Speakers
Description
In alignment with the VietTESOL 2026 theme, "Repositioning English: From Foreign to Second Language," this poster advocates for a critical structural reform in Cambodia’s high-stakes assessment. Currently, English is an elective subject in the Grade 12 national examination, and despite being a core curricular skill, listening remains unassessed. This creates a significant mismatch that hinders student readiness for tertiary education where English is the medium of instruction.
Grounded in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) principles of semantic processing and Language Assessment Literacy (LAL), this proposal argues that assessment must serve as a catalyst for repositioning English as a functional second language. By applying Stephen Covey’s principle to "keep the main thing the main thing," we prioritize communicative oral proficiency over rote test-taking.
Practical Outcomes and Recommendations:
Framework for Integration: A structured test design cycle (CEFR A2-B1) utilizing authentic Cambodian contexts and AI-generated tasks to ensure linguistic relevance.
Validation Argument: Utilizing an argument-based approach to examine extrapolation and consequence inferences for real-world readiness.
Positive Washback: Strategies to transform classroom instruction from passive "Foreign Language" study to active "Second Language" production through high-stakes alignment.
This presentation provides policymakers and practitioners with evidence-based recommendations to bridge the gap between curriculum and assessment, fostering a sustainable ESL future in the region.
Biography
Dara Heng is the School Principal at The Global Child, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating former street-working children. A 2015 Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program Scholar, he possesses a Master's degree in Education and over two decades of ELT experience. Dara actively shapes the ELT community; he co-founded the Community of Practice in Siem Reap (CoP-SR) to support Cambodian English teachers and has presented at major international conferences (VietTESOL, Thailand TESOL, CamTESOL). He also volunteers as an abstract reviewer for the International TESOL Conference. His research interests are English Language Teaching (ELT) and the quality of education.
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