Chia sẻ kinh nghiệm trong giảng dạy và kiểm tra, đánh giá môn tiếng anh

We, teachers, need to have a strong desire to change their teaching on the basis of our students’ feedback on which language teaching methods are most effective for them, what motivates

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO VĨNH PHÚC

HỘI THẢO

Chia sẻ kinh nghiệm trong giảng dạy

và kiểm tra, đánh giá môn tiếng Anh

Seminar on good practices in English

language teaching and testing

Vĩnh Phúc, ngày 16 tháng 04 năm 2015

TEACHING WITH UNDERSTANDING

Lê Văn Canh

All dedicated teachers want to find out a model of the best practice For so many years, teachers have been advised to adopt a particular method of teaching, which is considered to be the best practice at a particular time Unfortunately, after leaving the teacher training workshop or teacher training venue, teachers rarely use the method that is advised to them to teach their students in their own classroom Why?

From my professional experience as an English language teacher and researcher I have observed that there were students who participated eagerly in any communicative activity, but showed very little improvement on tests There were also students who preferred teacher-fronted instruction and participated reluctantly in any form of learner-centered activity, but who did better on tests than their more enthusiastic classmates Is this because of the problematic relationship between the new methods of teaching we were trying out in our classes and the progress our students made? While reading the literature on foreign language teaching and while listening to presentations by teachers at international professional conferences, I came to realize that teachers all over the world were haunted by this question, too Teachers either debate publicly or in private soul this question It can feel as if we are caught in a perceptual cycle of questioning the effectiveness of anything we try in our classrooms because we are all motivated

to look for the best practice that provides our students with the English language skills they need But, where does that practice come from? My purpose in this talk is to explain that the best practice we are looking for comes from our teaching with understanding

What is teaching with understanding?

Richards (1999) point out that there are concurrent models of effective teaching, each with

“specific assumptions about what the essential knowledge base, skills, and attitudes [for best practice] are” (p 34) He classifies these models into three categories The first category is called science-research which views best practice as being formed and validated by scientific research and supported by experimentation and empirical investigation Task-based language teaching and learner-training are two examples of this view The second category is called ‘theory- philosophy conceptions which are not built “on empirical research, but on philosophical, political and moral grounds” (tr 38) One example of this is the Communicative Approach The third category is referred to as the art-craft view of best practice, according to which advocates a bottom-up view of best practice In other words, the best practice of teaching is developed by the teachers themselves According to Richards (1999), both the science-research conception and the theory-philosophy conceptions of the best practice are prescriptive and decontextualized He emphasizes the value of the art-craft view, arguing that the best practice in language teaching should be developed out of teachers’ understanding of their own teaching.

Because of the weaknesses of the concept of ‘teaching method’, there has been a movement away from ‘methods’ and other ‘external’ or ‘top-down’ views of teaching toward an approach that seeks to understand teaching in its own terms David Nunan (1988) notes, “It has been realized that there never was and probably never will be a method for all” So, the current concern among scholars and researchers in our field is how to help teachers to develop their own approach to teaching their own students in their own schools This is called ‘a teacher’s approach’ According to Brown (2002), a teacher’s approach to “language teaching is the theoretical rationale that underlies everything that happens in the classroom It is the cumulative body of knowledge and principles that enable teachers ….to diagnose the needs of the students,

to treat students with successful pedagogical techniques, and to assess the outcome of those treatments” (p 11) Several decades ago, Earl Stevick (1980) wrote about language learning

“Success depends less on linguistic analyses, materials and methods and more on what goes on inside and between people in a language classroom’ (p 4) Therefore, “attention now has shifted

to teaching and learning processes and the contributions of the individual teacher to language teaching pedagogy” (Richards & Renandya, 2002, p 5) Put another way, the best practice in

teaching English resides in what I call ‘Teaching with understanding’

What is meant by ‘teaching with understanding’?

It is important to clarify and emphasize that I do not mean that teachers are teaching without

understanding On the contrary, by ‘understanding’ I mean understanding our own teaching

with reference to our students’ learning Such an understanding, I believe, is the prerequisite for any effective change in teaching and learning Such an understanding is needed both to develop

an appropriate, clear rationale for the change and its hoped-for outcomes, and to develop appropriate processes to enable the aims of the change to be achieved Such an understanding plus the knowledge of the principles of language pedagogy will enable teachers to develop their own principled pedagogy which can accommodate their learners’ learning needs, learning styles preferences and expectations as well as other contextual variables I believe that we cannot teach our students better without understanding the way we teach because teaching is multifaceted and contextually situated In what follows I will clarify further what I mean by understanding our teaching

Where does understanding of teaching come from?

‘Understanding’ of teaching is developed through the process of repeated reflection on our own teaching by asking the following questions:

 Who am I as a teacher?

 Who are my students? How do they experience my teaching?

 What do I know about my teaching context?

 What do I know about the subject matter content that I teach?

 Why do I teach the way that I do?

 What are the consequences of my teaching practices for my students?

 How do I make sense of theoretical knowledge?

