A CRITICAL REVIEW OF ASSESSMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE VIETNAMESE CONTEXT

This article provides a critical review of assessment in English language teaching and learning that contributes a significant part to quality education of students at school. Stages and processes of schoolbased oral English language assessment, the relationships between assessment and instruction in classrooms and the teacher decisionmaking in assessment are critically analysed. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the review including the important roles of assessment in English language teaching and learning to students and the stepbystep strategies and processes of schoolbased assessment in relation to the teacher decisionmaking that provide several implications for future empirical research.

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF ASSESSMENT

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

AND LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS

FOR THE VIETNAMESE CONTEXT

1Hong-Thu Thi Nguyen, 2*Hai-Ngoc Tran

Abstract-This article provides a critical review of assessment in English language teaching and learning

that contributes a significant part to quality education of students at school Stages and processes of school-based oral English language assessment, the relationships between assessment and instruction in classrooms and the teacher decision-making in assessment are critically analysed A number of conclusions can be drawn from the review including the important roles of assessment in English language teaching and learning to students and the step-by-step strategies and processes of school-based assessment in relation to the teacher decision-making that

provide several implications for future empirical research

Keywords: school-based assessment, teacher instruction, English language teaching, teacher

decision-making

I The Role of Assessment

Assessment is an important component in the teaching and learning process as teachers are provided with various kinds of information concerning students’ learning and accountability that is crucial for their decision-making in the classroom Teachers spend one-third to one-half of their time in the classroom on assessment related activities (Stiggins & Conklin, 2002) They constantly make decisions regarding students’ learning and development, as well as suitability and effectiveness of classroom instruction (Conca et al., 2018, Cheng et al., 2014) Information produced from assessment provides teachers with an insight into the meanings constructed or assigned by students to ideas and concepts taught in the classroom This aspect of assessment allows the teachers

to gauge whether the idea or concept taught was learnt successfully by the students through their teaching approaches (Saxe, et al., 2009)

There is a need to consider the difference between assessment and testing Rea-Dickins (2018) suggests that assessment refers to the general process of monitoring or keeping track of the learner’s progress while testing is one kind of assessment which is typically used at the end of a stage of instruction to measure student achievement She adds that assessment is a broader concept and it is part of the whole educational process of teaching and learning

1 Lecturer, Foreign Languages Division, Ha Noi Law University, No 87, Nguyen Chi Thanh St, Dong Da district, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, postcode: 10000; E-mail: thunth@hlu.edu.vn or nguyenthihongthu.hlu@gmail.com

2 Assistant to Rector/Senior lecturer, Institute of Continuing Education, Ha Tinh University, No 447, 26 March St, Ha Tinh city, Viet Nam, postcode: 45119; E-mail of the corresponding author: haingoc74@gmail.com or ngoc.tranhai@htu.edu.vn

Assessment has been recognised to be a powerful influence on students’ learning achievements and success (Anderson, 2015; Scouller, 2009; Tran, 2009) There are studies relating to teachers’ assessment practices (Brown, et al., 2009; Cheng, et al., 2014; Davison, 2004; Fulcher, 2003; Hargreaves, et al., 2012; Ho & Wong, 2009; Neesom, 2010; Ofra & Smadar, 2019) however, there is not much research that investigates what underlies teachers’ decision to employ certain forms of assessment tasks over others and the factors which motivate their ongoing classroom assessment practices

In Vietnam, assessment plays a major role as reforms in assessment and examination take place to meet the demands of a changing globalised world (MOET, 2012) In recent years, Vietnam has moved away from the traditional one-off examination to include assessment procedures that are on-going and more formative in nature (Le & Barnard, 2009; Le, 2011; Tran & Nguyen, 2019) and the School based English Assessment is a case in point

Table 2.1: Roles of classroom assessment

Preliminary  occurs during the first days of school and provide a basis for expectations throughout

the school year and are mainly obtained through a teacher’s spontaneous informal observations and oral questions (Oosterhof, 200 Ofra & Smadar, 2019)

Formative  takes place during instruction which serve to establish whether students have achieved

sufficient mastery of skills and understanding for the purpose of providing the students with feedback and planning for future instruction (Baroudi, 2007; Ofra & Smadar, 2019)

Summative  occurs at the conclusion of instruction for example at the end of a unit or an academic

year to certify student achievement and assign grades for the basis for promoting and grouping students (Ofra & Smadar, 2019; Shepard, 2006)

