MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ----------------- TRAN THI THANH NGA AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IN-CLASS SPEAKING ASSESSMENT AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ----------------- TRAN THI THANH NGA AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IN-CLASS SPEAKING ASSESSMENT AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN HO HOANG THUY, Ph.D HUE, 2017 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ----------------- TRẦN THỊ THANH NGA NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ VIỆC ĐÁNH GIÁ KĨ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP HỌC TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG THPT TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN QUẢNG TRỊ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. NGUYỄN HỒ HOÀNG THỦY HUẾ, 2017 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Date: 09 /11 /2017 Signature Tran Thi Thanh Nga iii ABSTRACT The study was conducted to investigate the teachers‟ perceptions of in-class speaking assessment at some high schools in Quang Tri province.
It aimed to discover teachers‟ perceptions of speaking assessment in classrooms in terms of their general understanding of speaking assessment, the task types of in-class speaking assessment and the teacher‟s work involved in the assessment application process. It also attempted to explore possible/anticipated difficulties preventing teachers from practicing in-class speaking assessment as well as to find necessary resources helping teachers to conduct effective practice of in-class speaking assessment. The data was collected by means of questionnaire and interview at different high schools in Quang Tri. Forty-two EFL teachers responded to the questionnaire and then five of them participated in the interview sessions.
The findings revealed that the teachers‟ perceptions of in-class speaking assessment in three aspects investigated are generally appropriate. However, the participants showed their lack of knowledge about oral portfolios and also stated their need for more instruction on how to implement self-assessment in speaking assessment. In addition, the findings presented some main difficulties likely to affect the teachers‟ practice of speaking assessment such as students‟ low English proficiency, large class size, teacher‟s time management skill, time allowed for giving feedback, the availability of reference materials, supporting instruments and facilities. The research outcomes also indicated the necessary resources to actualize in-class speaking assessment including reference materials, professional development training, supporting instruments and facilities, and supports from the administration staff.
From the findings, a number of suggestions were made to reduce the barriers and increase the effectiveness in the implementation of in-class speaking assessment. iv Acknowledgements This paper could not have been completed without the valuable assistance and supports from a number of people who deserve my most sincere gratitude. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Ho Hoang Thuy, for her inspiration, scholarly supervision and intellectual supports in the process of conducting this research.
I am also deeply grateful for her continual encouragement, valuable comments and enthusiastic guidance. Without her help, this research would not have been done with a correct direction. Next, special words of thank go to all the participants who were willing to spend their valuable time and efforts in responding to the questionnaires and joining the interviews. Without them, this paper could not have been completed.
Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my beloved family, my husband, my sons, my parents, and my friends. Their love, care, supports and encouragement gave me more strength to overcome all difficulties through the duration of research. v v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUB COVER PAGE. i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY.
v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ix LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS. x LIST OF TABLES.
xi CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION. 4 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical backgrounds of language assessment and speaking assessment. Testing and assessment.
An overview of different types of language assessment. Formal and informal assessment. Formative and summative assessment. Alternative assessment and traditional assessment.
Selected-response assessment, constructed-response assessment, personal response assessment and performance assessment. Principles of language assessment. Criteria in speaking assessment. Feedback in speaking assessment.
Difficulties in conducting the assessment of English speaking skills. Review of related studies to the field. Review of related studies on teachers‟ perception of language assessment. Review of related studies on speaking assessment.
Rationale for the selection of participants. Procedures for the participant recruitment. Description of the participants. Rationale for the data collection methods.
Design of the data collection instrument. Procedures for the data collection. 40 CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Teachers‟ perception of in-class speaking assessment.
Task types of in-class speaking assessment. Teachers‟ work involved in assessment application process. Difficulties in conducting speaking assessment. Required resources for effective practice of in-class speaking assessment.
61 CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS. Summary of the key findings. Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further studies.
