1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THU HÀ EVALUATION OF WASHBACK EFFECTS OF ESP END - TERM TEST FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT UEB - VNUH ON TEACHERS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH –ULIS –VNUH Đánh giá tác động của bài Kiểm tra Tiếng Anh Thương Mại cuối kỳ dành cho Sinh viên năm thứ 2 Trường Đại học Kinh Tế- ĐHQGHN đến việc giảng dạy của giáo viên Bộ môn Tiếng Anh Kinh Tế- Khoa Tiếng Anh ĐH Ngoại Ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: Methodology Major code: 60.10 Hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THU HÀ EVALUATION OF WASHBACK EFFECTS OF ESP END - TERM TEST FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT UEB - VNUH ON TEACHERS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH –ULIS –VNUH Đánh giá tác động của bài Kiểm tra Tiếng Anh Thương Mại cuối kỳ dành cho Sinh viên năm thứ 2 Trường Đại học Kinh Tế- ĐHQGHN đến việc giảng dạy của giáo viên Bộ môn Tiếng Anh Kinh Tế- Khoa Tiếng Anh ĐH Ngoại Ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: Methodology Major code: 60. Dương Thị Nụ Hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….
Statement of the problem and rationale for the study………………………… 01 2. Aims of the study ………………………………………………………………. Scope of the study ………………………………………………………………. Design of the study ……………………………………………………………… 05 DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………………………….
06 CHAPTER I – LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………. Language test and its purposes ………………………………………………. Definition of a language test ……………………………………………… 06 I. Purposes of a language test ……………………………………………….
Achievement Tests and English for Specific Purposes ……………………… 08 I. Definition and types of achievement tests ………………………………. English for Specific Purposes and English for General Business Purposes …………………………………………………………………………… 09 1. Characteristics of an ESP achievement test …………………………….
Washback effects of tests ……………………………………………………. Definition of washback ……………………………………………………. Types of washback ………………………………………………………… 12 I. Teachers and washback ………………………………………………….
14 CHAPTER II - THE STUDY ……………………………………………………. Background to the study: The context of English teaching, learning and testing of second year students at UEB – VNUH ………………………………. The context of English teaching and learning at UEB – VNUH ……… 16 II. Description of the language testing situation and the currently used ESP final achievement test at UEB – VNUH …………………………………….
Description of the language testing situation at UEB- VNUH ……. 18 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The currently used ESP final achievement test at UEB- VNUH …. Methodology of the study …………………………………………………….
Research approach ……………………………………………………… 21 II. Methods and procedures of data collection ……………………………. Methods of data collection ………………………………………… 22 II. Procedures of data collection ……………………………………… 23 II.
Methods of data analysis ……………………………………………… 24 CHAPTER III – FINDINGS, DICUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 25 III. Findings from collected data ………………………………………………. Teachers’ responses to questionnaires and interviews ………………. Data analysis of classroom observation ……………………………….
Discussion of findings: Washback effects of the ESP end-term test on teachers ……………………………………………………………………………. Teaching contents and teaching materials ……………………………. Teachers’ attitudes and behaviors in class ……………………………. Recommendations to teachers to maximize the positive washback effects and minimize the negative washback effects of the ESP end-term test on their teaching …………………………………………………………………………….
41 APPENDICES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English Foreign Language EGBP: English for General Business Purposes ESP: English for Specific Purposes ESBP: English for Specific Business Purposes UEB: University of Economics and Business ULIS: University of Language and International Studies VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Teachers’ fulfillment of class teaching content to the syllabus ……… 28 Chart 2: Teachers’ following teaching process and conducting in-class tasks. 29 Chart 3: Teachers’ teaching materials …………………………………………. 30 Chart 4: Teachers’ care for students’ past test scores …………………………. 32 Chart 5: Teachers’ anticipation of changes on their part when having detailed report of students’ past test scores ……………………………………………….
33 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 9 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Curriculum frame for QHE 2008 students of UEB – VNUH ………. 17 Table 2: Assessment frame for QHE 2008 students of UEB-VNUH …………. 19 Table 3: Specification grid of ESP end-term test for second semester of academic school year 2009-2010 …………………………………………………. 21 Table 4: Teachers’ belief on factors that influence teaching ………………….
25 Table 5: Teachers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards the ESP final achievement test of the second semester ………………………………………… 26 Table 6: Teachers’ attitudes and behaviors in class ……………………………. 31 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study From the early 1960s, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which is defined by Strevens (1988, p.1) as “a particular case of the general category of specific purpose language teaching”, has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of English Foreign Language Teaching. Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.19) see ESP as an approach rather than a product, by which they mean that “ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for learning".
Also, learners’ needs, the typical feature of ESP, are highlighted by Dudley- Evans, T.123) with the belief that “ESP has as its basis in an investigation of the purposes of the learner and the set of communicative needs arising from those needs”. Since emphasis is laid on learners’ needs, in discussing ESP teaching, a number of factors must be taken into consideration such as motivation, learning strategies, etc. Also, due attention should be paid to issues closely related to any language courses such as syllabus design, materials development, methodology, assessment, etc. From the perspective of Dudley-Evans and St.