Diagnostic  take place before or, more typically during instruction and concern with skills and other

characteristics that are prerequisite to the current instruction or that enable the achievement of instructional objectives (Ofra & Smadar, 2019)

Based on the roles identified in Table 2.1, school based English assessment seems to fit into two roles: formative evaluations and summative evaluation As a formative evaluation, the assessment takes place during instruction and serves to gauge on students’ mastery of skills but also relates to summative evaluation as it is used to certify students’ achievement Thus, understanding these roles is vital among practicing teachers as it shall impact on the way they choose to practise the assessment in their classroom

The school-based English Assessment also now poses another challenge to the ever-increasing challenges teachers face (Asraf & Ponnudurai, 2008; Le & Barnard, 2009) Teachers are required to administer new procedures, use new instruments and interpret new criteria The assessment should also take into consideration differing abilities, styles and paces of learning (Dang, 2006, 2016; MOET, 2012; Tran & Nguyen, 2019) At the school level, teachers struggle with issues of limited time, fairness, validity, reliability, accountability of

students’ examination grades, dual identity and roles as teachers and assessors and other social and institutional expectations that leave them little time to examine and reflect upon their own practices (Dang, 2016; Le, 2010;

Le, 2011; Le & Barnard, 2009; MOET, 2012; Ong, 2010; Oosterhof, 2009)) This is a similar scenario in the Vietnam context with the School based Oral Assessment (Le & Barnard, 2009; Le, 2011) Little is understood of the processes of adaptation and acceptance of change by teachers locally and even less is known of how teachers orient themselves in dealing with the change This study shall address these issues by exploring how they assess and report the students’ oral proficiency By looking at this perspective, the study shall provide a platform for discovering the reasons teachers are burdened with problems relating to the assessment and provide possible recommendations to deal with the situation

II ASSESSMENT STAGES AND PROCESSES

There are several processes involved in developing assessment Ofra and Smadar (2019) identified seven steps in developing assessment: identifying purpose, planning for assessment, developing rubrics/ scoring procedures, setting standards, involving students in self and peer- assessment, selecting assessment activities and recording information McMillan (2007) and Stiggins (2008) offer four steps in developing assessment which mainly refers to purpose, measurement, evaluation and use Rea-Dickins (2018) provides a more comprehensive processes and strategies in developing assessment (Figure 1) She identifies four main decision making stages which reflected a certain similarity with the work of Hargreaves, Earl and Schimidt (2012) The figure provides examples of some of the priority concerns at each of the four main stages however she claims that the implementation of assessment does not necessarily require a teacher to complete all phases in the cycle (Rea-Dickins, 2018)

This paper intends to explore how English teachers assess and report students’ oral achievement and Rea-Dickins’ (2018) cycle of processes provides a useful framework that can help gauge on teachers’ stages of decision making relating to assessment Each of the stages is practical as it provides insights to how decisions made at each point shall influence the decision made on another For example, at the planning stage, a teacher decides on the purpose of the assessment they would like to use The purpose of the assessment shall depend on what the teacher feels is of priority: the requirement of the document policy or for the interest of the learner The purpose decided shall then influence the type of tasks used to fulfil the intended purpose This shall be explored

in this paper

For the purpose of this paper, the cycle shall be adapted to suit the assessment process required in the School-based English Assessment document The decision points at each stage are modified to cater to the needs of the school-based English policy For example at the planning stage, the assessment requires teachers to assist the learners in choosing the assessment activity and topic and deciding on the task before the students prepare for the assessment Before doing so, teachers need to decide on the purpose of the assessment and the lesson objectives

in which the assessment is to be carried out to ensure that the purpose is achieved at the end of the assessment and the assessment is congruent to the intended learning outcomes However, Rea-Dickins (2018)’s cycle does

not demonstrate any prioritization in the importance of each stage but provides the flexibility in completing the cycle For example, Stage 2 and 3 of the cycle can translated into reporting (Stage 4) (Mckay, 2005)

Figure 1: Processes and strategies in classroom assessment (Rea-Dickins, 2018, p 435)

III INTEGRATING INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT IN SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

Stage 1: Planning

 Identifying the purpose for the assessment? (why?)

 Choosing the assessment activity (how)

 Preparing the learner for the assessment

 Who chooses/ decides for each of the above?