 Who is my professional community?

 What sort of change do I see as fit for my own teaching?

(Johnson, 1999, p 139) Thus, in order to understand our own teaching, we need to explore it According to Richards (1994), this exploration,

… often starts with the instructors themselves and the actual teaching processes,

and seeks to gain a better understanding of these processes by exploring with

teachers what they do and why they do it The result is the construction of an

‘internal’ or ‘bottom up” view of teaching The approach is often teacher

initiated and directed because it involves instructors observing themselves,

collecting data about their own classrooms and their roles within them, and using

that data as a basis for self-evaluation, for change, and hence for professional

growth.” (p.ix)

The goal of exploration is to see teaching differently Fanselow (1988) emphasizes that the goal

of development through exploration is to see teaching differently To accomplish this we need to

be willing to explore by making small changes to our teaching For example, if you usually teach from the front of the classroom, what would happen if you taught from the back? If you always stay in the classroom when students are reading, what would happen if you left the classroom? Through exploring to see teaching differently by trying out new behaviors to see what happens affords us chances to "construct, reconstruct, and revise our teaching" (Fanselow, 1988, p 116) When we try new things, we can compare them with what we usually do, and based on this comparison we can see our teaching differently, including our beliefs about teaching and learning In order to see teaching differently, we need to go beyond trying to solve problems in our teaching; we can do this by taking different avenues to awareness Exploration of teaching

includes the use of avenues to awareness (Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999) The most traveled

avenue is that of problem solving For example, when students stop doing homework, teachers consider how to get them to do it again If students don't understand the teacher's instructions, that teacher works on ways to give instructions differently so they can understand However, by only focusing on trying to work out problems, we miss chances to see teaching outside of these problems (Fanselow, 1987) Although problem solving makes sense and is certainly worth doing,

we can go beyond looking for solutions to problems by taking a variety of other avenues to

awareness One of these avenues is to explore simply to see what happens To do this, Fanselow

(1987) suggests we try the opposite to our usual classroom behavior For example, if we are aware that we say "very good" after most student responses, we can be silent, and then describe what happened If we usually have students sit in rows, we can have them form a semi-circle If

we always teach from the front of the classroom, we can try teaching from the back If students read aloud in every class, we can ask them to read silently The idea is to discover what we

normally do and to try the opposite to see what happens Another avenue to awareness is

exploring to see what is One way to do this is exploring what we actually do in our teaching as

opposed to what we think we are doing For example, if a teacher thinks she has designed group

work activities that keep students talking in English and staying on task, she could tape record students' group work interaction This helps her to analyze the interaction to determine if students are talking in English and staying on task By doing so, “teachers remain lifelong students of teaching …[and] are able to articulate why they teach the way they do” (Johnson,

1999, p 139) Johnson also urges us to “focus less on what you are doing as teacher, and more

on what your students are experiencing in your classroom …determining what causes difficulties for them, what challenges them …what they get out of participating in your instructional activities” (1999, p 140).

There are two strategies for teachers to explore their own practice for better understanding of their teaching: Action Research (Burns 2010) and Exploratory Practice (Allwright & Hanks 2010) However, most of us have little time or energy to engage in action research and /or exploratory practice A heavy teaching load, a crowded curriculum, and the pressure of standardized final exams leave many of us with limited time in a typical day to thoroughly prepare our classes, let alone engaging in researching our own teaching In addition, lack of research skills and confidence discourages many of us The problems are compounded if we work in an environment where we are imposed by administrators the way we should teach and where sharing insights with colleagues is not encouraged Thus, we need to be motivated and supported We, teachers, need to have a strong desire to change their teaching on the basis of our students’ feedback on which language teaching methods are most effective for them, what motivates them to study English, which learning styles they use to process language input, and the strategies they use in class and at home to promote their own learning At the same time, we also need to be supported by administrators and teacher evaluators who encourage, appreciate and put pressure on teacher creative innovations in their teaching There is ample empirical evidence that where right pressure is accompanied with corresponding support, innovation will occur, and the best practice will be developed by individual teachers, which helps learners learn better

References

Allwright, R and Hanks, J (2010) The developing language learner: An introduction to

exploratory practice Basingstoke: Palgrave- MacMillan.

Brown, H D (2002) English language teaching in the ‘post-method era: Toward better

diagnosis, treatment, and assessment In J C Richards & W A Renandya (Eds.),

Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp 9-18).

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burns, A (2010) Doing action research in language teaching: A guide for practitioners New

York: Routledge.

Fanselow, J F (1987) Breaking rules: Generating and exploring alternatives in language

teaching White Plains, NY: Longman.

Fanselow, J F (1988) "Let's see": Contrasting conversations about teaching TESOL

Quarterly 22(1), 113-30.

Gebhard, J.G & Oprandy, R (1999) Language teaching awareness: A guide to exploring

beliefs and practices New York: Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, K (1999) Understanding language teaching: Reasoning in action Boston: Heinle and

Heinle.

