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Abstract

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has generated worldwide popularity as a curriculum innovation, and extensive research has investigated various aspects of the approach. However, little is known about the implementation of classroom assessment in TBLT curricula. This study investigated high school English as a foreign language teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding assessment in a curriculum innovation context in Vietnam. Data comprised in-depth interviews with six teachers, as well as testing documents. The findings revealed a strong impact of the high-stakes exams on teachers’ testing beliefs in that they focused explicitly on linguistic items in the assessed content and forms of assessment. These beliefs were accurately reflected in their testing practices. However, both the teachers’ beliefs and practices were contradictory to teaching principles and the expectations of the intended curriculum. These findings suggest that in-service teacher professional development programs are necessary for innovations like TBLT to have a real change in the classroom.

Keywords

assessment, classroom practices, curriculum innovation, task-based language teaching, teacher beliefs

Author Bio(s)

Xuan Van Ha is a recent Ph.D. graduate in Applied Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia. He has been a lecturer in language education at Ha Tinh University, Vietnam. His main research interests include oral corrective feedback, teacher beliefs, learner beliefs, language teacher education, and teacher professional development. His current project investigates the impact of in-service training on teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding oral corrective feedback. His recent works have been published in System, Language Teaching Research, and Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.

Nam Giang Tran obtained his Ph.D in TESOL/Applied Linguistics at The University of Wollongong, Australia in 2015. He is currently an English language specialist at Ha Tinh Department of Education and Training, Vietnam. He oversees the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language at primary and secondary schools in Ha Tinh province. His research interests include teacher cognition, classroom assessment, task-based language teaching and learning.

Ngoc Hai Tran (Corresponding author) got an M.A from Otago University, New Zealand, and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam. He is a senior lecturer at Ha Tinh University, Ha Tinh province and at Faculty of Education, Thu Dau Mot University, Binh Duong province, Vietnam. His research interests include English language teacher education, language acquisition and testing/assessment, curriculum development and assessment, educational management and leadership, and teacher professional development. Please direct correspondence to tranhaingoc@tdmu.edu.vn or ngoc.tranhai@htu.edu.vn.

Publication Date

11-6-2021

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2021.5063

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