Instructor:

 Dr.  Nguyen  Thi  Hong  Tham  

Email:  hongthamnguyen@hcmussh.edu.vn  
Course  overview  
This  course  is  designed  to  provide  participants  with:  

—  knowledge  and  understanding  of  fundamental  

concepts,  theories,  and  principles  of  language  
assessment,  and  their  practical  application  in  the  
classroom;  and  
—  opportunities  to  practice  designing  test  items  and  
alternative  assessment  tasks  based  on  selected  
teaching  materials  used  in  the  classroom.  
 
Course  contents  
 
—  Key  concepts,  theories,  and  principles  of  language  
assessment    
—  Designing  test  specifications    
—  Designing  classroom-­‐based  assessments  of  the  four  
skills:  listening,  speaking,  reading,  and  writing    
—  Alternatives  in  assessment    
—  Grading  and  student  evaluation    
Course  goals  
 
This  course  has  three  overall  goals:  to  educate  students  
who  are  able  to  
—  demonstrate  in-­‐depth  knowledge  and  understanding  
of  language  assessment  fundamentals.  
—  design    classroom-­‐based  tests  and  assessment  tasks.  
—  develop  essential  transferable  skills  in  teaching  or  
relevant  professions.  
 
 
Course  learning  outcomes  
By the end of this course, students will be able to  

—  analyse concepts, theories and principles of testing and

assessment
—  successfully  design  classroom-­‐based  tests  and  assessment  
tasks  for  listening,  reading,  speaking  and  writing    
—  develop  their  critical  thinking  skills    
—  develop  the  ability  to  work  individually    
—  foster  their  teamwork  skills    
—  improve  their  presentation  skills  
 
   
Assessment  scheme  
Assessment Score Percentage
task of the final
grade
A1. Progress 100 pts Midterm 30%
test score
A2. Group 30 pts Final score 70%
portfolio

A3. Final test 70 pts

100 pts
 Group’s  chapter  summary  and  presenta9on
In  each  session,  all  the  groups  will  submit  their  summaries  of  the  
reading.  The  assigned  group  will  present  their  summary  to  the  
class  in  15  minutes  and  answer  the  other  groups’  questions.    
 

1.  Key  concepts  and  meanings    

 
 

2.  Main  points    
   
 

3.  Your  group’s  questions  about  

the  chapter  
 
Guidelines  for  group  por;olio,  progress  test  and  
final  test    
(1)  Group  portfolio:      
—  Each  group  will  design  an  assessment  portfolio  for  a  
General  English  course  for  adults  at  a  pre-­‐intermediate  
level.  
—   The  portfolio  includes  an  assessment  scheme,  test  
specifications,  alternative  assessment  tasks  and  an  
achievement  test  based  on  the  materials  given  by  the  
course  instructor.    
—  This  portfolio  is  an  integral  part  of  the  teaching  and  
learning  process  in  which  students  will  get  feedback  from  
the  course  instructor  and  their  peers  in  order  to  improve  
it.  
   
Specifically,  the  portfolio  (in  MS  word  format)  
should  contain  the  following  sections:    

i.  Title  page  (Institution/Faculty  name,  title  of  

the  portfolio,  names  of  group  members,  
student  code,  instructor,  date  of  publication)    
ii.  Introduction  to  the  portfolio  (including  the  
objectives  of  the  portfolio)  
iii.  Description  of  the  students  (their  age,  
English  proficiency  level,  etc.)    
iv.  Assessment  specifications  
v.  The  actual  assessment  tasks  designed  to  
assess  listening,  speaking,  reading,  writing,  
grammar  and  vocabulary  
  
This  section  should  also  be  supported  with  
theory-­‐based  explanations  of    
—  what  to  be  assessed,    
—  why  it/they  is/are  assessed,    
—  how  the  items  will  be  scored,    
—  why  they  are  scored  in  such  a  way,  
—  what  the  scores  mean  and  indicated  
vi.  Some  possible  lessons/  reflection  /  difficulties  the  
group  learned  during  the  designing  of  these  
assessment  tasks  
 
vii.  References  and  appendices  (if  any)  
 
viii.  Appendices  
(Put  the  copies  of  the  selected  texts  and  transcripts  of  the  
listening  tasks  here.)    

The  portfolio  should  be  around  2,000  -­‐  2,500,  of  1.5-­‐line  
spacing,  using  Times  New  Roman  font  style  (font  size  
12)  (excluding  references  and  appendices).    
 