74 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR : The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages MOET : Ministry of Education and Training EFL : English as a Foreign Language ix LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 2.1 Interactiveness model Chart 4.1 The rank of task types of in-class speaking assessment Chart 4.2 Criteria in speaking assessment Chart 4.3 Resources x LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 The summary of participants‟ information Table 3.2 Items categorized in the questionnaire Table 4.1 Teachers‟ perception of in-class speaking assessment - general understanding Table 4.2 Teachers‟ perception of task types of in-class speaking assessment Table 4.3 Teachers‟ work involved in assessment application process at the pre- stage Table 4.4 Teachers‟ work involved in assessment application process at the while- stage Table 4.5 Teachers‟ work involved in assessment application process at the post- stage Table 4.6 Difficulties in conducting speaking assessment xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In the present context of Vietnam, a new market economy with the growth of international businesses and trades, the increasing number of foreign tourists and the rapid development of the internet as an indispensable information means, the ability to communicate in English has become more and more necessary than ever. Accordingly, the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has had a big revolution in methodology of teaching and learning English since the replacement of the textbook in 2006. The new textbook requires teachers and students to change their ways of teaching and learning from Grammar-translation method to communicative approach and from teacher-centered method to student- centered method. The revolution has not stopped yet when Vietnam has been doing the national plan “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the National Formal Educational system in the period of 2008 -2020”.
According to this plan, students after finishing high school will have achieved level three of the Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Viet Nam (equivalent to B1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Language) which enables students “to express oneself in a limited way in familiar situations and to deal in a general way with nonroutine information” (CEFR levels). Therefore, students need to have English to communicate successfully in both spoken and written forms. In order to achieve English learning outcomes as mentioned above, the MOET decided to apply English pilot program with English textbooks new version which aim to develop students‟ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills with a focus on communicative competence from school year 2013-2014 (Hoang et al, 2015). Together with the innovation in textbook and teaching methodology, the MOET also gives instructions on how to reform the English testing and assessment system where by testing and assessing English not only be conducted in reading, 1 writing and language knowledge as before but also in listening and speaking skills in EFL classrooms (Official Document No 5333/BGDĐT-GDTRH).
However, speaking assessment is not administered in any formal exams, even the national high school graduation examinations. Hence, speaking assessment has not received much attention from English teachers regarding the application of speaking assessment in classrooms and in other tests such as one-period tests or end-of-term tests. Since the role of speaking ability has become more central in language teaching, speaking assessment has become one of the most important issues in language assessment (Hartley & Sporing, 1999). Classroom speaking assessment itself brings teachers and learners many benefits.
First, it is more likely to offer opportunities for teachers to directly observe linguistic performance through classroom observations or direct testing (Brown, 2000). Next, Moon and Callahan (2001) claimed that performance assessment can promote test authenticity because it presents learners with situations or asks them to perform academic exercises that simulate real-life experiences or problems. This helps learners to be judged on the basis of social context, interaction, communication, and integrated skills in order to be correspondent to speaking by its nature needs. In addition, according to Savignon (1997), speaking assessment helps learners to notice the gap between their linguistic competence and real language use while involving interaction with peers or a teacher.
Lastly, classroom assessment helps learners reduce anxiety (Underhill, 1987). Being aware that speaking skills are an important part of the curriculum in language teaching, and this makes speaking skills an important object of assessment as well, I have been trying to apply many types of speaking assessment such as individual and group presentations, e-portfolios, role plays, etc. in my classroom since I first became an English teacher in 2010. As a result, I have received a lot of positive attitudes and feedback from my students.
However, my applications of speaking assessment in classroom just come from my own consciousness and 2 interests. Therefore, until now, I still keep in mind some questions about my colleagues, who are teaching at other high schools in the local area. My questions are what they believe about classroom speaking assessment, what causes their problems to apply speaking assessment in classrooms and what helps them more confident to implement speaking assessment in their teaching. These are not only the motivation but also the urge for my choice to carry out this research.
In addition, after learning many studies of the same topic (e., Chang‟s, 2006, Kim‟s, 2003; Muñoz et al‟s, 2003), I realized that there were still many research gaps. Particularly, since speaking assessment is not compulsory in any test or examnination at high school level in Vietnam, the Vietnamese present context is really different from those in these studies. Therefore, the issues of teachers‟ perceptions which are investigated in this study may also be very different from the previous ones. That is the reason why I decided to do this research.2 Research objectives This research aims to - discover teachers‟ perceptions of speaking assessment in classrooms in terms of general understanding, task types of in-class speaking assessment and teacher‟s work involved in assessment application process at some high schools in Quang Tri.
- explore possible/anticipated difficulties that may prevent teachers from practicing in-class speaking assessment in their classrooms. - identify necessary resources that may help teachers to have effective practice of in-class speaking assessment.3 Research questions The current study aims to answer three questions including one primary question (Question 1) and two secondary questions (Questions 2 &3): 1. What are teachers‟ perceptions of in-class speaking assessment? 3 2. What difficulties are likely to affect teachers‟ practice of speaking assessment? 3.