Nunan, D (1988) The learner-centred curriculum: A study in second language teaching

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J C (1994) Series editor’s preface In J C Richards & C Lockhart , Reflective

teaching in second language classroom (p ix) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J C (1999) Beyond training Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J C & W A Renandya, W A (Eds.) (2002) Methodology in language teaching: An

anthology of current practice Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stevick, E (1980) Teaching languages: A way and ways Rowley: Newbury House.

MOTIVATING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN WRITING CLASSES:

of their accuracy still need further addressing.

KEY WORDS: motivation, writing, personal reflection

INTRODUCTION

Students’ motivation in learning English

Almost every teacher and researcher is fully aware that motivation is indispensable in the success

of any learning process According to Gardner (1985), to be motivated, the learner needs to have something to look forward to, a purpose related to goal or objective Crookes and Schmidt (1991) identified motivation as learner’s orrientation with regard to the goal of learning a second lanugage As Dornyei (1989) stated, it influences the rate and success of L2 learning and it is the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process It means with high motivation or the interest in, the enthusiasm for learning the language, the students can overcome challenges and difficulties during their learning process to improve their English Motivation, as defined by MacIntyre, McMaster and Baker (2001), is “an attribute of the individual describing the psychological qualities uderlying behavior with respect to a particular task” A more explicit definition by Dornyei (2001) stated that the motivated individual expends effort, is persistent and attentive to the task at hand, has goals, desires and aspirations, enjoys the activity, experiences reinforcement from success and disappointment from failure, makes attributions concerning success and/ or failure, is aroused, and makes use of strategies to aid in achieving goals Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that motivation ensures the success of L2 learning.

Regarding writing skills, Hamidun, Hashim and Othman asserted that high level of motivation for writing is a driving force for them to write in a meaningful way According to Bruning and Horn (2000), there are some factors that affect students’ motivation to write, including encouraging students’ positive beliefs about writing, fostering authentic goals and contexts for writing and creating a positive classroom environment Jones (1988) stated that it is a challenge for the EFL writing teacher to interest and challenge enough with the course curriculum for them

to want to learn to write well

My students’ lack of motivation in writing classes

Despite being well aware of the crucial role of writing in developing their English proficiency, most of my students showed a lack of motivation for it They performed passively and unenthusiastically during class time, and their writing products revealed insufficient investment

in terms of both ideas and linguistic resources Without any exaggeration, they were just a little more than mechanic copies of the models given in the textbooks, which actually could hardly communicate anything new or meaningful They just made very minor changes of words or some information More terribly, some students even copied the writings from a reference book without any changes These facts were really sad and alarming to me, because I knew that they were active students and they could have done much better.

After a number of personal talks with my students, I found out that the routine that I adopted in

my writing lessons was one of the main causes The lengthy explanation of structures and lexical items, inflexible use of writing tasks in the textbook, limited organization of cooperative writing activities and the requirement of submitting the final product right after while-writing stage altogether caused boredom and pressure for the students

Some changes to enhance my students’ motivation in writing classes

Having addressed the major problems, I was determined to make some changes to my writing lessons, starting with (1) customizing textbook writing tasks, (2) organizing group writing activities, (3) encouraging peer feedback along with (4) allowing home revision before submission, and lastly (5) keeping a class album of good writing pieces These techniques are no longer novel in ELT; in fact, they are what I learned from my teachers at university in their writing classes However, that was the first time my students had learned English writing in such

a way This report reflected upon my efforts to enhance my students’ engagement and motivation in writing classes through the use of the five techniques mentioned above

METHOD

Method of collecting data

The study employed two qualitative methods of collecting data, including classroom observation and teaching journal Classroom observation was chosen because it was a good tool for me to

keep a record of what activities took place during classtime, what reactions students had to the activities and how they took part in the activities I utilized an observation scheme, but it was only in a very simple form and for personal use While the observation scheme was used during classtime, teaching journal was chosen to be used after class Teaching journal was where I wrote down the descriptions of the activities that had been used in class and my notes on the strong points and weak points

Participants

The participants included two classes, 11I and 11M Tran Phu High School (School-year 2014) Class 11I consisted of 31 students with 12 males and 19 females, and class 11M had 45 students with 2 males and 43 females The two classes were chosen because they were the classes to which the researcher was directly in charge of teaching English

2013-Procedure

The implementation of the techniques in each unit of semester 1 is demonstrated in the following table:

2 Writing a personal letter to describe a

past experience

3 Writing an informal letter of invitation √ √ √ √ √

4 Writing a formal letter expressing

gratitude

7 Interpreting statistics on population

During class time, I observed the class and took notes on observation sheets After each unit, I commented on how effective each technique was and what should be done to enhance its effectiveness Improvements on the implementation of the techniques were made along the way The study was conducted to the two classes throughout semester 1 of school-year 2013-2014 from August 2013 to December 2013

RESULTS

My classroom observation and teaching journal signified that the writing period enjoyed a hectic atmosphere that it had never had before; the students showed better involvement in class activities and higher responsibility for their own study as well as their classmates’ Writing has gradually become less of a burden and more of an enjoyment to them In general, the goal of enhancing students’ engagement and motivation in writing classes was, to a large extent, achieved although some shortcomings regarding the conduction of each technique and the issue

of modest improvement of their accuracy still need further addressing.

