English language assessment in Viet Nam: what is happening inside classrooms and why?

Description

This paper reports on a joint project between two HE institutions in the UK and Vietnam to investigate the provision of English language assessment and testing in Vietnam to ensure fairness and inclusivity. The project utilised the Language Assessment Literacy Model for the Teaching Profession (LAL-TEP) model (Villa Larenas, 2021) to unpack the connection between the components of LAL – beliefs, knowledge, practices, learning and context and teaching professionals’ realities. Several methods have been employed, including questionnaires questionnaire (N = 2569), focus-group discussion (N = 15),teaching observations with follow-up interviews (N = 8), and interviews with key stake holders (N = 5). This paper reports on findings from focus-group discussions, in which the participant teachers brought an example of an assessment they had created and explained how the tools were created and implemented and discussed any constraints they faced in using and creating them. In addition, findings from the 8 observed lessons with individual follow-up interviews will be presented. The project has extended an understanding of the current assessment landscape in Vietnam and several gaps have been identified in the provision of language assessments. Discussions on how the data informed an online toolkit which will provide assessment and testing resources and recommendation for best practices will be presented. By providing teachers with accessible resources to develop their assessment practices, the project has contributed to promoting fairness and inclusivity by giving learners the opportunity to experience high quality assessments as effective assessment can support and promote learning (Berry et al., 2019).

Period	7 Jun 2023
Event title	​44th Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC): Language Assessment for a Global, Digital, and More Equitable Era
Event type	Conference
Conference number	44
Location	New York City, United States, New YorkShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International