Luận văn a study on the construction of a marking scheme for end of semester english oral tests for 10th grade students at cam giang high school in hai duong

ASTUDY ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MARKING SCHEME FOR END-OF-SEMESTER ENGLISH ORAL TESTS FOR 10 GRADE STUDENTS AT CAM GIANG HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI DUONG.. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNI

ASTUDY ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MARKING SCHEME FOR

END-OF-SEMESTER ENGLISH ORAL TESTS FOR 10 GRADE STUDENTS AT CAM GIANG HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI DUONG

Nghiên cứu xây dựng bảng đánh giá cho bài kiểm tra nói cuỗi kỳ môn

Tiêng Anh cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Cẩm Giang, Hai Duwnp

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME TIIES

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

Hanoi — 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN TIT OANTI

ASTUDY ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MARKING SCHEME FOR

END-OF- SEMESTER ENGLISH ORAL TESTS FOR 10TH GRADE

STUDENTS AT CAM GIANG HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI DUONG

Nghiên cứu xây dựng bảng đánh giá cho bài kiểm tra nói cuỗi kỳ môn

'Tiêng Anh cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Cẩm Giảng, Hải Dương

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Quỳnh, Ph.D

Hanoi - 2017

DECLARATION:

L hereby state that |, Nguyen ‘thi Oanh, declare the thesis entitled “A study on the

construction of a marking scheme for the end-of-semester English oral tests for 10th

grade students at Cam Giang High School in Hai Duong” is my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of

Languages and International Stucies- Vietnam National University, Hanoi This thesis is the result of ray own research and efforts and it has not been submitted for

any degree at any other university or institution

Hanoi, 2017

Nguyen Thị Oanh

TAST OF FABLES

'Table 1: Pearson Correlatiori oi Gramnar

Table 2: Pearson Correlation on vocabulary

Table 3: Pearson Correlation oi pronunoiation

‘Table 4: Pearson Correlation on fluency and coherence

Table 5: Pearson Correlation on Sum

vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

2.4.1 Rationale for using a multiple-rnethod approaeh seo

3.1 The finding from interviews with leachers and expGTfs cuoi 33 3.2 The finding Írorm seotes of studenis" oral t€sfs snsessesieiui7 PART C: CONCLUSION ses sensssesssusiestuseesistenenstneeneenoneeineasiaeieeneneen 3

APPENDIX 4B seovcteintestiseieeesseininstentisieanente sansa IX

U12 08T 1ẽa1a.4 ẻ.ẻốẻ°\A'

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Hirst and foremost, | owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen ‘Thi

Ngoc Quynh for her encouragement, support, and guidance and for giving me constructive feedback throughout this thesis She has guided me in searching for relevant theory to my thesis and has also assisted in collecting data Consequently, 1

have learnt a lot about the assessment of English oral tests and construction of a

smarking scheme for oral tests

Secondly, I would like to thank Ms Bui Thien Sao, an expert of the Center for

Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and Iernational Studies for her invaluable assistance during the research time

Thirdly, this thesis would not have been possible without the enthusiastic parlicipalion of six English teachers and 150 students at Cam Giang High School where the research was carried out

Lastly, I would like to thank my family whose love and support help me complete

this thesis.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

2.4.1 Rationale for using a multiple-rnethod approaeh seo

3.1 The finding from interviews with leachers and expGTfs cuoi 33 3.2 The finding Írorm seotes of studenis" oral t€sfs snsessesieiui7 PART C: CONCLUSION ses sensssesssusiestuseesistenenstneeneenoneeineasiaeieeneneen 3

APPENDIX 4B seovcteintestiseieeesseininstentisieanente sansa IX

U12 08T 1ẽa1a.4 ẻ.ẻốẻ°\A'

TAST OF FABLES

'Table 1: Pearson Correlatiori oi Gramnar

Table 2: Pearson Correlation on vocabulary

Table 3: Pearson Correlation oi pronunoiation

‘Table 4: Pearson Correlation on fluency and coherence

Table 5: Pearson Correlation on Sum

vii

TAST OF FABLES

'Table 1: Pearson Correlatiori oi Gramnar

Table 2: Pearson Correlation on vocabulary

Table 3: Pearson Correlation oi pronunoiation

‘Table 4: Pearson Correlation on fluency and coherence

Table 5: Pearson Correlation on Sum

vii

1.3.2 Approach to construct a marking scheme

1.3.3 Sleps ía construcl a marlting sc]efte

1.3.4 Types of marking schemes

ABSTRACT

‘This thesis was conducted at Cam Giang Lligh School ‘the participants consisted of

