ESP Students' Perceptions of the Use of Technological Devices in Assessing English Listening Skills

Abstract : Nowadays, technology plays an increasingly vital role in language education. Recently, more and more educators and researchers have explored how technological devices can support the assessment of English listening skills. This study, therefore, aims to explore students’ perceptions of the use of technological devices in the assessment of listening skills in an ESP course, namely ‘English for Logistics’. More specifically, the research was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City College of Transport with the participation of 80 second-year ESP students majoring in Logistics. A mixed-methods research design was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data through the employment of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and content analysis were used. The findings revealed that the main purposes of using technological devices in assessing English listening skills include enhancing students’ listening skills and giving feedback to students via formative assessment. Besides, most students had positive perceptions of the use of technological devices in assessing listening skills in the course of English for Logistics, such as having convenience, increasing interest, saving time, and giving immediate feedback. In addition, the findings showed that distraction, anxiety, security, and technical problems were several major challenges of using technological devices in English listening.