John (1998) assessment does not stand alone, but occupies a prominent place in the ESP process, giving an ESP teacher a wealth of information on the effectiveness and quality of teaching and learning. They also suggest that ESP testing yields an observed judgment of the effectiveness of teaching. It is generally recognized that in EFL teaching context in Vietnam, the teaching of Business English has received considerable attention in the last decade of the 20th century, especially in specific business schools or institutions. Such implementation of Business English is visibly important as it can meet the demands of pre-experienced learners in terms of language skills related to business fields so that they can adjust themselves to the fast-changing business environment later on.
In the specific context of EFL teaching and learning in VNUH, language needs of Business English of students at UEB-VNUH were identified by the research carried out by the Division of English for Economics, Faculty of English, ULIS- VNUH in 2007. Findings from the research revealed that students expect to engage in the language with the specific aims of getting access to specialized Business English vocabulary, enlarging their knowledge of the subject matters related to commercial LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 English, becoming prepared for some common business situations (i. going for an interview, conducting professional correspondence, taking the minutes, etc.) so that they can use the language in their prospective jobs. Regarding the features of such ESP teaching approach, and in order to meet the needs of second-year students at UEB- VNUH for their prospective jobs as businessmen or economists, for the past two academic school years, Division of English for Economics, Faculty of English-ULIS-VNUH has moved from the self-complied Business English course book to a new set of Market Leader Intermediate (Cotton, Falvey, and Kent, 2005).
This content-based course book emphasizes the use of authentic materials and Business Communication skills development so as to encourage second-year students at UEB to take active roles in their class activities as well as improve and expand their four English language skills to a higher level. Since putting in used, the course book has received great acceptance from both teachers and students for its easy-to-follow structure, stimulating contents and useful language specificity inputs. Such a change in teaching syllabus requires changes in assessment, since testing is closely related to what is taught and is subject to whatever changes taking place in course books. Regarding this newly implemented English Business course book, the evaluation of students’ improvement is done through continuous assessment.
One component of this is the ESP end-term test, a kind of achievement test that second-year students are required to sit for at the end of the semester. As the test accounts for 50% of the final score, it is supposed to affect the students in many aspects. This achievement test is also supposed to be meaningful since Hughes (2001, p.10) reasons that “achievement tests are directly related to language courses, their purposes being to establish how successful individual students, groups of students, or the courses themselves have been in achieving objectives”. While such a test may have influences on students, it may at the same time affect the teachers in many ways such as teaching contents and materials, teaching methodology, attitudes and behaviors.
In their study in a Nepalese educational contexts, Herman and Golan (1993, cited in Chen, 2002, p.3) reported that over 50% of the teachers admitted that they would give substantial attention to mandated tests in their instructional planning and delivery. In devising their syllabi for instruction, they would look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test or test objectives. (1996), Cheng (1997) and Wantanabe (1996) also addressed teachers’ use of past test papers and LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 test-oriented textbooks in sessions near test time. These researchers at the same time mentioned teachers’ feeling and attitudes towards testing process and test scores.
It is evident that there is a chance for a test to influence teachers, either positively or negatively. However, expertise in assessment of Business English tests in EFL teaching context in ULIS- VNUH is still a rarely researched area. In fact, there has been little practical attempt to evaluate Business English tests. For the past five years, teachers from English for Economics Division, Faculty of English, ULIS-VNUH, as test-makers have got opportunities to take part in conducting and delivering Business English end-term tests.
Although learners’ needs were identified, up to now there has been no concern paid to the washback effect, the influence a test has on teaching and learning, in general and washback effects of ESP end-term tests on teachers in particular, i. how such tests influence teachers’ teaching, how positive washback can be maximized and negative washback can be minimized. Such gap has encouraged the researcher to choose “Evaluation of washback effects of ESP end - term test for second-year students at UEB- VNUH on teachers at Faculty of English-ULIS-VNUH” as the topic of her research. It is hoped that this study would make a modest contribution to better the teaching of Business English to second-year students at UEB-VNUH.
Aims of the study The study aims to primarily seek for evidences of washback effects of the ESP end- term test for second year students of UEB - VNUH on teachers at English for Economics Division, Faculty of English – ULIS -VNUH. More specifically, it focuses on: 1) Investigating the washback effects that the ESP end-term test for second-year students has on teachers of English for Economics Division, Faculty of English - ULIS - VNUH; 2) Evaluating whether such evidences of washback (if any) are positive or negative to teachers; 3) Proposing ways to enhance the positive impacts and to minimize the negative effects of the test on teacher’s teaching of Business English. Practically, by looking for evidences of washback effects, the study aims at highlighting the close relationship between teaching and testing, and therefore, may be a source of reference in the attempt to better teaching and improve testing Business English LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.