Stage 2: Implementation

what, how)

activity

 Learner self and peer monitoring

Stage 3: Monitoring

 Interpreting evidence obtained from an assessment

 Revising teaching and learning plans

 Sharing findings with other teachers

Dissemination

Recording and reporting progress

towards national curriculum

Formal review for Local Education

purposes

Strategies for dissemination of

formal review of learners

The emphasis on communicative language teaching has continued to be encouraged by the language teaching profession worldwide partly due to students are expected to be able to use the second or foreign language for functional purposes: leave or listen to telephone messages or read or write emails to friends and acquaintances (Hancock, 2016) Thus, there is also an increased emphasis on aligning teaching approaches and content with related testing and assessment approaches In other words, it is important to integrate classroom language teaching and testing approaches As McMillan (2003) writes “What is needed is an understanding of how assessment and instruction are interwoven, with new conceptions about what assessment is and how it affects learning” (p.7)

Assessment, being an integral part of teaching, provides teachers with feedback on student learning that is fundamental to the planning of effective instruction that meets the needs of the particular students (Au & Asam, 2006; Farr & Trumbull, 1997; Paris, et al., 2002; Stiggins, 2009) However, integrating assessment and instruction is complex and multi-faceted To achieve its full benefits, teachers need to possess a variety of understandings and competencies (Conca, et al., 2018) Teachers need to have a clear perception of expected learning outcomes, be able to develop assessments that are congruent with these outcomes, know how to analyse and interpret student performance and modify classroom instruction based on their analyses (Stiggins, 2009) This is the lacuna that many studies relating to assessment have failed to highlight in their findings There is a need to address how teachers undergo the process of integrating assessment and instruction and whether they are sufficiently equipped to do so

Table 2.2: Studies relating to connecting assessment and instruction

Conca, Schecter

and Castle (2018)

 Minimal designing time due to lack

of understanding of the new assessment framework

 Minimal professional development time and support to assist the framework

 Teachers lack the avenues for queries and clarifications

 Assessment and instructional decision making are each complex processes on their own but the combination, modifying instruction based on assessment adds an additional dimension of complexity

 Teachers need to become knowledgeable about and fluent in the use of assessment tools apart from being clear on or have ways of getting clarification on district policies and expectations related to the assessment procedures

 For the implementation of a curricular innovation to be successful, teachers should be part of the decision making process (Tyack & Cuban, 2005)

Hancock (2016)  Roles of students and teachers

teachers facilitate this through planning and intervention

 The nature of the development process that enabled these changes by identifying a number of conditions needed to coexist or be developed:

teachers’ beliefs, their students’

beliefs, their repertoire of mediating artefacts and the existing culture in their classrooms

Morris, Lo, Chik &

Chan (2010)

 Teachers in elementary schools responded formally to the new formative assessment system and noted assessment result in detailed record but little time to do follow up and their workload increased

 The respective government need to consider long-term and coherent strategies that address both the structural features of schooling and the prevailing beliefs about assessment

 They suggest the following conditions:

 A clear linkage between external and school-based assessment

 The development of a system of recording and reporting assessment which stresses the role of teacher collaboration, the exercise of professional judgment and the provision

of feedback designed to support learning

professional development designed to promote understanding of the roles and processes of assessment

These studies have looked at the connection of assessment and instruction or formally termed as formative assessment However, they have not looked at the connection through teachers’ decision making process in which this proposed study intends to provide

IV CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTION

The way teachers integrate instruction and assessment will lead to the conceptualization of the relationship between the two concepts Rea-Dickins (2018) has identified four conceptualization of the relationship between instruction and assessment: washback effect, curricular-driven assessment, task-based framework and

“instruction-embedded” assessment Table 2.3 briefly summarizes each concept

a Washback effect:

- Obtaining high scores becomes the goal of education although the scores are not representative of knowledge or ability in a given domain but rather an indication of how well students have been trained for the test (Alderson & Wall, 1993, Bailey, 1996)

- The social value placed on attaining high test scores is sometimes so great that tests themselves actually stand in the way of instructional practice, thus the relationship between assessment and instruction is essentially antagonistic; they are treated as separate activities with distinct goals and methods (Pandian, 2014)

b Curricular-driven assessment

- The assessment procedures emerge from a grounded analysis of instructional interactions and pedagogical practices as observed in the classroom (Poehner 2008) and enables classroom teachers to assume a more agentive role in determining assessment practices

- The assessments derive from curricular objectives, thus students’ assessment performance can be taken

as an indicator of how well those objectives are being met, but nevertheless they are not integrated (Pandian, 2014)

c Task-based framework

- Involves establishing pedagogical goals and devising parallel instruction and assessment activities (Pandian, 2014) and developed in tandem

