04051001847 tom tat an investigation into alternative asessment practices at a secondary school in hanoi = nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng các phương Đánh giá thay thế tại một trường thcs Ở hà nội

04051001847 tom tat an investigation into alternative asessment practices at a secondary school in hanoi = nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng các phương Đánh giá thay thế tại một trường thcs Ở hà nội

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

LƯU TRÀ GIANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC PHƯƠNG ĐÁNH GIÁ THAY THẾ

TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THCS Ở HÀ NỘI

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Dr Duong Thu Mai

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

So far, in Vietnam educational system, standardized tests and high-stake tests have been very popular in every school level from primary school to tertiary Basing on the final scores and grade point average (GPA), teachers and administrators assess the students, which may provide them an incomplete picture of student’s performances and learning progress Moreover, this traditional approach of assessment causes a lot of pressure on young students, leading to student’s stress and anxiety (Huerta- ac as Therefore, students are likely to consider learning English compulsory rather than interesting On the other hand, in Vietnam ELT context, language skills, especially speaking and writing, are suffering due to the negative washback of traditional testing This partly explains for the fact that many Vietnamese students still cannot communicate properly in English after twelve years of learning English at school

In order to enhance the English language ability of Vietnamese student, the Ministry

of Education and Training (MOET) issued National Foreign Languages Project scheme for the 2008-2020 periods as a comprehensive solution for the English language teaching and learning in Viet Nam The project calls for reform of testing and assessment, specifically, establishment of a strong English assessment system which will create a positive impact on the quality of ELT in Vietnam There are some policies which enacted to reform classroom assessment for improving learning outcomes The shift from tests to alternative assessment can be seen in those policies

As stated, formative assessment and the multiple forms of assessment have been prioritized in the policies and should be practiced in the local contexts of Vietnam In the light of MOET document, School A, where the research was conducted, has encouraged the EFL teachers to implement different methods of in-class alternative assessment However, there has not been a consensus within the School Department as well as a detailed or an official guide for the teachers on how to use those methods Consequently, the practices of alternative assessment were different among teachers All these conditions offer the researcher a chance to conduct “an investigation into alternative assessment practices at a secondary school in Hanoi”, which is reported in this thesis paper

1.2 Aims of the study

The purpose of this study was to explore the present situation of teachers’ exploitation of alternative assessments and investigate the student’s attitude toward the use

of alternative assessment

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

- In what ways are alternative assessments exploited by the teachers in their classes?

- What is the student’s attitude toward alternative assessments?

1.3 Significance of the study

While alternative assessments have been widely applied in tertiary education, it still remains new to lower level of schooling, especially state schools The outcomes of the study can be shared with other state school teachers who are similarly situated First, this study provides not only a detailed framework but also real and specific examples of how to conduct

13 alternative assessment methods Therefore, it would establish a basis for future trainings on the teachers’ literacy of language assessment Second, the findings of this study help to predict possible difficulties of using alternative assessments in ELT when teaching online and offline Based on these findings, recommendations are proposed to help the teacher participants determine the suitable methods of assessment to improve the present teaching in the researching school In addition, its outcome could be a reference for other teachers who are teaching English at other schools surrounding my urban area

1.4 Scope of the study

As the topic of the study is “alternative assessment practices” at a secondary school

in Hanoi, the study focuses on describing how some particular speaking and writing alternative assessment methods were implemented in the classroom through 5 stages: the purposes, learning objectives, measurement, interpretation, and use Also, the study reflects the students’ attitude toward those methods

Additionally, this study is carried out using mixed methods design The target participants are 7 teachers and 565 students from a lower secondary getting involved to do a survey on the practices of alternative assessment This number of teachers is suitable because it covers almost all of teachers of a school and 1/3 of the students in the researching site, enabling the researcher to generalize the results

1.5 Method of the study

In this study, the research adopts both quantitative and qualitative design While quantitative procedure is employed to analyze data from the questionnaire, qualitative one is for data analysis from the interview

This study employs two types of data collection instruments, which are questionnaires, and semi-structured interview protocols To be specific, data collected from the interview helps answer research question one, which is about to describe the procedures

of alternative assessment Regarding the questionnaires, they allow the researcher to find out the students’ attitude toward alternative assessment

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Classroom assessment in ELT

2.1.1 Definition of classroom assessment

In this study, classroom assessment in ELT is defined as the process of collecting and making judgment on an individual English language learner, which occurs over time and mainly controlled by classroom teachers

