An investigation into efl teachers perceptions of toeic test washback on teaching practice at tien giang university

GIANG THI KIM TU MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GIANG THỊ KIM TÚ * MA THESIS IN EDUCATION AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TOEIC® TEST WASHBACK ON TEACHING PRACTICE AT TIEN GIANG UNIVERSITY * MA THESIS IN EDUCATION HUE - 2013 HUE, 2013 4b/75tr MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GIANG THỊ KIM TÚ AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TOEIC® TEST WASHBACK ON TEACHING PRACTICE AT TIEN GIANG UNIVERSITY FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: PHAM THI HONG NHUNG, PH D HUE, 2013 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ GIANG THỊ KIM TÚ NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN VỀ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA BÀI KIỂM TRA TOEIC® TRONG VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TIỀN GIANG CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ GIÁO DỤC HỌC NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG HUẾ, 2013 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Author Giang Thi Kim Tu i Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Pham Hong Nhung, whose advice and encouragement have oriented me in both content and writing style from the very beginning of the research It is her detailed and robust suggestions on every part of the research that have guided me in conducting and completing this study Without her scrupulous feedback, I might not have finished this research in a good way M y spec i al th ank s al s o g o t o al l t e ac h ers a t T i e n G i an g U n iv er s it y , H igh Sc ho ol f or G i ft ed St ud e nt s, N g uy en D i nh C h ie u H i gh Sc ho ol , a nd T an H ie p H i gh Sc h o ol , w h o hel p ed m e e nt h us i a s t ic a l l y an d ef f ec t ive l y w i t h t h e s u r v ey s I would like to say thanks to all of my MA classmates for their encouragements and cooperation My last gratitude is for my dear family and my friends who gave me boundless support, inspiration, and encouragement during the time I conducted this study This is a very unforgettable memory in my life since I have two “big” projects to at the same time – conducting this study and looking forward to the birth of my baby! ii ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages SUB COVER PAGE STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF FIGURE & TABLES vi ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Rational of the study 1.3 Research Aims 1.4 Research Scope 1.5 Research Questions 1.6 Research Significance 1.7 Research Outline CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of Key Terms 2.1.1 Test Impact 2.1.2 Washback and Test Washback 2.1.3 Test Washback and Test Impact iii 2.2 Reviewing literature on the influence of tests on teaching practice 11 2.2.1 The Washback Hypothesis 11 2.2.2 Positive and Negative Washback 14 2.2.3 Washback from high-stake Tests 15 2.3 Identifying the Research Context 17 2.3.1 The TOEIC® test: An Introduction 17 2.3.2 The TOEIC® test within the research settings 18 2.3.3 Washback and the TOEIC® test 18 2.4 Relevant Studies 20 2.5 Summary 24 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 26 3.1 Research Design 26 3.2 Context and Participants of the Research 27 3.2.1 Research Context 27 3.2.2 Participants of the Research 27 3.3 Data Collection Instruments 28 3.3.1 Questionnaires 28 3.3.2 Interviews 30 3.4 Data Analysis 31 iv 3.5 Conclusion 32 CHAPTER IV: Findings and Discussions 33 4.1 Teachers‟ perceptions towards the TOEIC® test and its role in the 33 curriculum of Tien Giang University 4.1.1 Teachers‟ perceptions on the difficulty of TOEIC® test 34 4.1.2 Teachers‟ perceptions on the usefulness of TOEIC® test .34 4.2 Teachers‟ attitudes towards the importance of the TOEIC-oriented 35 curriculum and its influence on the teaching practice 4.3 Teachers‟ perceptions on the TOEIC test‟s washback on their teaching practice 39 4.3.1 Teachers‟ responses to washback on the content of their teaching 39 4.3.2 Teachers‟ responses to washback on their teaching time 42 4.4 Summary 44 CHAPTER V: Conclusion 45 5.1 Summary of the Findings 45 5.2 Pedagogical Implications of the Study 46 5.3 Limitations of the Study 48 5.4 Recommendations for Further Research 48 REFERENCES 50 APPENDICES 56 Appendix A: Teachers‟ questionnaire 56 Appendix B: Questions for Teacher Interviews 62 v LIST OF FIGURE & TABLES Figure/Tables Names Pages Table 3.2 Background Information on 28 Participants of the Research Figure 4.1 Teachers‟ perception on the difficulty of 34 TOEIC test Figure 4.2 Teachers‟ perception on the 35 usefulness of the TOEIC test Figure 4.3 Teachers‟ perception on the 35 importance of the TOEIC-oriented curriculum Figure 