—  This  project  output  should  be  around  1000  words,  of  
1.5-­‐line  spacing,  using  Times  New  Roman  font  style  
(font  size  12)  (including  the  main  text  and  references,  
if  any).    
—  Scoring  scheme  for  the  project:    
 
Organization   30%  
 
Development  of  ideas     30%  
 
Grammar,  vocabulary,  punctuation,  and   30%  
spelling    
 
Style  &  referencing   10%  
Progress  and  Final  tests  
—  Test  dates  (TBA):  scheduled  by  the  academic  office  after  
the  course  
—  Aim(s)  of  the  progress  and  final  tests:  The  purpose  of  
the  progress  and  final  tests  is  to  assess  how  the  students  
demonstrate  their  understanding  of  theoretical  
fundamentals  in  language  testing  and  assessment  and  how  
they  design  and  evaluate  a  given  language  test  in  practice.      
—  Format  of  the  tests:  to  assess  if  the  students  will  be  able  
to  (i)  demonstrate  their  understanding  language  
assessment  fundamentals;  (ii)  identify  the  specification  of  
the  assessment  tasks  with  aims  of  task,  the  tasks  
themselves,  and  scoring;  (iii)  design  some  test  items  on  4  
skills:  listening,  speaking,  reading  and  writing.  
Course  policies  on  learning  and  
assessment  
—  The  course  will  be  conducted  in  different  modes  including  
lecturing,  discussion,  practice,  and  group  presentation.    
—  Attendance  in  all  sessions  is  strongly  recommended.  
Participants  are  required  to  give  advance  notice  of  their  absence  
in  case  of  illness  or  any  other  situations.  However,  they  must  
attend  at  least  80%  of  the  sessions  in  order  to  pass  the  
course.  
—  Participants  are  expected  to  be  well  prepared  and  take  an  active  
role  in  class  discussions  and  work  collaboratively  with  their  
peers.    
—  Failure  of  the  assignment  will  be  imposed  as  a  penalty  for  
cheating  and  plagiarism.    
—  For  late  submitted  work,  5%  of  the  component  grades  will  be  
deducted  per  day.    
Reading  
Required  reading:  
—  Brown,  H.  and  Abeywickrama,  P.  (2019)  Language  assessment  –  
Principles  and  classroom  practices.  New  York:  Pearson  
Longman,  3rd  edition.  
   
Optional  readings:    
—  Cheng, L. and Fox, J. (2017) Assessment in the Language
Classroom: Teachers support student learning, UK: Palgrave.  
—  Coombe,  C.,  Davidson,  P.,  O'Sullivan,  B.,  &  Stoynoff,  S.  (Eds.)  
(2012)  The  Cambridge  guide  to  second  language  assessment,  
Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.    
—  Fulcher,  G.  (2010)  Practical  language  testing,  London:  Hodder  
Education.  
—  Hughes,  A.  (2003).  Testing  for  language  teachers  (2nded.).  
Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
 Detailed  course  contents  
 
Session Topic Required Reading Teaching and learning activities

1 - Course
introduction Brown, H. and Lecture and discussion
- Assessment Abeywickrama, P. (A1)
concepts and (2019) Chapter 1, pp.
issues 1-26

2 Principles of Brown, H. and (Group presentation) + Discussion +

language Abeywickrama, P. Questions and answers (Q&A) + lecture
assessment (2019) Chapter 2, pp. + Practice: designing test specifications
27-56 (A1+ A2)
3-5 Designing Brown, H. and (Group presentation) + Discussion +
classroom Abeywickrama, P. Q&A + lecture+ Practice: designing test
language tests (2019) Chapter 3, pp. items
57-89 (G1) (A1+ A2)
6 Standards-based Brown, H. and (Group presentation) + Discussion +
assessment Abeywickrama, P. Q&A + lecture
(2019) Chapter 4, pp. (A1+ A2)
90-109 (G2)
Session Topic Required Reading Teaching and learning activities

7 Standardized Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +

testing Abeywickrama, P. Discussion + Q&A + lecture
(2019) Chapter 5, pp. (A1+ A2)
110-127 (G3)
8 Assessing Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
listening Abeywickrama, P. Discussion + Q&A + lecture +
(2019) Chapter 6, pp. practice: designing Listening
128-155. (G4) assessment tasks (A2)
9 Assessing Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
speaking Abeywickrama, P. Discussion +Q&A + lecture +
(2019) Chapter 7, pp. practice: designing Speaking
156-195 (G5) assessment tasks (A2)
Progress test
(A1)
10 Assessing reading Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
Abeywickrama, P. Discussion + Q&A + lecture +
(2019) Chapter 8, pp. practice: designing Reading
195-226 (G6) assessment tasks (A2)
Session Topic Required Reading Teaching and learning
activities
11 Assessing writing Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
Abeywickrama, P. (2019) Discussion + Q&A + lecture +
Chapter 9, pp. 227-259 (G7) practice: designing Writing
assessment tasks (A2)
12 Assessing grammar and Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
vocabulary Abeywickrama, P. (2019) Discussion + Q&A + lecture +
Chapter 10, pp. 260-285 practice: designing grammar and
(G8) vocabulary assessment tasks
(A2)
13 Grading and student Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
evaluation Abeywickrama, P. (2019) Discussion + Q&A + lecture
Chapter 11, pp. 286-311 (A2)
14 Beyond letter grading Brown, H. and (Group presentation) +
Abeywickrama, P. (2019) Discussion + Q&A + lecture
Chapter 12, pp. 312-330 (A2)
15 Revision
TBA Group portfolio
(submitted two weeks
after the final session)
(A2)
Final test (as
scheduled by the
university academic
office) (A3)