WASHBACK OF AN ENGLISH ACHIEVEMENT TEST ON TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM

Tóm tắt

Assessment, including tests, has increasingly attracted educational stakeholders all over
the world for its signifcant role in the certifcation of one’s capacity for a certain purpose. Tertiary
education in Vietnam has paid more attention to the teaching of English for undergraduates; nonetheless,
their English ability reflected from tests is limited. Teachers are said to be in the front to bring about
improvements in undergraduates’ English ability. In order to make the change, English teachers’ interest
in professional development is accounted as a key motive. This paper presents the fndings from the
research on teachers’ perceptions of their professional development under the washback of an English
achievement test at a Vietnamese university. The article was part of a dissertation. An interview was
conducted among four teachers in two rounds. The research shows the teachers’ positive self-reflection
of their teaching and their needs of extended professional community. The fndings are benefcial for
the teachers who participated in the research, the teachers who had the same interests and the policy
makers as well.