English language assessment
practices in ASEAN
Richard Watson Todd
King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/workshop.htm
English in ASEAN
• English as an Official
Language (EOL)
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–
–
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Brunei
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
• English as a Foreign
Language (EFL)
–
–
–
–
–
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Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Myanmar
Thailand
Vietnam
English in ASEAN
• English as an Official
Language (EOL)
– High average scores on
TOEFL (e.g. Singapore:
99)
– High ratings for general
English (e.g. on EF EPI,
Malaysia is ‘High’)
– Widespread use of English
– Some English-as-L1
speakers
• English as a Foreign
Language (EFL)
– Low average scores on
TOEFL (e.g. Vietnam: 70)
– Low ratings for general
English (e.g. on EF EPI,
Indonesia is ‘Very Low’)
– Little use of English outside
major cities and academic
and international business
environments
English and education
• How do the different roles and different
general proficiency levels of English in
EOL and EFL countries affect English
language education?
– Observe classrooms
– Examine policies
– Investigate assessment practices (reflective of
educational philosophies)
Assessment in EOL countries
• Case 1: Singapore
– Test-centric system
– Promoting meritocracy and social mobility?
Assessment in EOL countries
• Case 1: Singapore
– High-stakes tests using variety of item types
– E.g. reading comprehension measured
through short-answer questions and summary
writing
Assessment in EOL countries
• Case 1: Singapore
– Increase in open-ended assessment
– Introduction of holistic assessment
– “The ongoing gathering of information on
different facets of a child from various
sources, with the aim of providing quantitative
and qualitative feedback to support and guide
the child’s development”
– E.g. drama, role-plays, show-and-tell activities
– Teacher, self- and peer- assessment
Assessment in EOL countries
• Case 2: Malaysia
– Similar to Singapore: test-centric, variety of
item types
Assessment in EFL countries
• Case 1: Thailand
– National Education Act
– “Education institutions shall assess learners’
performance through observation of their
development; personal conduct; learning
behaviour; participation in activities and
results of the tests accompanying the
teaching-learning process commensurate with
the different levels and types of education.”
Assessment in EFL countries
• Case 1: Thailand
– Influence of university entrance exam
• Secondary school teachers rate the influence of
the university entrance exam as their most serious
problem
• School exams are based on the university
entrance exam (e.g. 2006)
• Only multiple-choice items
• Multiple-choice accounts for about half of
secondary school scores
Assessment in EFL countries
• Case 1: Thailand
– The effects of multiple-choice testing
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•
•
•
•
Practicality
Reliability
Content validity
Predictive validity
Washback
Assessment in EFL countries
• Case 1: Thailand: Washback effects of
multiple-choice testing
– Restricting what to learn
– Less higher-order thinking
– Promoting rote learning
– Ignoring productive skills
Assessment in EFL countries
• Cases 2 and 3: Indonesia and Vietnam
– Similar test-centric education systems
– Similar dominance of multiple-choice testing
– Single major exception is Vietnamese B-level
exam
Comparing assessment in EOL and
EFL countries
• Nearly all ASEAN countries have testcentric education systems
• Regular national-level exams with major
impact on students’ future
• EOL countries: mix of item types
• EFL countries: heavy reliance on multiplechoice testing
Comparing assessment in EOL and
EFL countries: Testing speaking
•
Malaysia
– Individual presentation
– Situation: Your class has organised a
forum to discuss the topic ‘Stress
among teenagers’. Each member of
the team is to focus on one aspect of
life which is stressful.
– Task: You are to focus on the stress
arising from relationships with your
peers. You may want to talk about peer
pressure and girl-boy relationships.
•
Thailand
– Situation: A secretary is talking to a
caller.
– Caller: This is Jim Smith. Can I talk to
Mr. Johnson please?
– Secretary: __A__
– Caller: __B__
– Secretary: I’ll tell him as soon as I see
him.
– A.1. Pardon me. I don’t know him.
–
2. Can you talk to him now?
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3. I’m afraid he’s just gone out.
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4. Sorry. He doesn’t want to speak to
you.
– B.1. Could I hold on?
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2. Can you call me later?
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3. Can you ask him to return my call?
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4. Could I return his call later?
Comparing assessment in EOL and
EFL countries: Testing writing
• Malaysia
– Read the following
passage carefully. Based
on the information given,
summarise the passage
about dangers in the
home in about 100 words
• Thailand
– In most countries around the world,
__A__ to school __B__.
– A.1. children having to go
– 2. children must go
– 3. every child has been
– 4. every child must have been
– B.1. when they reach a certain age
– 2. as they are growing old enough
– 3. since they reached a certain age
– 4. if they are too old to learn
Comparing assessment in EOL and
EFL countries
• EOL countries
– Prioritise validity over
reliability
– Focus on language
use
– English is a living
language to be used in
the future
• EFL countries
– Prioritise reliability
over validity
– Focus on language
knowledge
– English is an
academic subject to
be studied
English in ASEAN
• With the ASEAN economic community coming
into effect in 2015 and with English the de facto
language of ASEAN, EOL countries will have an
advantage over EFL countries
• Need to change view of English in EFL countries
from an academic subject to a living language
• Changing assessment practices (to include
more open-ended items) may help to change
view of English
• EOL countries can help EFL countries by acting
as model and mentor