Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (SETE) is commonly used as a tool of evaluating teaching quality at educational institutions. In Vietnam, schools and universities have still imposed a restriction on using SETE and the issue on perceptions of SETE has yet to be resolved. Acknowledging this literature gap, the current study aims to investigate how EFL teachers and EFL students perceive SETE as well as to seek for possible similarities and differences between the two groups’ perceptions with the participation of 130 teachers and 192 adult learners at an EFL language center in Southern Vietnam. Quantitative data were collected via questionnaires with two categories: (1) questionnaire for teachers, and (2) questionnaire for students. The findings revealed that Vietnamese EFL teachers and students were highly aware of SETE in relation to its necessity as well as potential benefits and the participants almost keep neutral viewpoint on validity and reliability of SETE. Also, the two groups acknowledged their frequent participation in SETE and expressed their preferences for certain SETE procedures. What’s more, there were several similarities and differences between teachers’ and students’ perceptions. Eventually, the study puts forward some implications to make SETE activities more effective in the future. Further studies can focus on perceptions and practices of SETE in a different context or a comparison between SETE and another form of assessment.
Keywords: SETE, course improvement, forms of assessment, student evaluation of teaching effectiveness, student feedback, teaching quality
