VIETNAM NATIONAL UNVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN VAN BAC A STUDY ON THE VALIDITY OF THE CURRENT FINAL ENGLISH TEST FOR THE 2ND SEMESTER NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Nghiên cứu về tính xác thực của bài thi tiếng Anh cuối học kỳ thứ hai hiện nay dành cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếngAnh tại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN VAN BAC A STUDY ON THE VALIDITY OF THE CURRENT FINAL ENGLISH TEST FOR THE 2ND SEMESTER NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Nghiên cứu về tính xác thực của bài thi tiếng Anh cuối học kỳ thứ hai hiện nay dành cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếngAnh tại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Pham Thi Hanh, M.A Hanoi, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT…………………………………………………. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …………………………………………….
vii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ……………………………………………. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………. SCOPE OF STUDY……………………………………………………… 2 1. AIMS OF STUDY……………………………………………………….
METHODS OF STUDY…………………………………………………. DESIGN OF STUDY……………………………………………………. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE TESTING AND 5 LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING…………………………….
Purpose of language testing………………………………………. Types of language testing…………………………………………. The current trends in language testing…………………………. QUALITIES OF A GOOD TEST……………………………………….
11 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Content or face validity…………………………………………. Concurrent validity and predictive validity……………………. 13 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY…………………………………………………….
THE SUBJECT AND THE CONTEXT OF ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING AT HAUI………………………………………………… 15 3. English teaching and learning context at HaUI. English Testing for non English majors at HaUI……… 17 3. Subject of the study …………………………………………….
DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE…………………………………. 22 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS………………………………. Data analysis of students and teachers survey questionnaires and interviews……………………………………………………………. Data analysis of students’ score…………………………… 32 4.
DISCUSSIONS…………………………………………………………… 34 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THE CURRENT FINAL TEST FOR THE SECOND SEMESTER NON 35 ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENT AT HAUI…………………………………. Take the students’ language ability and knowledge in 35 consideration……………………………………………………………. Make clear instructions for the test composers………………….
Determine objectives of the test…………………………………. Determine the content of the test…………………………………. 38 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………… 40 Appendix 1A……………………………………………………………………… I Appendix 1B……………………………………………………………………… IV Appendix 2A……………………………………………………………………… VII Appendix 2B……………………………………………………………………… X Appendix 3………………………………………………………………………. XVII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1.
EC Economic and Computer Science Students Group 2. ESP English for Specific Purposes 3. HaUI Hanoi University of Industry 4. LT Language Testing 5.
OM Other Major Students Group 7. SLA Second Language Acquisition 8. TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 9. TOEIC Test of English for International Communication TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com viii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: A framework for language assessments Table 2: The syllabus for the second semester Table 3: Factors to consider in writing items and tasks Table 4: Key points presented in the course book New headway pre-intermediate Table 5: List of test scores selected from the second semester final test Chart 1: Opinions of students on the time allowance of the final test Chart 2: Teachers’ comments on time allowance of the test Chart 3: Appropriateness of the final test in student’s opinion Chart 4: Teachers’ comment on the test appropriateness Chart 5: Test items best measure students’ true ability in students’ perception Chart 6: Teachers’ opinions on test items best measuring your students’ true ability Chart 7: Student’s comments on the level of Grammar and Vocabulary test Chart 8: Teachers’ comments on Grammar and Vocabulary test Chart 9: Student’s comment on the difficulty level of Reading Comprehension test Chart 10: Teachers’ comment on the difficulty level of Reading commprehension test Chart 11: Student’s comment on the appropriateness of Writing test Chart 12: Teachers’ comment on the writing test Chart 13: Student’s comment on Listening commprehension test Chart 14: Teachers’ comment on the construct of Listening comprehension test TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
RATIONALE Along with the emergence of the globalization, English has been proving its importance in most areas including science, technology, telecommunication, media, culture, international relations. In Vietnam, English teaching and learning have drawn a lot of concerns from not only teachers and students, but the whole society. English is a non-major subject for most students of Hanoi university of Industry (HaUI). However, it has received more attention and time than any other basic subjects taught in the training program.
On the average, students have to learn English in 5 semesters, four of which serve for general English, and in the last semester students will learn English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Compared with other universities in Vietnam, the time for English program at HaUI is one of the longest To evaluate student’s English level and achievement at Hanoi University of Industry, testing is an essentially important tool. Testing and assessment have been considered as the light on both the nature of language proficiency and language learning. In other words, tests can produce the assessment of students’ ability of language use.