Reflection on technique 1 (Customizing textbook tasks)

The data from teaching journal showed that the customized tasks were more personal and more meaningful to the students so they were more willing to write and take part in class activities The new tasks, which required different answers from those provided by reference books, forced students to think and write by themselves However, the shortcoming is that some tasks in the textbook were too difficult to adapt to students’ preference and ability

In Unit 1 English 11 (Standard), the writing task in the textbook asks students to write about a friend, real or imaginary, following the given guildlines Then I made some changes to the task

by requiring them to write about one of their classmates without revealing his/her name The detailed steps include having students picking a card with a classmate’s name inside, writing about him/ her without telling his/her name, and then exchanging the writing with a parter who would guess about the person described in the writing and give comments

The journal revealed that when students saw the box with name cards inside, they looked very happy and curious Picking up a card with a name inside, they started their writing eagerly They asked me for help with new words/ expressions They seemed to think a lot about how to describe their friend precisely so that their partner could guess who he/ she was They had never showed such willingness to write before

Reflection on technique 2 (Organizing group writing)

The strong points of technique 2 include the fact that group writing activities created an exciting class atmosphere and good writing products and that group work often involved both cooperation and competition so students took part in it more eagerly However, the exciting atmosphere seemed to be only superfical; most students didn’t contribute much

Take writing part of unit 3 as example In this part, I asked students to do two main tasks:

Task 1: Work in groups and make a plan for your group’s party at home and present your plan on

a poster This task is a pre-writing task, done at home

Task 2: Based on the information in your plan, groups write a letter to invite your classmate to your party

It is reflected that Task 1 – home task for group was very good The students’ plans on posters looked very informative and beautiful This is one example from group “Moon and Souls” – class 11M They planned a party on the occasion of Mid-Autumn festival or another one from another group about Tet Holiday The students were proud of their group’s product and were well activated for the while-writing task – writing an invitation letter

Illustration 1: Groups’ posters of party plans

As opposed to the good things that group activities brought to pre-writing activity, group writing activity didn’t help all students write Very little writing took place Students moved around, talking and laughing happily, but in fact they learned very little

while-In Unit 8, I asked students to work in groups about the writing tasks This time the writing task was also separated into two sub-tasks:

Task 1: Work in groups Before class, decide a celebration (New Year, Tet Holiday, Halloween, Mid-autumn festival, etc.) to collect information about.

Task 2: Work in groups In class, based on the information collected write a paragraph about the celebration on a poster

Students appeared to be very effective in searching for the information Most groups brought to class a set of print-outs on the celebration they had chosen In their print-outs, many paragraphs were highlited in yellow or blue, and many new words were carefully cited with meaning and word forms on the margins This showed that they had read the materials before class and took delight in learning about the celebration in English In class, they were very eager in the writing tasks In each group, some were in charge of writing while the others decorating the poster However, as I saw it, the task seemed to be quite difficult for them They discussed and then argued a lot on what and how to write, although they mostly did it in Vietnamese The materials they had chosen seemed to contain many complex words so they had difficulty understanding and choosing words Then, some better students started to get stressed and some other weaker students steadily gave up

After using them for two units, I realized that while class writing activities helped to create an exciting atmosphere and was somewhat successful in involving students in learning activities, many factors should be considered in order to use them probably.

Reflection on technique 3 (Encouraging peer feedback)

Peer feedback was effective in getting students involved in the writing process, promoting students’ confidence and responsibility and helping students learn from each other However, it was noted in my journal that if the students were not trained about how to give feedback, it could have counter-productive effects on them

After the first two units, it was shown that the students felt excited about checking their partner’s writing as it was a new task to them, but they looked too serious and stressed when they read their friend’s writing They appeared to care too much about the grammar mistakes and did not enjoy the writing It was nearly the same senario for almost every pair that one student pointed out the mistakes, and the other listened silently and unhappily It seemed that they just focused

on grammar and cared little about the content

Illustration 2: A peer-feedback pair (Class 11I)

The other thing was about the way they corrected their friends’ mistakes, which was quite discouraging As I found in the students’ first drafts, there were almost no comments on good points Only mistakes were highlighted Many students often used large symbols to mark the mistakes – big circles, long and thick underlines, crosses and even big question marks These things migh have made the students who had their writing checked feel that their writing was a rubbish

Illustration 3: A writing with peer feedback (Unit 3)

Therefore, I decided that students need to be instructed how to give positive feedback I gave them a small note, which stressed four important things to remember when students checked each other’s writing:

(1) Enjoy the content first and comment on good points first;

(2) Treat your friend’s writing with care and respect;

(3) Use small mistake-highlighting symbols;

(4) Be positive and encouraging This actually helped a lot.

