The washback effects of the general certificate of secondary education examination in english the case at van giang upper secondary school in hung yen

լ MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING H A N O I U N IV E R S IT Y ᅵ ĩr Ế •4剛 t レ NGUYEN THI HONG NGAN THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION IN ENGLISH: THE CASE AT VAN GIANG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL SU P E R V IS O R : N G U Y E N T H A I H A , M E d H anoi June，2009 STATEM ENT OF A U T H O R S H IP I certify that the minor thesis entitled “The Washback Effects of the General Certificate of Secondary Education Examination in English: The Case at Van Giang Upper Secondary School in Hung Yen” and submitted in partial fu lfillm e n t o f the requirements for the degree o f Master o f Arts in TESOL is the result o f my work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this minor thesis or any part o f the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University Signed: Dated: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thai Ha for her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and kind support I take this opportunity to thank Ms Nguyen Thanh Huyen, Ms Nguyen Nguyet Minh and all my teachers for their help during my two years time studying at the Department o f Postgraduate Studies My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and my students at Van Giang Upper Secondary School for their kind assistance during the time I collected data for the study Finally, I owe the completion o f this study to my parents, my husband and my two daughters, who gave me encouragement throughout the study ABSTRACT The way in which public examinations influence teaching and learning is commonly described as washback or backwash The extensive use o f test scores for various educational and social purposes in society nowadays has made the effect o f washback a distinct educational phenomenon (Cheng, 1997) This study focuses on the washback effects o f the English national examination for General Certificate o f Secondary Education on teaching and learning at Van Giang Upper Secondary School To achieve this goal, a survey was conducted, collecting data by questionnaires and classroom observation for subsequent quantitative and qualitative analysis Some follow up interviews were conducted to complement and clarify the questionnaires and observation data where necessary The subjects o f the study were ten English teachers and 102 sample students o f Van Giang Upper Secondary School Findings from the study have pointed out 1) the ENE for GCSE played a predominant role among varied typed o f EFL tests at schools It dominated the English teaching and learning at Van Giang Upper Secondary School; 2) the mismatch between the goal o f the ENE for GCSE and the objectives o f the syllabus prescribed by the М ОЕТ resulted in an impact on the English teaching and learning at Van Giang Upper Secondary School This washback influences teachers o f Van Giang Upper Secondary School both what to teach and how to teach, and so does it to what and how students o f Van Giang Upper Secondary School learn; 3) both teachers and students preferred to use materials shaped by the content o f the current ENE for GCSE They showed a strong preference for multiple-choice exercises as test preparation activities As teaching and learning became examination ֊ driven, they employed a “ hidden syllabus” targeted towards the ENE format TA B LE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSH IP A C KN OW LED GEM EN TS A BSTR A C T TABLE OF C O N T E N T S IV LIST OF A BBREV IA TIO N S VI LIST OF T A BLES V CHAPTER 1: IN TR O D U C TIO N 1.1 B a c k g r o u n d t o t h e s t u d y L I I P ractical consideration L I , Theorical consideration 1.2 AIM S o f t h e s t u d y 1.3 S c o p e a n d l i m i t a t i o n s 1.4 S ig n if ic a n c e 1.5 O u t l in e of t h e s t u d y o f t h e s t u d y o f t h e t h e s is CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE R E V IE W 2.1 T e s t in g and T ests in t e a c h in g a n d l e a r n in g w a s h b a c k a n d t e s t i m p a c t 2.2 L Test cashback 2.2.2 Test im pact 2.2.3 M ultiple-choice test washback 2.3.1 The Washback Hypothesis 2.3.2 Washback as a result o f “ high stakes ’’ testing 2.4 PREVIOUS s t u d ie s 2.5 S u m m a r y CHAPTER 3: M ET H O D O LO G Y q u e s t io n s c o l l e c t io n in s t r u m e n t s 3.2 L Questionnaires 3.2.2 Observation 3.2.3 Follow up intervie w 3.3 S u b j e c t s 3.3.1 Teachers 3.3.2 Student p o p u la tio n 3.3.3 Student sample 3.4 P r o c e d u r e s 3.5 D a t a a n a l y s i s 4.1 S u r v e y r e s u l t s 4.1.1 Teacher questionnaire 4.1.2 Student questionnaire 4.2 C l a s s r o o m 4.3 S u m m ary CHAPTER 4: R E SU L TS 5 9 9 ^ 2 2 2 2 J 3.2 D a t a 3.1 R e s e a r c h 0 ^ / 2 2.3 T h e WASHBACK EFFECTS OF TESTS