For each semester, students have to take three progress tests, and one final achievement test. In the final achievement test, listening, speaking, reading, grammar knowledge and writing, each accounts for 20% of the total mark scale. Although there are a lot of tests used as mentioned above in the process of teaching, it is recognized that these tests may still not exactly evaluate the student’s ability to use English. Some students have excellent performance in class, but the results of their test are not satisfactory, and vice versa.
Other teachers at Hanoi University of Industry also hold this view and they often complain that the current final achievement test for the second semester does not reflect the true language competence of their students. Some students and teachers share the same point that what is taught in the program is not included in the test; therefore, it seems not to measure students’ achievement of the course and their expected linguistic skills and knowledge. Through interaction with other teachers, I reckon that test writers often choose the test items somewhere else, but not based on the course book and the syllabus given at the beginning of the course. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2 One more reason why I choose this topic for my research is that the test evaluation and assessment at Hanoi University of Industry appear not to receive proper attention.
Being a teacher of English, I have also involved in designing many kinds of test for non English major students at HaUI, but there are no formal discussions, no systematic and comprehensive assessments, and no research on the appropriateness of the tests. With above mentioned reasons, I have decided to choose the research topic: “A study on the validity of the current final English test for the 2nd semester non-English Majors at Hanoi University of Industry.” It is believed that this study will be helpful for English teachers in English Faculty of Hanoi University of Industry who often participate in designing the progress tests and final achievement exams. SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this minor thesis is limited to a study on examining the validity of the current final test for second semester non English major students in terms of its validity for the non-English majors at Hanoi University of Industry. Due to the limitations of time, the author cannot send the questionnaires to all non-English students of Hanoi University of Industry.
However, to achieve a broad view from the teachers and students of Hanoi University of Industry about the final test in terms of its validity, the author tries his best to give the questionnaires to the students of 5 Faculties including Economic Faculty, Chemistry Technology Faculty, Electronic Technology Faculty, Mechanical Technology Faculty, and Electrical Technology Faculty. The students questioned are all university students, not covering the college students. The author also cannot conduct the survey and interview with all the teachers of English Department; instead, he selects the experienced ones who regularly involve in designing tests for non English major students and those who are currently involving in teaching first year students in their 2nd semester. AIMS OF STUDY The study aims at investigating the validity of the current final achievement test for the 2nd semester non English major students at Hanoi University of Industry.
The specific aims of the research are as follows: TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 3 - to investigate the appropriateness of the current final test for the 2nd semester non English majors in terms of time allowance, difficulty level, test contents. - to find out the teachers’ and students’ comments on the test validity; - to provide some suggestions for improving the test in terms of its validity. METHODS OF STUDY The study employs a combination of methodologies including quanlitative and quantitative methods to achieve the aims mentioned above. The author himself base on the literature review on theory and principles of language testing, the characteristics of a good test, the test reliability and validity to achieve the overview of language testing.
The synthesizing of the literature helps the author to make a framework for the study. Questionnaires are sent to teachers and students involving in teaching and learning in the second semester to collect information on their views of the test’s validity. In addition, an informal interview and discussions are also carried out with the teachers of English and their students to gain more information on the appropriateness of the test. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The study is conducted to find the answers to the following research questions: 1.
Does the final test for non English major students in the 2nd semester give a true picture of truly the students’ English Competence according to the view of teacher and students? 2. Does the test measure what is purported to measure (i. How can the test be made valid? In what way should the current final test be improved? 1. DESIGN OF STUDY The study consists of five chapters, organized as follows: Chapter 1- Introduction- provides background to the study, identifies the problems, states the aim, purpose and significance of the study, the scope, the methods, the research questions and the design of the study.
Chapter 2 - Literature review- Presents a review of related literature that provides the theoretical background of the testing and evaluation in general and the test validity in TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. This review also provides an overview of other studies related to testing, evaluation, especially the evaluation of tests in terms of its validity. Chapter 3 - The Study- Provides information about the subjects of the study. It then describes the data collection instruments and data collection procedure.
The rationale for choosing such data collection instruments is also provided. Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussions- Analyses and discusses the data collected to reveal the real results and the validity of the final 2nd semester exam for non English major students of HaUI. The causes for any problems if any and some implications for effective final achievement tests will be also discovered. Chapter 5 - Conclusion- Summarizes the major findings that are hoped to find the appropriate way to enhance the validity of final achievement tests to non English majors.
Limitation of the study and suggestions for further research are also given in this chapter. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE TESTING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING Shohamy (2000) introduced three dimensions of potential contributions of LT to SLA: (1) defining the construct of language ability; (2) applying LT findings to test SLA hypotheses and (3) providing SLA researchers with quality criteria for tests and tasks.