual. In conclusion, motivation is a factor that exists in both intrinsic and extrinsic consciousness of a person; it shows and encourages human the ways to accomplish everything that he or she really wants in his/her life LISTS OF FIGURES, TABLES AND ABBREVIATIONS igure 1: Students’ needs and wants in the second semester Figure 2: Students’ preferences about activities in English subject Table 1: The criteria assessment for grade 9 students’ partfolios Table 2: 4S-minule test scores and portfolio scores: Abbreviations: FSI. Second language leaming L2: Second language S: Student PART A. INTRODUCTION ‘this chapter presents the rationale, states the aims and research questions of the study.
TL also describes the significance, he scope, as well as (he methads of the research. In addition, it further provides an overview of the research design. Rationale of the study The reform of teaching methods is one of the spirits of innovations in education at all levels of our country. Nowadays people often mention about education initiative or active leaning, which is the transfer of the central role of teachers in the classroom to the students.
In this approach, stulents do not depend too much on the training process and the main keys for them are self-study, self- discovery, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-assessment. Therefore, in order to improve the qualily of traiming, there must be nol only focus on teachers, or innovative teaching methods but also need to enhance methods of testing and assessing students. Besides, evaluation must be organized systematically to see the whole loarmng process of students, and assessment lools must combine multiple and diverse forms. So far, in Viet Nam education system, when referring to evaluation and assessment, people often think about traditional tests, which involve the using of paper-and-pencil, standardized tests to assess students’ performance under time pressure and the memorization of the knowledge.
What is more, basing on the final scores, teachers and administrations assess each of individual students. Actually, this is sometimes a bit one-sided factor as the scores do not show everything to evaluate students. Moreover, scores are only part of the assessment and teachers should not only base on scores to assess them. Additionally, currently there are many ways to examine students’ assessment im the world, and the utility of porifolo assessment as an allemative assessment is one of them.
More cbviously, rescarch evidence suggests that portfolio assessment which expresses strongly one of the final aims of testing and assessing, students* achievement is “motivates students ta learn” plays ar. important role im impacting PART A. INTRODUCTION ‘this chapter presents the rationale, states the aims and research questions of the study. TL also describes the significance, he scope, as well as (he methads of the research.
In addition, it further provides an overview of the research design. Rationale of the study The reform of teaching methods is one of the spirits of innovations in education at all levels of our country. Nowadays people often mention about education initiative or active leaning, which is the transfer of the central role of teachers in the classroom to the students. In this approach, stulents do not depend too much on the training process and the main keys for them are self-study, self- discovery, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-assessment.
Therefore, in order to improve the qualily of traiming, there must be nol only focus on teachers, or innovative teaching methods but also need to enhance methods of testing and assessing students. Besides, evaluation must be organized systematically to see the whole loarmng process of students, and assessment lools must combine multiple and diverse forms.