ON TEACHING AND しEARNING J ^ / І / / Ớ І Ố Л / 2.1.1 Role o f testing and tests in teaching and le a rn in g 2.1.2 Test classification 2.1.3 Achievement test 2.2 T e s t 34 34 44 o b s e r v a t io n r e s u l t s 52 57 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND C O N C LU SIO N 59 5.1 D is c u s s io n 59 5.2 C o n c l u s i o n 62 REFERENCES 65 APPENDIX 1: ĐÈ THI TÒT NGHIỆP TRUNG HỌC PHỐ THÒNG NÃM 20 08 .69 APPENDIX 2: TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE .73 APPENDIX 3: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE 81 APPENDIX 4: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE V ER SIO N) 85 APPENDIX 5: COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATION OF LANGUAGE TEACHING (COLT) OBSERVATION SCHEME CODING SHEET .91 APPENDIX 6: FOLLOW UP INTERVIEW 92 V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS N Number % Percentage CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language ENE English national examination GT Grammar - translation GCSE General Certificate o f Secondary Education МОЕТ Ministry o f Education and Training SD Standard deviation LIST OF TABLES Tables Table 1.1 : The structure/format o f the ENE for GCSE Page Table 4.1.1: Teachers’ reported classroom language o f instructions 35 Table 4.1.2: Teachers’ reported classroom organization 35 Table 4.1.3: Teachers’ preferred language resources 36 Table 4.1.4: Teachers’ preferred teaching activities 37 Table 4.1.5: Teacher attitudes towards the English education 39 Table 4.1.6: Factors that influence teaching 41 Table 4.1.7: Teacher attitudes towards the English testing and the currentENE 42 Table 4.1.8: Students’ arrangement o f the subjects in order o f importance 45 Table 4.1.9: Students’ reported reasons for studying English 46 Table 4.1.10: Student attitudes towards the English 48 Table 4.1.11: Students9 preferred classroom language 49 Table 4.1.12: Students’ preferred activities in preparing for the exams 50-51 Table 4.2.1 : Patterns o f participant organization adopted by the three teachers 53 Table 4.2.2: Categories o f content and content control adopted by the three 55 teachers Table 4.2.3: Student modality and materials during the six lessons vii 56 CHAPTER : INTRODUCTION This introductory chapter provides the background to the study Then, it states the aims o f the study, and presents an overview o f the thesis 1 B a c k g ro u n d to th e s tu d y 1.1.1 P ractical consideration 1.1.1.1 The English National Examination for General Certificate of Secondary Education (ENE for GCSE) The English national examination for GCSE is a public examination administered by the Vietnamese M inistry o f Education and Training (МОЕТ) for the 12th form students at the end o f the third year o f their upper secondary school for their graduation Every schoolyear, 12th form students sit for the GCSE examination in late May or early June The results o f the GCSE examination are used for graduation from school and to allow students to or not to take the entrance examination to university Needless to say, the GCSE examination plays a predominant role among varied types o f examinations English is a compulsory subject in the GCSE examination In 2005, the M inistry o f Education and Training (М О ЕТ) introduced major changes to its existing examination format in English The written multiple-choice test has developed since then The English National Examination for GCSE (ENE) is a written test, which consists o f 50 multiplechoice questions (M CQ), focusing on two main parts: language structure and skills (reading and writing) - as the М О ЕТ introduces (9) Which of the following areas you think are most important for Van Giang high school students of English' (Please rate your responses on a point scale where l=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=agree; 4=strongly agree Circle your answers.) (a) Listening comprehension (b) Writing (c) Reading comprehension (d) Speaking (f) Vocabulary (g) Spelling (h) Pronunciation/stress 3 (e) Grammar 4 (10) Which o f the following language resources you think should be used for teaching English to Van Giang high school students? (Please rate your responses on a point scale where l=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=agree; 4=strongly agree Circle your answers.) (a) listening exercises using authentic monologues / dialogues 4 (b) listening exercises using adapted monologues / dialogues (i.e materials made specially for EFL learners) (c) recommended textbooks 76 (d ) authentic video (e.g English movies/TV shows) (e) adapted video made specially for EFL learners 4 (0 English music recordings (g) past exam papers (11) Which of the following teaching strategies/activities you think should be used for teaching English to Van Giang Upper Secondary school students? (a) reading aloud (teacher) 33333333333 二agree; 4=strongly agree Circle your answers.) 