Students' attitudes towards the application of formative assement in english for economics to students in english interpretation and translation major, FELTE, ULIS-VNU

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In the dynamic modern world, the importance of English for Economics has become ever more profound. In acknowledgement of the situation, the course of English for Economics has been designed and integrated in the learning program for students of translation and interpretation division in FELTE, ULIS, VNU, in concern to students’ future employments. Adopting the learner-centered approach with a range of formative assessment activities, the course expects to provide students with fundamental knowledge about the real-world economics while also help students to enhance their essential skills. However, due to the new changes of the program, there has only been a limited body of research dedicated to exploring the effectiveness of the new formative assessment method and the attitude of students towards it. Thus, this paper aims to: (1) report students’ identification of formative assessment activities in the subject English for Economics, (2) explore the students’ attitudes towards the formative assessment activities of the course, and (3) offer suggestions for modification in course design. For the achievement of these objectives, the researcher utilizes a combination of questionnaire and semi-structured interviews as main data collection instrument. Through data analysis, it is revealed that the majority of students responded positively to formative assessment in consideration of the benefits it confers in terms of knowledge, skills, self-awareness and overall score. However, there exists certain problems including excessive stress that need to be addressed. Thus, suggestions to students, teachers and course designers are put forward based on the findings.