2.1.2 Components of classroom assessment in ELT

cNamara ( 1 pointed out three critical dimensions of assessment namely “data collection” “interpretation” and “use” which can be used in any process These dimensions also gained agreement from McMillan (2015) However, McMillan (2015) specified what formed the “data collection” dimension of the assessment process They are “purposes”

“learning objectives” and “measurement” of assessment To sum up the five components of alternative assessment suggested by McMillan is illustrated in figure below:

2.2 Alternative assessment in ELT

2.2.1 Definition of alternative assessment

The study would like to employ the definition of Berry (2008) and Richter (2019) : alternative assessment is any classroom assessment practice, that focuses on continuous individual student progress except for traditional testing

2.2.2 Features of alternative assessment

To be more specific, Brown (2004, p.13) clarifies some characteristics of alternative assessment by pointing out the differences between the traditional assessment and alternative one that is shown in the table below:

One-short, standardized exams

Timed, multiple choice format

Decontextualized test items

Scores suffice for feedback

Foster extrinsic motivation

Continuous long-term assessment Untimed, free-response format Contextualized communicative tasks Individualized feedback and washback Criterion-referenced scores

Open-ended, creative answers Formative

Oriented to process Interactive performance Fosters intrinsic motivation

Purpose Learning objective Mesurement Interpetation Use

However, the author also gives two warnings First, it is difficult to draw a clear line

of distinction between traditional and alternative assessment Many forms of assessment fall

in between the two, and some combine the best of both Therefore, the concepts in the table represent some overgeneralizations and should be considered with caution Second, it is obvious that the table shows a bias toward alternative assessment in the field of language assessment In addition, Brown and Hudson (1998) noted that though alternative assessments are always exciting and interesting, one should not view them as somehow magically different “Language teachers have always done assessment in one form or another and these new procedures are just new developments in that long tradition”

2.2.3 Methods of alternative assessment

It is impossible to list all alternative assessment methods that can be used in ELT However, this paper would like to recommend 13 methods that have been widely used in Vietnamese high schools recently, namely concept map, exhibition, oral presentation, questioning, interviewing, role-play, discussion, writing assignment, game, project, self/peer assessment, observation and portfolio

Concept map or mind map

A concept map is a way for students to represent their understanding of the connections between and among important concepts they encounter in their learning A concept map is usually presented as a graph comprising nodes (concepts) and lines with labels It represents a person’s structural knowledge about a certain concept or subject (Berry, 2008)

Novak and Gowin (1984, cited in Berry 208) suggest five main focuses for scoring a concept map; and teachers can assign different values for each count of the below categories

 Proposition: To see whether the relationship between concepts and the linking line with the label is meaningful and valid

 Hierarchy: To see whether the user is able to incorporate hierarchy into the structure

 Cross-links: To see whether one segment of the concept is meaningfully connected with the other segment of the concept hierarchy

 Examples: To see whether the labels of concepts appropriately link to relevant examples

 Comparison: A criterion/master concept map (i.e., a template) which represents the essential knowledge a student should acquire will be constructed and used as a basis for scoring students’ concept maps

Exhibition

Jill (2009) states that exhibitions are public demonstrations of mastery that occur at ending moments, such as at the conclusion of a unit of study, the transition from one level

of schooling to the next, and graduation Exhibitions require students to speak publicly, use evidence, present engaging visual displays, and otherwise demonstrate mastery to educators, peers, and others from outside the everyday school community

Oral presentation/ Oral report

Oral presentation belongs to oral communication In oral presentation, speakers use spoken speech to deliver the information to audience Moreover, speakers also use nonverbal communication (body language, gestures, eye contact) to express themselves and make the speech more effective A common format is in-class presentations on a prepared topic, often supported by visual aids in the form of PowerPoint slides or a Prezi, with a standard length that varies between 10 and 20 minutes In-class presentations can be performed individually or in a small group and are generally followed by a brief question and answer session Oral presentations are often combined with other modes of assessment; for example, oral presentation of a project report, oral presentation of a poster, commentary

on a practical exercise, etc (Oral presentations, 2022)

Questioning

Questioning has long been used as a teaching technique to motivate student interest, facilitate teacher instruction, and evaluate learning achievement (Sanders 1996, cited in Jiang 2020)