44444444444 (Please rate your responses on a point scale where l=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; (b) reading aloud (learner) (c) silent reading (d) role play (e) information gap activities (0 repetition/substitution drills (g) copying words/sentences (h) dictation (i) letter writing (j) creative w riting (stories etc.) (k) class discussion (I) multiple-choice grammar/vocabulary exercises 77 3 (m) multiple-choice reading comprehension exercises 4 (n) gap-filling/completion exercises (o) translating English sentences/texts into Vietnamese (p) translating Vietnamese sentences/texts into English (q) speaking activities in pairs or groups (12) To what extent the following factors influence your teaching? (Circle your answers.) INFLUENCE 33333333 a little a lot (a) professional training (b) teaching experience (c) M inistry o f Education and Training syllabus (d) past experience as a language learner (e) textbooks (0 the need to obtain satisfaction in teaching (g) final examinations (h) students’ past test scores (i) learners' expectations (j) school’ s expectations 78 (к) parents' expectations (13) How important you think it is for students to have extra lessons in order to pass the English national final examinations? (Please rate your response on a four point scale where I = not at all important; = not so important; = important; = very important Circle your answer.) (14) What would you like to to prepare your students fully for the English national final examinations ? (Please rate your responses on a point scale where l=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=agree; 4=strongly agree Circle your answers.) (a) 니se textbooks for students (b) familiarize students with the test formats (c) use practice papers (d) design 15-minute multiple-choice tests (e) design 45-minute multiple-choice tests (0 design end-of-term multiple-choice tests (15) What you think are the positive and negative aspects of the English national examination (ENE)? How, if at all, would you improve it? (Please rate your responses on a point scale where l=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 79 3 3=agree; 4=strongly agree Circle your answers.) (a) The ENE offers an effective measure o f a student's speaking and w riting ability 4 3 (b) Your students, ability o f language is reflected accurately in the ENE (d) The ENE adds pressure to my teaching (c) The test content reflects what is included in textbooks (e) The ENE is contradictory to my teaching philosophy (g) I would like to change my methodology (0 The ENE is an involvement o f more teaching aids (h) I suggest that my students should change their learning strategies (i) The ENE motivates my students to learn English END OF QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you very much for your help 80 APPENDIX 3: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE Please answer all questions If you wish to add any further comments, please use the space provided after each question (1) Arrange these subjects in order of importance for you ( I =most important; 10=least important) Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology Literature History Geography English Civic Education Physical Education (2) Where did you first start to learn English and how old were you? 81 (3) Do you have any extra English lessons? (Yes/No) I f you answered 'yes， ，please give details: e.g Where you have extra English lessons? (At school/Outside school) Why you have extra English lessons?(For final examinations; For entrance university examinations; To improve your English) (4) Which language you like your teacher to use in the classroom? (Please tick one box) English only English with occasional Vietnamese explanation H alf English and h alf Vietnamese Mainly Vietnamese Please read questions - and grade each part (a, b, с etc.) on a 4-point scale, where: = strongly disagree = disagree = agree = strongly agree Please circle your answers (5) Why are you studying English? (a) I have to in order to grad니ate (b) I want to well on the 니niversity entrance exams (c) I want to visit English-speaking countries in thefuture 82 (d) I want to study / work in abroad in the future (lì) I think it is interesting to learn a foreign language 4 v isitors to Vietnam 4 (g) I want to communicate with English-speaking 3 (0 I want to study English at university (o) I want a job in which I can use English (6) In English lessons, what you think are the most important elements^ (a) Listening comprehension (b) Writing (c) Reading Comprehension (d) Speaking (e) Grammar (0 Vocabulary (g) Spelling (h) Pronunciation/Stress (7) How helpful you find the following activities in preparing for examinations? (a) listening exercises using taped monologues/dialogues (b) studying with the textbook (c) watching English movies/TV shows I (d) watching videos made