After unit 8, peer feedback was a habit to the students They seemed to be more “pro” in giving comments They started with complimenting on good points then turned to pointing out things to improve They learned from each other and helped each other improve their writing Both students in a pair looked happy as there was a sense of sharing and cooperation among them Reflection on technique 4 (Allowing home revision)

Home revision gave students a chance to edit and improve their writings before handing them in

to the teacher, so they felt more secure and confident about their writing Students made more effort on their writings Home revision also meant higher marks, which in turn provided another reason for students to try

[…] Ss were more secure when they were given the chance to revise their writing at home after peer feedback, and they seemed to have more motivation to refine their writing Higher levels of confidence and security in writing classes encouraged Ss to take part in the lesson more actively and invest in their writings more

[…] When I asked Ss to submit both their first draft and final draft, I also saw the improvement

in their writing That also meant higher marks, and higher marks provided another motive for Ss

to try to write …

Reflection on technique 5 (Keeping a class album)

A class album was like a target for students to reach, so many of the students tried harder in order to be selected for the album Ss invested more in their writings: content, structures and appearance In the first three units, the album only focused on the best writings, so it failed to attract the attention of most of the class.

[…] After 3 units in both classes, only 3 or 4 Ss, who were very good at writing, had their writings selected for the album The other students seemed unable to compete with them for a place in the album if the highest marks were the only consideration Thus, most of the Ss in the classes did not care much about the album

With a view to attracting more students, I decided that more considerations for selected writings

be enlisted Then I introduced two other considerations including the writings with the most

interesting content and the writings with the most impressive look in addition to the writings with the highest marks

The modification brought positive changes to the students’ attitudes towards the album The number of students who had their writing selected increased The album no longer included names of good students; weaker students also took part in In general, if the album covers a good range of considerations, it will be a very good means of encouraging students to write

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Major findings

All five ways adopted were, to a large extent, effective in enhancing students’ motivation in writing classes in that they increased students’ self-confidence and sense of security during class time, provided meaningful tasks that created a real purpose for students to write, created an exciting, relaxing class atmosphere, which was both cooperative and competitive at the same time, and drew a target for students to reach

Recommendations

After implementing the five techniques in my writing classes, I found that the techniques themselves are helpful in motivating students to learn, but the ways we conduct the techniques can help magnify their effects or cause counter-productive effects on students It is important that each teacher apply innovative techniques in their class so as to faciliate their students’ learning and get useful experience for themselves

Personally, I got some lessons from my application of the five techniques, which can be very useful for other teachers who are also concerned with using them in their classes First, regarding group writing activities, they are probably better for pre-writing stage than the while-writing stage If group writing is still desired, portfolio or project work might be a better choice as they give students more time and have more structured and reliable assessment rubrics of students’ performance and their contribution in group Second, as for peer feedback, if it is to be used, some training to students beforehand is necessary so that they will adopt a more positive attitude towards proofreading and correcting mistakes Teachers should not assume that students already know what to do with their friend’s writing; some modelling will definitely help them a lot With appropriate instructions, students’ skills and right attitudes towards peer feedback will gradually build up Last but not least, a class album will likely attract more students and act as a target for students to make an effort in their writing if the selection does not focus too much on perfect grammar and enlists more considerations

REFERENCES

Bruning, R and Horn, C (2000) Developing motivation to write Educational Psychologist, 35, 25-37.

Crookes, G and Schmidt, R.W (1991) Motivation: Re-opening the research agenda Language Learning, 41, 469-512

Jones, N.B (1998) Comments on Tony Silva’s “On the ethical treatment of ESL writers”: a defense of using themes and topics to teach ESL/ EFL writing TESOL Quarterly, 32(2) 338-

342

Nazifah Hamidun, Shafiq Hizwari Md Hashim, and Nur Farhinaa Othman (2012) Enhancing Students’ Motivation by Providing Feedback on Writing: The Case of International Students from Thailand International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol 2, No 6, November 2012.

P.D MacIntyre, K MacMaster and S.C Baker, “The convergence of multiple models of motivation for second language learning: Gardner, Pintrich, Kuhl, and McCroskey,” In Z Dornyei & R Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition (Technical Report

#23, pp 461-492) Honolulu: University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, 2001

R.C Gardner, Social Psychology in Second Language Learning, Edward Arnold Ltd, London, Great Britain, 1985

Z Dornyei, “New themes and approaches in second language motivation research,” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 23-59,2001.