4.4 Teachers‟ perception on the importance 36 of testing students‟ writing and speaking skill ability Figure 4.5 Teachers‟ perception on the importance 36 of developing students‟ communicative ability in English Figure 4.6 Teachers‟ perception on the TOEIC‟s 37 enhancing the English ability of students Figure 4.7 Teachers‟ perception on students‟ serious 37 interest in raising their TOEIC scores Figure 4.8 A comparison of responses to survey questions 9-11 vi 38 Figure 4.9 The TOEIC test washback on 39 teachers‟ teaching practice Table 4.1 Teachers‟ view point on the TOEIC test 40 Figure 4.10 Changes teachers may make due to 41 the TOEIC context Figure 4.11 The amount of time per 50-minute class 42 the university teachers indicated devoting to TOEIC-related activities Figure 4.12 The amount of time per 50-minute class the university teachers indicated devoting to TOEIC-related activities vii 43 All in all, teachers should try their best to learn more teaching methodologies by taking more training courses, engaging in peer observations and utilizing the tests to enhance students‟ learning It is the teacher who has the most power to turn the test into positive or negative washback 5.3 Limitations of the Study Some of the limitations of this pilot study should be acknowledged First of all, due to the constraint on implementation time, the study was conducted on a relatively small scale To be more specific, the number of 14 EFL teachers is still not large enough Additionally, there are several qualifications for TOEIC teachers‟ using this study That is, teachers‟ responses for this and similar studies should be acknowledged with the realization that the washback affects not only what teachers teach but also how they teach as well as their attitude towards EFL So, just as this study‟s TOEIC teachers perceived varying levels of washback in the research context, similar studies‟ findings may apply to some of the participating teachers but not to others 5.4 Recommendations for Further Research The preceding findings have given a preliminary outline of teachers‟ perceptions of TOEIC test washback on to the teacher – that is, what TOEIC preparation processes promoted their teaching practice It has also been claimed that EFL teachers in this field of study find themselves in an inevitable position in which the constraints imposed by the TOEIC test The findings of this study, however, indicate that there is an existence of a direct relationship between language testing and the teaching practice of teachers 48 The baseline research recommendations from this exploratory study are to replicate its systematic collection of teacher perspectives on the TOEIC test washback in similar scenarios While findings will certainly vary based on the contest and availability of individual TOEIC teachers, the findings from this study‟s methods ought to be challenged by washback researchers Moreover, the necessity of conducting various research studies on the EFL teachers to know their perceptions and attitudes 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Preliminary findings from classroom-based research Language Testing, 13 (3), 318-333 55 Appendix A TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Colleagues, This questionnaire is intended to reveal your perceptions of TOEIC washback in order to develop a better course for students who are attending the TOEIC course at Tiengiang University None of this information will be used for any other purposes than that of the research project All answers will be kept anonymous and confidential Please answer all questions as completely as possible Please tick  the appropriate answer If you wish to add further comments, please use the space provided after each question (1) Your gender:  Female  Male (2) Your age:  20-30  31-40  41-50  Above 50  11-20  Above 20  Masters  Others (3) Number of teaching years:  1-5  6-10 (4) Your academic qualifications:  BA  BSc (5) How useful you feel the TOEIC test is as an external evaluation for students who wish to graduate from the university?  not at all useful  useful  not so useful  very useful (6) How important you think the TOEIC-oriented curriculum is?  not at all important  important  not so important  very important (7) How important you think it is to test students‟ writing and speaking skill ability?  not at all important  important 56  not so important  very important (8) How important you think it is for students to develop communicative ability in English?  not at all important  important  not so important  very important (9) Do you think the TOEIC test is too difficult for most of our students?  strongly disagree  agree  disagree  strongly agree (10) Do you feel most students are seriously interested in raising their TOEIC scores?  