Interviewing

Brown (2204, p.167) defined an oral interview as a situation in which “a test administrator and a test-taker sit down in a direct face-to-face exchange and proceed through a protocol of questions and directives The interview, which may be tape-recorded for relistening, is then scored on some criteria such as accuracy, vocabulary usage, fluency, pragmatic appropriateness, task accomplishment, and even comprehension.” Besides, the usual one-on-one format with one interviewer and one test taker is to place two test-takers at

a time with the interviewer An advantage of a two-on-one interview is the practicality of scheduling twice as many candidates in the same time frame, but more significant is the opportunity for student-student interaction and increasing authenticity as two test takers can actually converse with each other

Role-play

Pham Thi Song Tuyet (2020) states that role-play is a speaking activity in which the students play a role or act to be somebody else or put themselves into a variety of situations which they can be encountered in the real life

Discussion

Pham Thi Binh (2014) says that discussion is an activity in which people talk

together in order to share information about a topic or problem or to seek a solution

Writing assignment

Written assignments are open-ended assignments that help you assess student understanding of the audio content and give students an opportunity to demonstrate their writing skills These assignments allow teachers to provide feedback on students’ assignments

so they are an effective formative assessment tool According to Brown (2004), there are three main genres of writing: academic, job-related and personal

Game

The term 'game' is defined briefly by Hadfield (1990) as an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun; This means games are forms of entertainment derived from a set of rules, typically with a known goal to be reached Games can be in the form of physical activities, mental or a mixture of the two A language game also shares the similar characteristics with the ordinary game However, language games mean games related to language

Project

A project is defined as a long-term (several week) activity that require students to work in groups or individually to select a topic, plan a data collection procedure, analyze and organize the information collected and then present the results

Self/ Peer assessment

Self-assessments require students to rate their own language, while Peer assessments require students rate the language of their peers According to Brown (2004), there are five types of self/peer assessment:

1 Direct assessment of a specific performance

2 Indirect assessment of general competence

3 Metacognitive assessment for setting goals

Portfolio

According to Genesee and Upshur (1996, cited in Brown, 2004)), a portfolio is "a purposeful collection of students' work that demonstrates their efforts, progress, and achievements in given areas" (p 99) Portfolios can include materials such as: essays and compositions in draft and final forms; reports, project outlines; artwork, photos, newspaper

or magazine clippings; journals, diaries, and other personal reflections; tests, test scores, and written homework exercises; notes on lectures; and self-and peer-assessments, comments, evaluations, and checklists, etc

2.2.4 Evaluation methods

McTighe (1998) states, "Assessments using constructed-response formats elicit a range of responses, products, or performances that reflect varying degrees of quality and different levels of proficiency Because such assessments typically do not have a single correct answer, teachers must rely on judgment-based methods to evaluate responses to these open-ended assessments" Four primary evaluation methods are used with constructed-response formats: scoring rubrics, rating scales, checklists, and written and oral comments

2.2.5 Advantages and disadvantages of alternative assessment

Reviewing the literature, the researcher has found out alternative assessments benefit learners and teachers in a variety of ways

First of all, alternative assessments help students to develop higher level thinking and problem-solving skills (Brown, 1998) If we relate Bloom`s Taxonomy to assessment, it is evident that traditional assessment generally requires students to recall information or very often simply repeat what they have learned Multiple choice questions are a typical example

of traditional assessment, which require students just to recall information Multiple choice questions are often used in standardized language tests; however, the question is whether traditional assessment represents and satisfies all six cognitive categories of Bloom`s model

Also, alternative assessment offers a wide range of assessment possibilities to address students’ different learning styles For example some students might choose to demonstrate their understanding by writing about something while others might prefer to perform or to display visually Meanwhile, testing offers a limited choice of task that goes around multiple-choice or matching that cannot carter different learning preferences

Last, alternative assessments are supposed to reduce test anxiety traditional assessment, focuses mainly on products by evaluating results and outcomes of learning and often one-shot, it often results in the fear of failure Meanwhile alternative assessment focuses on processes as well as products, which make students feel that their effort is appreciated, so they are more confident in doing assessment tasks

Moreover, standardized tests are almost highly practical They are designed to minimize time and money on the part of test designer and test-taker, and to be painstakingly accurate in their scoring Meanwhile, alternatives such as portfolios, or conferencing with students on drafts of written work, or observations of learners over time all require considerable time and effort on the part of the teacher and the student Even more time must

be spent if the teacher hopes to offer a reliable evaluation within students across time, as well as across students (taking care not to favor one student or group of students) This poses a challenge to teachers and test designers