Zolt´n Dörnyei (1998) Motivation in second and foreign language learning Language Teaching,

31, pp 117135 doi:10.1017/S026144480001315X

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vu Thu Ha is a teacher of English at Tran Phu High School, Vinh Phuc Province She graduated from University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU), Hanoi, in 2009 She worked for Faculty of English at ULIS from 2009 to 2011 and she got a Master’s degree in English Linguistics in 2013 She has been teaching high school students for 4 years now

MEASURING SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ENLGISH PROFICIENCY

WITH INTERNATIONAL TESTS

Nguyen Kieu Oanh, M.A., Academic Officer, IIG Vietnam, Hanoi

Do Thi Xuan Hoa, M.A., Academic Officer, IIG Vietnam, Hanoi Nguyen Phuong Suu, M.A., Senior Academic Advisor, IIG Vietnam

Abstract

English has become a key to the first door for Vietnam’s integration with the world A lot of efforts have been taken to enhance the quality of learning and teaching the language However, the levels of proficiency of the Vietnamese users of English as a foreign language remain unsatisfactory in comparison with their Asian and ASEAN peers Assessment has been identified as a tool thanks to its positive backwash effects on the process of teaching and learning Apart from internal measurements, external measurements will serve as a counterweight or a good ‘mirror’ upon which the quality of teaching and learning is reliably reflected Information provided by these external measurements will be beneficial to learners, parents, educators and managements The report will cover basic details of the TOEFL tests and supporting means and learning materials.

Effective communication in the 21st century

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has released the 6-level national framework of foreign language proficiency, which is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) The Ministry has also published a framework of levels of language proficiency for school students from primary to high school level[i] Another important release is the 3-level format[ii] for

a test of English proficiency for the general users Most recently, the Prime Minister has endorsed a decision to promote and encouraged the teaching and learning of mathematics and sciences in English This underlines the importance of mastering the language as a dire need

A lot of efforts have been made to enhance the quality of learning and teaching the language However, the levels of proficiency of the Vietnamese users of English as a foreign language remain low in comparison with their other Asian and ASEAN peers This situation remains a major concern for both educators and managements

Internationally, English has become a lingua franca in various fields Reasserting the importance

of effective communication in the 21st century, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, late Minister Mentor and Senior Advisor to the Government of Singapore at the launch of the English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) said: “Communication skills are one of the most important competencies needed in the 21st century workforce If one is to succeed, he or she will need a mastery of English because it is the language of business, science, diplomacy and academia.”[iii]

The Singaporean statesman further advised: “To maintain the high standards of English competency in Singapore, we need to ensure that from the time a child steps into kindergarten, he is exposed to good English Our schools must provide a rich language environment There must be a strong reading culture where children can access and enjoy good books There must be a culture of oracy Opportunities must be given to students to speak in English Students must present information and ideas, to clarify and to debate robustly with each other in English.” (Ibid)

English as a lingua franca has developed beyond national borders According to research results, scientific studies published in English have rapidly increased in number, from 84.5% in 1980 to 95.9% in

2000 [iv] The tendency has inspired and called for the teaching of the language to increase proportionally

in a globalized world Likewise, UNESCO statistics of 2007 [v] showed that 45.24% of scholarly journals are in English, 11.1% in German, 6.51% in Chinese, 4.94% in French, 3.46% in Japanese, and 1.30% in Russian, adding greater emphasis to the trend The survey showed a similar tendency with the media

Learning a new language

Research studies[vi] have found out that children exposed to more than one language before the age of puberty seem to acquire all the languages equally well(Fromkin et al: 369) Research findings have confirmed that if one starts learning a new language early in life, it will be easier for him or her to master

it Therefore, it is advisable to start a new language as early as possible, since early imprints live long, hold fast, and may affect a whole process

In response to dire needs of integration, the teaching of English in Vietnam has gathered momentum However, its development has not met the requirements.[vii] Problems have been identified with methods of teaching-learning and an absence of a valid and consistent assessment This report does not seek to recap the situation of teaching and learning of English in Vietnam, which has been extensively discussed elsewhere

Backwash effect of testing and assessment

One cannot know how one looks without a mirror By analogy, one can hardly know how one has progressed in study without a tool to measure the progress and achievement In the process of education, testing and assessment has been identified as an effective tool to give feedback information

on the teaching-learning activity and curriculum and syllabus The feedback information will help educators, learners, and managements to fine-tune or readjust curricula, syllabi or methods of learning- teaching, and so on

Main Types of Tests and their uses

Educational assessment is usually classified into two categories:

a) Achievement test, which is a type of test that is based on syllabus or course content, which is

often used to assess students’ progress and achievement at certain point or at the end of a course Secondary education graduation is an example of an achievement test.

b) Proficiency test, which is independent of any syllabi or textbooks It does not include what the

testees have learned but requires them to fulfill certain tasks or meet certain job-based requirements (e.g it may be used for exemption from certain exams, college admission, recruitment, etc.) TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, etc are a few examples

International measurement tools

Although the US educational system does not have a “national” curriculum, it has a large number

of educational assessment organizations across the country U.S educators have developed an extensive body of theory and an array of evaluation and assessment methods and techniques to assist in the identification of student learning styles and needs, the diagnosis of learning disabilities and related developmental issues, the classification of interests and abilities, the assessment of instructional and program quality and effectiveness, and the measurement of student learning and achievement Detailed and continuous evaluation and assessment is part of every educational program and is important in a system that does not rely on framework laws or uniform national examinations as templates to determine academic program content or student tracking and achievement.[viii]

This report will focus on external measurement tools that are expected to enhance the quality of teaching and learning of the language: the TOEFL family and learning supporting tools developed by one

of these testing bodies: the Educational Testing Service (ETS)

These are proficiency tests that are independent of any specific curricula or syllabi Apart from the most basic emphases presented below, readers are advised to logon to

http://www.iigvietnam.com/vi/ or directly to https://www.ets.org/toefl for further information on and deeper insight into the tests and their specifications.