strongly disagree  agree  disagree  strongly agree (11) Do you feel focusing on the TOEIC enhances the English ability of students?  strongly disagree  agree  disagree  strongly agree (12) For each statement, please tick  the option which most faithfully reflects your view point Statement Strongly agree TOEIC is the best test type to evaluate students‟ English proficiency TOEIC has all of the aspects which help provide all round evidence of students‟ English proficiency If a student obtains a high score on the TOEIC test, it means this student can use English to communicate well in daily life Introducing the TOEIC test into the 57 Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree university curriculum helps improve the teaching and learning English Integrating the TOEIC test into the curriculum as a compulsory requirement for graduation has a good impact on the teaching and learning English TOEIC tests have tasks which are highly authentic The listening skills tested in the TOEIC test are representative of listening skills used in daily life The reading skills tested in the TOEIC test are representative of reading skills used in daily life Grammar tested in the TOEIC test is representative of English grammar 10 Vocabulary tested in the TOEIC test is representative of English lexical system Comments: (13) What are the major characteristics that you have perceived in the TOEIC test in recent years? Statement Strongly Agree More related to communicative aims More practical and closer to real life More emphasis on reading 58 Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree comprehension More emphasis on communicative activities More emphasis on productive skills such as speaking and writing Comments: Does the fact that the TOEIC test is used to evaluate your students‟ (14) English proficiency influence your teaching practice?  Yes  go to Question (15)  No  go to Question (16) For each statement, please tick  the option which most faithfully (15) reflects your view point Statement Strongly Agree Teaching to the TOEIC test puts me under pressure I often focus more on aspects tested in TOEIC tests I‟d rather sacrifice language aspects which are not tested in the TOEIC tests I spend most of the time preparing my students for the TOEIC tests While I am preparing for the lesson, I always remind myself that the final purpose is to get my students pass the TOEIC tests During my class-time, it is very 59 Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly Disagree likely that I skip language knowledge and skills which are not tested in the TOEIC tests I introduce materials and tasks similar to those in the TOEIC tests to my students I mainly use tasks and materials from TOEIC preparation books I spend most of the time getting my students familiar with the TOEIC test tasks 10 I encourage my students to practice with TOEIC test books outside the class-time (16) What are the major changes you make in your teaching due to the TOEIC context? Statement Strongly Agree To teach according to the test format To adopt new teaching methods To put more stress on reading comprehension activities To put more emphasis on communicative skills To encourage more students‟ participation in class 60 Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree Comments: (17) Generally, how many minutes per class of 50 minutes you usually spend on TOEIC-related Part 1-4 listening activities?  0-15 (18)  16-25  26-35  36-50 Generally, how many minutes per class of 50 minutes you usually spend on TOEIC-related Part 5-6 activities?  0-15 (19)  16-25  26-35  36-50 Generally, how many minutes per class of 50 minutes you usually spend on TOEIC-related Part reading activities?  0-15 (20)  16-25  26-35  36-50 All together, about how much time per class of 50 minutes you devote to the TOEIC? Your answer: (21) Do you teach any explicit TOEIC test taking skills or guessing techniques in your classes? Your answer: Thank you very much for your cooperation! 61 Appendix B QUESTIONS FOR TEACHER INTERVIEWS (About 15 minutes for each interview) How useful you feel the TOEIC is as an external evaluation for students who wish to graduate from the university? How important you think it is for students to attend TOEIC preparationcourse? Which skills you think are most important for students of English? Do you feel most students are seriously interested in raising their TOEIC scores? What are some useful preparation activities that you for your students to be prepared for the TOEIC test? What are the main activities in your TOEIC courses? How many minutes per class of 50 minutes you spend for speaking activities? In one word, how you feel about TOEIC courses? In what ways, if any, has your approach to teaching the TOEIC changed since it was introduced in the university syllabus? 62