VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****************** NGUYỄN THỊ LINH IMPACTS OF VIETNAMESE STANDARDIZED TEST OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (VSTEP) ON THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (ULIS), VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI (VNU) (NHỮNG TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA KÌ THI CHUẨN HÓA ĐÁNH GIÁ NĂNG LỰC TIẾNG ANH THEO KHUNG NĂNG LỰC NGOẠI NGỮ 6 BẬC DÙNG CHO VIỆT NAM (VSTEP) TỚI VIỆC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* NGUYỄN THỊ LINH IMPACTS OF VIETNAMESE STANDARDIZED TEST OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (VSTEP) ON THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (ULIS), VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI (VNU) (NHỮNG TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA KÌ THI CHUẨN HÓA ĐÁNH GIÁ NĂNG LỰC TIẾNG ANH THEO KHUNG NĂNG LỰC NGOẠI NGỮ 6 BẬC DÙNG CHO VIỆT NAM (VSTEP) TỚI VIỆC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Tô Thị Thu Hương, PhD Hanoi, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that my thesis submitted for the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University has been composed by myself, apart from the help recognized. This paper has also not been submitted for any other degree or processional qualification except as specified.
Hanoi, 2016 Ngu n Thị Linh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to send my thanks to many individuals for their invaluable help during the conduct of the research. Without their help, the completion of this research project would not have been possible. First and foremost, I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my supervisor, Dr. To Thi Thu Huong for her remarkable supervision, enthusiastic guidance, invaluable support and critical feedback throughout the research.
Besides my advisor, I would like to thank all the doctors and lecturers of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures, which are partly applied in this study. Next, I wish to send my big thanks to the first year students at University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) for their cooperation and the valuable information they provided in my research questionnaire. Furthermore, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my family and friends, especially my mother, for standing by me and for giving me their unconditional love, care, good assistance and patience. Finally, my sincere thanks also goes to graders and readers for their valuable evaluation and feedback on this thesis.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Due to the globalization of the English language, a global testing campaign has been established, specially standardized English proficiency tests. According to Templer (2004), these tests have increasingly controlled access into privileged educational and occupational paths in the professional and corporate world, and affected many local language policies. In Vietnam, a new national English test - the Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP) applied at the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) and other schools has gradually assumed a greater gate- keeping role. This paper aims to investigate the impacts of the VSTEP as a graduation requirement on the first year university students‟ English learning at ULIS.
The paper begins with some background information about English language‟s role and certification exit requirements. The next section discusses the context that induced the introduction and implementation of the policy of using VSTEP certificates to determine graduation eligibility. The main part of this paper examines in detail the impacts of the VSTEP test on the learning of English of the first year students at ULIS. Finally, the discussion section evaluates the efficiency of the policy, followed by some recommendations.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.
The English language education in Vietnam. Rationale of the study. The significance of the study. Aims of the study.
Research questions of the study. Organization of the study. 3 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW. The introduction of the VSTEP as an English certificate exit requirement at ULIS.
The basic information of the VSTEP levels 3-5. Definition of impact and related studies. Impacts of some English tests as a graduation requirement. 16 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.
Method of the study. Context of the study. Data collection instrument. Data collection and analysis procedures.
26 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Some general information about the first-year students. 28 Table 7: Students’ general information. Impacts of the VSTEP on students’ English learning.
30 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Academic impacts: Learning Content and Learning Methods. Affective impacts: goal orientation, motivation, self-efficacy and anxiety. 34 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Format of the VSTEP. VSTEP level conversion table. VSTEP equivalency table.
10 Table 4: Structure of the questionnaire. 23 Table 5: Changes of some items in the edited questionnaire compared to original version. 24 Table 6: Changes of some items between pilot and main questionnaire. 26 Table 7: Students‟ general information.
Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ learning content. Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ learning methods. Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ goal orientation. Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ motivation.
Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ self-efficacy. Impact of the VSTEP on students‟ anxiety. 39 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VSTEP: Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi MOET: Ministry of Education and Training TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages DA2020: Đề Án Ngoại Ngữ Quốc Gia 2020 EFL: English Foreign Language ASL: Arabic Second Language HKCEE: Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination NMET: National Matriculation English Test GEPT: General English Proficiency Test FCE: First Certificate in English IELTS: International English Language Testing System CET: College English Test vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. The English language education in Vietnam As mentioned by Hoang (2011), English test is one of the six national exit exams at Junior and Senior Secondary School and English is studied as a compulsory subject by 94% undergraduates and 92% graduates at Vietnamese institution.
However, the teaching activities in classes are not delivered in an effective way for students to achieve sufficient levels of competence to pass the certifications required for recruitment. Ha (2007) also argues that the level of communicative competence in English of most Vietnamese employees are still very low, and many freshly graduated students cannot get jobs in foreign companies because of the English language requirements. The fact is that most Vietnamese learners still cannot use it effectively as a means of communication after a long period of learning English. Pham (2004) estimated that in a class of fifty English major learners, fewer than ten graduates have the sufficient English skills for jobs such as interpreters, translators, tour guides or teachers of English.
Moreover, according to Ellis (1996) and Pham (2004), English classrooms in Vietnam continue to focus more on grammar-oriented than communicative. The current issues point to the fact that Vietnam should upgrade the currently low English teaching and English use standards in order to catch up with the fast globalisation process, sizable inputs and major changes. An innovation has been proposed in order to ensure higher standards of English proficiency among students graduating from Vietnamese tertiary institutions. One of the main goals of the “National Foreign Languages Project to the year 2020” (DA2020) is to strengthen students‟ English proficiency throughout the educational system.
A key feature of this English project is to impose graduation standards control; that is, to require graduates to achieve certain minimum standards before they could graduate from their study programmes. Therefore, in early 2008, Vietnamese Ministry of Education & Training (MOET) gave an official instruction, requiring universities 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com and colleges to articulate their graduation standards, among which is the English requirement, by the end of the same year. Rationale of the study Since August 15th, 2015, ULIS-VNU has used the VSTEP as an exit test for all students. This proficiency test is completely new in Vietnam and there has no study on this.
Therefore, I would like to conduct this study in order to explore its impact on students‟ English learning at ULIS. Students at ULIS have to achieve certain level of the VSTEP required by the university before graduation. Therefore, the test would have certain impacts on their learning. Among students at different years, the first year students are those who just enter a new learning environment.
The transition from high school to higher education is considered the most stressful period for the first year university students. Adapting to the new environment makes them experience many unexpected circumstances. Different workload such as assignments, varied teaching methods, and working with other students and lecturers are some examples of these unexpected circumstances. Thus, knowing the impact of the test on the first year students‟ learning of English would be helpful to both lecturers and students in their teaching and learning.
As mentioned before, the VSTEP is a new test, so an investigation of its impacts on students‟ learning of English at ULIS-VNU could be seen as an example of research on test impact, which has become a significant area of interest in language testing in recent years. The significance of the study This is a small-scale empirical study of test impact in Vietnam. It is one of the first studies exploring the impacts of the VSTEP - a new English proficiency test in Vietnam, so this study would fill in the research gap on the VSTEP. The study is potentially significant in that it provides an insight into the impact of an exit test on English language learning in University of Languages and International 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Most importantly, the study highlights the voices of students, the very people at the centre of the learning process. The findings of this study should provide some important information to help the institution; on the other hand, to further improve the test itself for more beneficial impacts, i.e to enhance English teaching and learning through the design and administration of the test and to improve the policy and implementation of the English graduation requirement. Aims of the study This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of the VSTEP on the first year students‟ language learning at University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) – Vietnam National University (VNU). Following the study of Hongli Li, Qi Zhong and Hoi K Suen (2012), the researcher would like to investigate the impact of VSTEP on ULIS students‟ English learning in two ways: academic and affective.
The academic impact refers to the VSTEP‟s influence on “students‟ English - learning behavior, as this pertains to learning content (i., what students study) and learning methods (i.