Figure 1: The TOEFL Family of Assessments

The TOEFL Primary

In Vietnam, the TOEFL Primary program offers two tests to measure a range of skills:

 the paper-delivered Reading and Listening test — Step 1

 the paper-delivered Reading and Listening test — Step 2

Each test provides reliable scores, and scores from all tests are mapped to Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels TOEFL Primary Reading scores are also matched to Lexile measures, making it easier to find books and articles that best match students' English reading levels.

TOEFL Primary Reading and Listening tests assess students' knowledge, skills and abilities to fulfill core communication goals in English They are offered at two levels of proficiency, Step 1 and Step

2, so that you can select an assessment that more closely matches the skills your students have acquired.

Step 1

The Reading and Listening test — Step 1 is intended for students in the earlier stages of English learning and covers familiar contexts (school, home, playground); basic formulaic expressions; basic vocabulary and phrases related to common objects and people; short and simple requests and directions; short and simple text relevant to everyday experiences.

Section

Number of Questions

Number of Examples

Section Number of Questions Number of

Examples

Total Number of Questions

Time

Reading 36 1 37 30 minutes Listening 36 3 39 30 minutes

Administration of TOEFL Primary in Vietnam

The TOEFL Primary test has been administered in Vietnam since 2013 Students are advised to take the Challenge TOEFL Primary as a screening procedure to familiarize themselves with the test, and make sure that they are ready and competent enough to take the official test Recent statistics have shown that 25,200 students from 880 primary schools from 12 cities and provinces throughout the country have taken the test

TOEFL Junior tests

 In Vietnam, the TOEFL Junior test is available in paper-based mode The test measures Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, and Language Form and Meaning

Listening Comprehension 42 200–300 40 min

Language Form and Meaning 42 200–300 25 min

Reading Comprehension 42 200–300 50 min

Administration of TOEFL Junior in Vietnam

TOEFL Junior has been administered in Vietnam for students of middle schools since 2012.

Recent statistics have shown that 61,836 students from 1,171 middle schools from 14 cities and provinces throughout the country have taken the test

With a section of explicitly testing language form and meaning, TOEFL Junior serves as a bridge helping students to familiarize themselves with the higher levels of the TOEFL system.

TOEFL iBT

The TOEFL iBT test is an internet-based test that measures test takers’ ability in using and understanding academic English at university level.

Reading comprehension 36-56 0-30 60-90 minutes Listening comprehension 34-51 0-30 60-90 minutes

BREAK- 10 minutes Speaking 6 0-30 20 minutes Writing 2 0-30 50 minutes

TOTAL 0-120 200-250 minutes

Administration of TOEFL iBT in Vietnam

More than 9,000 tertiary institutions in 130 countries in the world accept the TOEFL iBT test score It is, therefore, essential that students planning to study abroad, especially in North America, take the TOEFL iBT to realize their plan

Test takers can register online at http://www.ets.org/toefl or can visit IIG Vietnam to make their registration.

TOEFL ITP (Institutional Testing Program)

The TOEFL ITP tests, a reliable assessment of academic English, are paper-based and use 100 percent academic content to evaluate the English-language proficiency of nonnative English speakers, giving you confidence about your students' ability in a real-world academic setting All questions are multiple choice and students answer questions by filling in an answer sheet The tests evaluate skills in three areas:

 Listening Comprehension measures the ability to understand spoken English as it is used

in colleges and universities

 Structure and Written Expression measures recognition of selected structural and

grammatical points in standard written English

 Reading Comprehension measures the ability to read and understand academic reading

material in English

Listening Comprehension 50 35 minutes 31–68 Structure and Written Expression 40 25 minutes 31–68 Reading Comprehension 50 55 minutes 31–67

Administration of TOEFL ITP in Vietnam

As has been with other members of the TOEFL system, TOEFL ITP has been used by a big number of tertiary institutions as a requirement for admission to post-graduate courses Most recently, MOET has announced an exemption of high school graduation test for students who own valid TOEFL ITP with 450/677 points

The true power of the Lexile Framework is its ability to measure both reading ability and text complexity on the same developmental scale while other reading level formulas just measure text

The Lexile Framework is based on research of more than 20 years ETS, creator of the TOEFL Junior and TOEFL Primary test, has joined with MetaMetrics, creator of the Lexile Framework for Reading, to link reading section scores from the exam with Lexile measures To assist young students studying English, each TOEFL Junior and TOEFL Primary score report will come with the student's reading section score matched with a Lexile measure and a link to the new multi-language website www.lexile.com/toeflprimary and www.lexile.com/toefljunior Students and parents can use this website to access more on Lexile measures and search for books and build custom reading lists based on the student’s ability and interests

English Learning Center (ELC)

TOEFL Primary and TOEFL Junior ELC are interactive online learning activities designed to help students reach their full potential in English-language proficiency.