2.3 Relevant studies on practices of alterative assessment in ELT

In general, there were three concerns that could be seen from the review above First, while project, role-play and portfolio seemed to receive a lot of attention from Vietnamese researchers, some other methods like exhibition, interviewing, self-assessment and observation appeared to lack further studies Second, most of aforementioned studies emphasized on the practices of classroom assessment at the level of high-school education while a lack of research for lower secondary level could be noticed Third, most of the studies were action researches or quasi-experimental one that focused on only one assessment method and did not reflect the reality of doing assessment in unfavorable conditions Therefore, a study should be carried out in order to explore the reality of using many alternative assessment methods at lower secondary school

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 The research context and the current English curriculum at the research site

The study was conducted at a junior secondary school which is run by the government It is located in Cau Giay District, Hanoi-the capital of Vietnam The school was rebuilt in 2017 and provided with modern facilities Each classroom has a projector, a laptop and a loudspeaker In school year 2021-2022, the school had 40 classes with 42-50 students for each

The new English Curriculum was piloted in 2013 and nationally accepted in 2018 English is a compulsory subject at both lower and upper secondary levels and an elective subject at the primary level Along with Mathematics and Literature, English is one of the compulsory subjects for the students to take the entrance examination to the upper secondary level and tertiary level At the lower secondary level, students are supposed to have a starting point at A1 CEFR and an ending point at A2 CEFR English is studied 3 periods a week from Grade 6 to Grade 9 The English Curriculum 2018 lasts for 37 weeks

It is divided into 2 semesters This theme-based curriculum covers 12 topics as well as 12 units Each unit includes seven 45-minute lessons/ periods

 Lesson 1 Getting started (theme introduction)

 Lesson 2 A closer look 1(vocabulary and pronunciation)

 Lesson 3 A closer look 2 (grammar)

 Lesson 4 Communication

 Lesson 5 Skills 1 (reading and speaking)

 Lesson 6 Skills (listening and writing)

 Lesson 7 Looking back and project

3.2 Participants

3.2.1 Teachers

The researcher collected data from seven ELT teachers, which are all the population

of teachers For the research ethics, the name of all interviewees would not be revealed Instead, their names were coded based on the first letter of their first name Their background information is summarized in the table below:

Teacher Experience Qualification Present teaching classes

Grade 8 (2 classes) Grade 9 (2 classes)

researcher

Grade 9 (2 classes) The researcher is a teacher at this school She has been teaching English for more than 5 years However, the research was only conducted with other teachers to assure the objectivity

clarify the research questions The tentative interview questions are shown in APPENDIX 1

The interview consists of seven parts with the contents on teachers’ practice of alternative assessment as below:

Part 1: Knowledge

Part 4 Measurement Section 2.2.3 in Literature review

Brown (2004) Dispatch No 5333

Dispatch 5333 Part 7 Possible difficulties

Table 1: Framework for interview

Part 1 required the teachers to define alternative assessment on their own Part 2 asked the participants to confirm their use of alternative assessment and asked about their purposes Part 3 questioned the teachers about the frequency of using 13 alternative assessment methods and have them describe the procedures In part 4, the participants were requested to compare the learning objectives of alternative assessment with traditional testing Part 5 and 6 required the teachers to tell how they interpreted and used the assessment results Finally, in part 7, the participants answered questions related to difficulties they had encountered when using alternative assessment online and offline

3.3.2 Questionnaire

In order to find out the students’ attitude toward alternative assessment a questionnaire was chosen as one of the data collection instruments The questionnaire was carefully designed based on the literature review In order to avoid possible misunderstandings, the questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese After constructing a full questionnaire, the author experienced two rounds of piloting to examine its reliability and validity In the first round, the researcher consulted the supervisor for comments and further refinement In the second round, the researcher piloted the questionnaire with four students, each of whom was from grade 6,7,8 and 9 Once receiving comments and suggestions, its final version was created (see APPENDIX 2) and translated into Vietnamese, then posted on Google Form

The questionnaire begins with a brief overview of research title, the purpose of conducting the questionnaire the desire for participants’ cooperation and the definition of alternative assessment

The main part of questionnaire consists of five questions Question 1 collects information about student’ grade Question (with 12 items) is a multiple-choice grid to