specially for EFL learners I (e) listening to English music recordings I (0 studying past exam questions (g) doing teacher-prepared worksheets (h) using language learning websites (i) reading fiction or non-fiction EFL books (j) translating English sentences/texts into Vietnamese (k) translating Vietnamese sentences/texts into English I (I) doing multiple-choice reading comprehension questions I (n) doing speaking activities in pairs or groups ( ) using English word games or puzzles (m) doing multiple-choice/blank-filling grammar/vocabulary exercises END OF QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you very much for your help 84 APPENDIX 4: STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) Mục đích nghiên cứu tìm hiểu ảnh hưởng để thi tốt nghiệp quốc gia môn tiếng Anh đối vối việc dạy học tiếng Anh trường THPT Tất thông tin nàv giữ bí mật Các em khơng cần phải cho biết tên điều tra Mã số chí sử dụng việc phân tích liệu Tôi mong muốn nhận tham gia cua em Nếu em có ý kiến thêm, xin viết vào trống sau câu hịi (1 )• Hây sáp xếp mơn học sau theo mức độ quan trọng đôi với em (1 = quan trọng nhất; 10 = quan trọng nhất) Tốn bý Hoá Sinh Văn Sử Địa Tiếng Anh Giáo dục công dân Thê dục (2) Em bát đầu học tiếng Anh đâu em tuổi? (3) Em có học thêm tiếng Anh Ư ngồi trường em học khơng? 85 Neu có，xin em cho biết thêm chi tiết (VD: Tại em học đó? Em học thường xuyên thê nào? Em học rồi? (4) Trong học tiêng Anh, em thích thầy/cỏ giáo sử dụng ngơn ngữ nào? (Hãy đánh dáu vào ô cạnh) Chỉ tiếng Anh Tiếng Anh kết hợp thính thoảng giải thích tiếng Việt Nửa tiếng Anh nửa tiếng Việt Chủ yếu tiếng Việt Từ câu hỏi - 7，hãy khoanh tròn số phù hợp với mức độ đồng ý em = không tán thành = không tán thành = tán thành = tán thành (5) Tại em học tiếng Anh? a) Em phải học để thi tốt nghiệp b) Em muốn làm thi đại học tốt c) Trong tương lai em muốn ìhăm nước nói ìiếng Anh d) Trong tương lai em muốn học/làm 4 việc nước e) Em muốn làm nghề mà emcó thể sử dụng tiếng Anh 86 APPENDIX 5: COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATION OF LANGUAGE TEACHING (COLT) OBSERVATION SCHEME CODING SHEET Class Lesson Date Visit No School Teacher Subject Observer A C TIVITIES & EPISODES Ts/C ss/c PARTICIPANT O R G AN IZATIO N CONTENT CONTENT CONTROL STUDENT MODA 니 TY M A TE R IA L (Choral & Ts/C Group Individual (Individual & ss/c Procedure Form Function Discourse Sociolinguistics Others Teacher/Text T eacher/T ext/Student Student Listening (Listening & (Listening & (Listening/Speaking/Reading Speaking Reading (Reading & Writing) W riting Textbook Extra materials Audio Visual L -N N S L -N S L -N S A Student-made TIM E 98 APPENDIX 6: FOLLOW UP INTERVIEW Do you support the current EN FT? Why? Why not? The objectives o f the syllabus prescribed by МОЕТ are to promote students’ communicative ability How you think the multiple-choice ENE influences the CLT approach? To what extent does the multiple-choice ENE influence what and how you teach? How you think the multiple-choice ENE influence your St니dents’ learning? What would you like to to prepare your students for the ENE? 90 APPENDIX 5: COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATION OF LANGUAGE TEACHING (COLT) OBSERVATION SCHEME CODING SHEET Class •••• Lesson Date Visit No School Teacher Subject •• Observer A C TIVITIE S & EPISODES Ts/C ss/c PARTICIPANT O R G AN IZATIO N CONTENT CONTENT CONTROL STUDENT M O D A 니 TY M A T E R IA L (Choral & Ts/C Group Individual (Individual & ss/c Procedure Form Function Discourse Sociolinguistics Others Teacher/Text T eacher/T ext/Student Student Listening (Listening & (Listening & (Listening/Speaking/Reading Speaking Reading (Reading & W riting) W riting Textbook Extra materials Audio Visual L -N N S L2-NS L2-NSA Student-made TIM E 89 APPENDIX 6: FOLLOW DP INTERVIEW Do you s니pport the current EN FT? Why? Why not? The objectives o f the syllabus prescribed by МОЕТ are to promote students’ communicative ability How you think the multiple-choice ENE influences the CLT approach? To what extent does the multiple-choice ENE influence what and how you teach? How you think the multiple-choice ENE influence у ᄋ니r students’ learning? What would you like to to prepare your students for the ENE? 90 ... STATEM ENT OF A U T H O R S H IP I certify that the minor thesis entitled ? ?The Washback Effects of the General Certificate of Secondary Education Examination in English: The Case at Van Giang Upper. ..լ MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING H A N O I U N IV E R S IT Y ᅵ ĩr Ế •4剛 t レ NGUYEN THI HONG NGAN THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF THE GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION IN ENGLISH: ... Van Giang Upper Secondary School has been one o f the best schools in Hung Yen with high rate o f students passing national final examinations in general and the ENE in particular In the last school