Featuring eight theme-based units with 20 total hours of learning material, ELC covers learning objectives common to a range of curricula worldwide Many of the activities are iPad compatible.

The TOEFL Primary and TOEFL Junior English Learning Center is appropriate for a range of proficiency levels Guided by teachers, each student moves at his or her own pace through the online exercises and recorded practice Automated feedback on Listening and Reading activities indicate areas

of strength and areas for improvement Teachers monitor student progress and relay their feedback to students’ Speaking items and practice questions through the Teacher Management System (TMS).

The TMS provides teachers with the tools they need to accelerate student progress The system features an easy to use communication center for students to receive teacher feedback Using the system, teachers can:

 Generate reports

 View summary data on class completion

 Examine specific data on individual student completion

 Shape student content

 Determine and assign appropriate exercises based on student proficiency

 Provide access to TOEFL Junior practice tests

 Evaluate students’ speaking and writing responses

 Review student activities

 Read/listen to student responses

 Access ETS scoring rubrics

 View examples of student responses at different levels

 Provide personalised feedback on speaking and writing practice using available rubrics

 Provide written comments through email

English Discoveries Online (EDO)

Nominated by ETS as the most comprehensive learning program that realizes blended learning, EDO is gaining popularity among English language teachers and learners worldwide Thanks to its 10 courses (Beginning to Advanced) and high-quality educational content, EDO affords the best opportunities for students of all levels to practice and improve their language competencies, i.e Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking, Vocabulary and Grammar Students also substantially benefit from interactive and authentic learning materials including real-life videos, topical articles, radio podcasts and role-play to sharpen their communicative competence

What makes EDO stand out is the fact that it creates a social, cross-cultural online platform for students to share their learning experiences with fellow learners all over the world

Sanako Pronounce

Pronunciation has long been regarded as one of the most challenging skills to acquire among English language learners, especially among Vietnamese speakers where traditional classrooms are notoriously overcrowded The answer to more intelligible pronunciation, even near-native, can be found

in Sanako Pronounce Using the latest technology of turning text to speech, Sanako Pronounce ensures individualized learning and infinite learning materials Authentic speech models, flexible word and sentence pronunciation, high-quality recording, instant score and detailed feedback are among the

striking features that constitute a powerful learning tool for students to practice and heighten accuracy in their pronunciation

Writing Practice Program (WPP) and Criterion

The most cited part of a language teacher’s workload would be marking students’ papers This observation would probably stand in most English language teachers’ favour in Vietnam where the average number of students per class is 26 at primary level and 45 at high school level1

Reducing teachers’ workload in marking papers and enhancing the quality teaching writing skill is becoming more and more urgent than ever when the National Examination is coming and writing is now

an official component of the test What is the solution to the problem?

Among the answers stand two online writing practice programs namely Writing Practice Program ( http://wpponline.com ) and Criterion ( http://ets.criterion.org ) These two online practice programs offers

a 24/7 platform for teachers and students from primary to tertiary levels to learn about and practice academic writing skill With their interactive and vivid lessons on different aspects of the writing process, WPP and Criterion are reliable resources for both teachers and students Teachers, in particular, benefit from the primary function of automated scoring which significantly reduces their workload Similarly, students can practice autonomy in learning while working in groups and monitoring their own studies and progress

Besides the above-mentioned similarities, WPP and Criterion markedly differ from each other While WPP entirely focuses on developing the writing skill for students from primary to high school levels, Criterion expands their target user range to high school graduates, tertiary level students, and prospective candidates of such standardized tests as GRE, SAT and TOEFL It is prerequisite for schools

to become a member of the ERB2’s school network in order to benefit from shared resources and reduced prices Criterion, on the other hand, offers individual packages of teacher and student accounts without any request for commitment

Sanako Study 1200

Together with utilizing online programs in blended learning, transforming brick-and-mortar language classrooms is a task to fulfill An improved version of traditional physical classrooms is a language lab Sanako Study 1200 is a typical example of aninteractive and effective language lab software that can profoundly change the way English is taught and acquired Stimulating students to learn languages by performing activities, increasing students’ time on task and speaking time, catering for individual students to meet their level and needs, creating additional materials to fit course objective are all feasible with Sanako Study 1200

1 Circular # 42/2012/TT-BGDDT MOET On Criteria to assess quality of education institutions.

2 Educational Records Bureau(ERB) develops WPP

Full awareness of the importance of the English language and the learning needs of the language learners in the process of global integration would be an impetus to enhancing the teaching and learning

of the language The combination of internal and external educational measuring tools would provide positive feedback information on and a true picture of the teaching-learning situation, assisting educators and managements to make timely readjustment where and when required in terms of methods of teaching, development of curricula and syllabus in the expectation of enabling Vietnamese speakers of English to reach international standards

To the general endeavor of the whole society, IIG Vietnam has made a contribution that is worth

of appreciation./.

Hanoi, April 5, 2015