150 tenth-prade students and six English teachers at Cam Giang High School Two experts in the Center for Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and International Studies also participated in this study ‘Ihe research aims at constructing a marking scheme for the end-of-semester English oral test of tenth-grade students Constructing a marking scheme for oral tests is a complex process In this paper, a combination of three methods: intuitive, qualitative and

quantitative are employed by the researcher The research slarled with wriling the

dratt of marking scheme Then, the rescarcher cbtained the judgments from experts and other teachers Next, the marking scheme was piloted with 150 tenfh-prade

students Based on analyzing the students’ scores of the oral tesis, the researcher examined how well the marking scheme works The findings revealed that the

marking scheme can be used by the teachers effectively although there is still a need for further investigation to improve and validate the current marking scheme The anajority of the teachers took a positive attitude toward the marking, scheme They

believed in the efficacy of marking scheme in spite of some difficulties at the

beginning and recommended the vontinuatiou of using (he marking scheme for lhe next school year Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are

drawn out based on the research findings

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Hirst and foremost, | owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen ‘Thi

Ngoc Quynh for her encouragement, support, and guidance and for giving me constructive feedback throughout this thesis She has guided me in searching for relevant theory to my thesis and has also assisted in collecting data Consequently, 1

have learnt a lot about the assessment of English oral tests and construction of a

smarking scheme for oral tests

Secondly, I would like to thank Ms Bui Thien Sao, an expert of the Center for

Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and Iernational Studies for her invaluable assistance during the research time

Thirdly, this thesis would not have been possible without the enthusiastic parlicipalion of six English teachers and 150 students at Cam Giang High School where the research was carried out

Lastly, I would like to thank my family whose love and support help me complete

this thesis.

ABSTRACT

‘This thesis was conducted at Cam Giang Lligh School ‘the participants consisted of

150 tenth-prade students and six English teachers at Cam Giang High School Two experts in the Center for Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and International Studies also participated in this study ‘Ihe research aims at constructing a marking scheme for the end-of-semester English oral test of tenth-grade students Constructing a marking scheme for oral tests is a complex process In this paper, a combination of three methods: intuitive, qualitative and

quantitative are employed by the researcher The research slarled with wriling the

dratt of marking scheme Then, the rescarcher cbtained the judgments from experts and other teachers Next, the marking scheme was piloted with 150 tenfh-prade

students Based on analyzing the students’ scores of the oral tesis, the researcher examined how well the marking scheme works The findings revealed that the

marking scheme can be used by the teachers effectively although there is still a need for further investigation to improve and validate the current marking scheme The anajority of the teachers took a positive attitude toward the marking, scheme They

believed in the efficacy of marking scheme in spite of some difficulties at the

beginning and recommended the vontinuatiou of using (he marking scheme for lhe next school year Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are

drawn out based on the research findings

iii

1.3.2 Approach to construct a marking scheme

1.3.3 Sleps ía construcl a marlting sc]efte

1.3.4 Types of marking schemes

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

1.3.2 Approach to construct a marking scheme

1.3.3 Sleps ía construcl a marlting sc]efte

1.3.4 Types of marking schemes

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

ABSTRACT

‘This thesis was conducted at Cam Giang Lligh School ‘the participants consisted of

150 tenth-prade students and six English teachers at Cam Giang High School Two experts in the Center for Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and International Studies also participated in this study ‘Ihe research aims at constructing a marking scheme for the end-of-semester English oral test of tenth-grade students Constructing a marking scheme for oral tests is a complex process In this paper, a combination of three methods: intuitive, qualitative and

quantitative are employed by the researcher The research slarled with wriling the

dratt of marking scheme Then, the rescarcher cbtained the judgments from experts and other teachers Next, the marking scheme was piloted with 150 tenfh-prade

students Based on analyzing the students’ scores of the oral tesis, the researcher examined how well the marking scheme works The findings revealed that the

marking scheme can be used by the teachers effectively although there is still a need for further investigation to improve and validate the current marking scheme The anajority of the teachers took a positive attitude toward the marking, scheme They

believed in the efficacy of marking scheme in spite of some difficulties at the

beginning and recommended the vontinuatiou of using (he marking scheme for lhe next school year Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are

drawn out based on the research findings

iii

ABSTRACT

‘This thesis was conducted at Cam Giang Lligh School ‘the participants consisted of

150 tenth-prade students and six English teachers at Cam Giang High School Two experts in the Center for Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and International Studies also participated in this study ‘Ihe research aims at constructing a marking scheme for the end-of-semester English oral test of tenth-grade students Constructing a marking scheme for oral tests is a complex process In this paper, a combination of three methods: intuitive, qualitative and

quantitative are employed by the researcher The research slarled with wriling the

dratt of marking scheme Then, the rescarcher cbtained the judgments from experts and other teachers Next, the marking scheme was piloted with 150 tenfh-prade

students Based on analyzing the students’ scores of the oral tesis, the researcher examined how well the marking scheme works The findings revealed that the

marking scheme can be used by the teachers effectively although there is still a need for further investigation to improve and validate the current marking scheme The anajority of the teachers took a positive attitude toward the marking, scheme They

believed in the efficacy of marking scheme in spite of some difficulties at the

beginning and recommended the vontinuatiou of using (he marking scheme for lhe next school year Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are

drawn out based on the research findings

iii

2.4.1 Rationale for using a multiple-rnethod approaeh seo

3.1 The finding from interviews with leachers and expGTfs cuoi 33 3.2 The finding Írorm seotes of studenis" oral t€sfs snsessesieiui7 PART C: CONCLUSION ses sensssesssusiestuseesistenenstneeneenoneeineasiaeieeneneen 3