- An excellent example of such approach is the task-based framework

- Although this approach represents an important step in integrating assessment and instruction, it is clearly that the two remain separate activities

d “Instruction-embedded” assessment

- Conducted by classroom teachers to fine-tune instruction to learners’ needs and as such represents a type

of formative assessment

- Intends to feed back into teaching by providing important information regarding learners’ strengths and weaknesses that can be used for subsequent instructional decisions, thus more connected to teaching and learning

- Total integration of assessment and instruction can only be achieved when learner development becomes the goal of all educational activities (Pandian, 2014)

This literature on relationship between assessment and instruction suggests that teachers’ treatment of assessment and instruction will impact the way they assess and this is significant For example, if teachers

perceive assessment as more important than instruction, it shall explain the practice of focusing on drilling students for the assessment rather than embedding the assessment in their instruction Implications can be seen in the division of labour in terms of teachers’ and students’ role, the type of assessment tasks and how the assessment is conducted Thus, by exploring how teachers assess their students shall reflect on how they perceive the relationship between assessment and instruction

V UNDERSTANDING TEACHERS’ DECISION MAKING ON ASSESSMENT

Teachers make thousands of choices that reflect a constellation of forces and processes daily (Sawyer, 2019) Recent research has clarified that student achievement is influenced by what teachers do But the question is what influences what teachers do It is generally accepted that effective teaching is guided by a process of decision making (Anderson, 2015; McMillan, & Nash, 2016) Even Shavelson (2013) identified decision making

to be the basic teaching skill

There have been models of teacher decision making presented in the literature (Duschl & Wright, 2009; McMillan & Nash, 2016; Westerman, 2016; Wiler, et al., 2000) McMillan and Nash’s (2016) model of teachers’ decision making relates to assessment and grading practices and highlights on the factors that influence teacher decision making Anderson (2015), on the other hand, highlights two possibilities for the basis of teacher decision making on assessment:

i Teachers decide to do what they have always done as they believe what they are doing is the right thing

to do, they have become comfortable doing it, or they cannot think of anything else to do Changing the practice often causes a great deal of discomfort

ii Teachers make decisions based on real and practical constraints, such as time, material and equipment, state mandates, and personal frustration (p 234)

The importance of research on teacher planning and decision making is frequently averred and remains uncontested in literature Teachers do not make their decisions in a vacuum instead they are often influenced by factors around them, both internal and external Shavelson (2013) has described a decision making model for teacher decisions in which contained four parts: alternative acts (self-evident), states of nature (student cognitive and affective states and other environmental conditions), outcome and utility for teacher (immediate cognitive, affective and social student learning) and goals for student McMillan and Nash (2016) later extended this model

to relate to decision making in the assessment field They identify teacher beliefs and values, external factors and classroom realities as factors influencing teacher decision making rationale in assessment

In order to understand how teachers make their decisions, there is a need to provide theoretical understanding

to support how decisions are made to inform practice This study shall draw on McMillan and Nash’s (2016) model of teacher assessment and grading practices decision making and discuss relevant theories to explain the process involved in decision making McMillan and Nash (2016) made the effort to explore the reasons teachers give for the assessment and grading practices and the factors that influence these practices Their study proposes

a model (Figure 2) that explains how and why teachers decide to use specific assessment and grading practices The model highlights six major themes: teacher beliefs and values, classroom realities, external factors, teacher

decision making rationale, assessment practices and grading practices The main tenet of the model holds that there is tension between teachers’ internal beliefs and values and the realities of the classroom and other external factors imposed on them ( McMillan & Nash, 2016)

Figure 2: A Model of Teachers’ Assessment and Grading Practices Decision Making

( McMillan & Nash, 2016)

VI CONCLUSION

This paper presents a critical review of studies on assessment on English language teaching and learning including the important roles of assessment in English language teaching and learning to students and the step-by-step strategies and processes of school-based assessment in relation to the teacher decision-making Several implications can be seen from the review First, assessment, in general, and school-based assessment for English language students, in particular, plays a significant in the process of students’ learning, motivation, achievements and success Second, assessment should be integrated into instructions in classrooms so that it will be continous, informative, formative and assessment-embedded Third, teachers should overcome contextual challenges during the decision-making process to adapt it to their realistic situattions Fourth, the school-based assessment should

be widely implemented in order to make the real English language learning in classrooms to enhance students’ language competency

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