APPENDIX 4B seovcteintestiseieeesseininstentisieanente sansa IX

U12 08T 1ẽa1a.4 ẻ.ẻốẻ°\A'

TAST OF FABLES

'Table 1: Pearson Correlatiori oi Gramnar

Table 2: Pearson Correlation on vocabulary

Table 3: Pearson Correlation oi pronunoiation

‘Table 4: Pearson Correlation on fluency and coherence

Table 5: Pearson Correlation on Sum

vii

2.4.1 Rationale for using a multiple-rnethod approaeh seo

3.1 The finding from interviews with leachers and expGTfs cuoi 33 3.2 The finding Írorm seotes of studenis" oral t€sfs snsessesieiui7 PART C: CONCLUSION ses sensssesssusiestuseesistenenstneeneenoneeineasiaeieeneneen 3

APPENDIX 4B seovcteintestiseieeesseininstentisieanente sansa IX

U12 08T 1ẽa1a.4 ẻ.ẻốẻ°\A'

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

1.3.2 Approach to construct a marking scheme

1.3.3 Sleps ía construcl a marlting sc]efte

1.3.4 Types of marking schemes

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Hirst and foremost, | owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen ‘Thi

Ngoc Quynh for her encouragement, support, and guidance and for giving me constructive feedback throughout this thesis She has guided me in searching for relevant theory to my thesis and has also assisted in collecting data Consequently, 1

have learnt a lot about the assessment of English oral tests and construction of a

smarking scheme for oral tests

Secondly, I would like to thank Ms Bui Thien Sao, an expert of the Center for

Language Testing and Assessment of the University of Languages and Iernational Studies for her invaluable assistance during the research time

Thirdly, this thesis would not have been possible without the enthusiastic parlicipalion of six English teachers and 150 students at Cam Giang High School where the research was carried out

Lastly, I would like to thank my family whose love and support help me complete

this thesis.

2.4.1 Rationale for using a multiple-rnethod approaeh seo

3.1 The finding from interviews with leachers and expGTfs cuoi 33 3.2 The finding Írorm seotes of studenis" oral t€sfs snsessesieiui7 PART C: CONCLUSION ses sensssesssusiestuseesistenenstneeneenoneeineasiaeieeneneen 3

APPENDIX 4B seovcteintestiseieeesseininstentisieanente sansa IX

U12 08T 1ẽa1a.4 ẻ.ẻốẻ°\A'

PART A: INTRODUCTION:

‘This part is offered to introduce the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, significance of the study, an overview of the employed methods and the design of the study

1 Rationale

English is the most popular official language in the world and the primary language

of global trade and commerce It is an intemational means of interaction and

communication in almost all countries Proficiency im English is seen as a desirable

goal for a lot of people in the world In many countries including Vietnam, English

is taught as a compulsory subject at school and it is included in many exams Cf all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing: speaking is generally thought to

‘be the most important due to the fact that a lot of learners have spent years studying English but they still cannot speak it fluently In order to speak a foreign language, the learners must mastor the sound system of the language, use appropriaic vocabulary and be able to put words together intelligibly with minimal hesitation Moreover, they also need to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriatcly lo mainlain good-natured relation to achieve communication gual (Luoma, 2004) Although students’ speaking skills are often practiced and developed, it is not extensively assessed Comparing to other skills, speaking is the aost difficult language skill to assess the reliability The student’ speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, m real time between the teacher

and the student Besides, the facters such as the nature of the interaction, the kind of

tasks, the questions asked, the topic raised and the opporlumty given students to

speak in Iinglish will all have an impact on the student's performance (Luoma,

2004) On assessing speaking skills, the teacher has to take on the role as an

interviewer and assessor at once, which puls him or her under a Jot of pressure This makes teachers hesitant to assess speaking and focus om assessing, other skills

instead (Rychtarik, 201 4) However, “if you waml to encourage oral ability, len test

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEER: Common European Framework of Reference

MOET: Ministry of Hducation and ‘lraining

vi

1.3.2 Approach to construct a marking scheme

1.3.3 Sleps ía construcl a marlting sc]efte

1.3.4 Types of marking schemes

TAST OF FABLES

'Table 1: Pearson Correlatiori oi Gramnar

Table 2: Pearson Correlation on vocabulary

Table 3: Pearson Correlation oi pronunoiation

‘Table 4: Pearson Correlation on fluency and coherence

Table 5: Pearson Correlation on Sum

vii