A Study Of Non-English Major Students’ Language Assessment Literacy Based On Oral English Peer Assessment Tasks

In recent years,discussion about Language Assessment Literacy(LAL)are getting more and more attention by the researchers.With the deepening of curriculum reform,education teaching evaluation mode is becoming more and more diversified,and education evaluation field in China is constantly updating and changing.On the one hand,the student-centered classroom is increasingly promoting the development of students,supplementing for the shortage of dividing students according to traditional education.On the other hand,with self assessment and peer assessment,students feel more comfortable,and reduce the pressure from lack of confidence.The process of self assessment and peer assessment means that the students language assessment literacy should be improved.The study on students’ language assessment literacy will enhance non-English students’ knowledge of the language assessment literacy,and provide suggestions and methods for students to have an effective way on language learning.Meanwhile,students take a positive part in the process of assessment and get benefit from it,which respond to the concept of “assessment for learning” in foreign language teaching.However,currently,research on language assessment literacy foreign and domestic are only for language stakeholders,especially teacher educators,but the attention on language assessment literacy for students in language learning is less paid.Due to the education accountability system and the deepen promoting of the concept of student-centered,as well as the concept of “assessment for learning”,students as assessors should not be ignored.As a result,the language assessment literacy of students needs to be improved.The present study,thus,investigates the students’ language assessment literacy based on the peer assessment tasks in the college English audio-visual speaking course.It is carried out to explore the following three questions:1.What’s the status of the non-English major students’ language assessment literacy ?2.What construct the language assessment literacy of the non-English major students ?3.How to improve the non-English major students’ language assessment literacy ?The method adopted in the present study is the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.The participants are students in the college English audio-visual speaking course of two parallel classes,Class A and B from a national key university in China,namely,the experimental group and the control group.Classroom observation was carried in two natural classes as well as pretest and post-test respectively.The two tests were accompanied with follow-up semi-structure interviews with the students.The interviewees were selected by a random method,namely,the students were grouped according to the test scores,and then one student was randomly selected in each group.Findings based on the analysis of the pretest and post-test are as followings.First of all,the control group is under the traditional formative assessment,which is mainly based on the final test.According to a pretest and post test results,the students’ language learning ability did not improve obviously due to their low enthusiasm and initiative of learning and only pay attention to the final test.However,the experimental group,under the guidance of the teacher,actively involved in the peer task of classroom activities,gradually benefited from the self assessment and peer assessment.The results of pretest and post test showed that the experimental group students’ language learning ability has improved significantly.Among them,the self assessment and peer assessment scale also provide students with potential learning opportunities to discover their own shortcomings and to learning from others’ strengths.Findings based on the classroom observation and analysis of interviews are as follows.The students in the control group did not pay attention to classroom activities and the classroom atmosphere was not active.Some students in a pretest interview mentioned that their language assessment literacy was not high enough,they didn’t even know how to assess,and they were not confident enough to express themselvesin English,although they wanted to improve their situation before the semester.In the post test interview,students were more afraid to express communication in the classroom where teachers only used traditional formative assessment,and they were afraid of making mistakes.Therefore,they only paid attention to the final exam and had less participation in the activities in the classroom.As a result,the students in the control group showed no significant improvement in language learning ability.The basic situation of the students in the experimental group was consistent with that of the control group at the beginning of the term,and the analysis of classroom observation and interviews were the same.However,the teachers in the experimental group used the obvious combination of classroom assessment tasks and traditional formative assessment,that is not only the final exam but also the performance of the students in the classroom would be concerned.Therefore,students are more motivated to participate in classroom activities,and the classroom atmosphere is better.In the post test interview,students mentioned that the peer assessment was conducted among the students,which was more receptive to peer assessment than teachers’ assessment.In addition,the teachers also gave some amendments to the process of peer assessment,which made students more impressed and learn a lot.As a result,the language learning ability of the students in the experimental group improved significantly,and the language assessment literacy somewhat improved.Finally,the present study also found that the overall language assessment literacy of non-English major students is relatively low,and there is no training of assessment knowledge and skills in the classroom.However,if a certain class training is adopted,reasonable assessment scales and the assessment criteria are designed,as well as,the assessment skills are penetrated in the classroom and the practical application of peer assessment tasks are adopted,students’ overall language learning ability and metacognitive ability will be improved.The present study is tentatively undertaken to explore students’ language assessment literacy in self and peer assessment activities and there exists certain limitations.It is expected that implications can be made for both the implementation of students’ language assessment literacy and future studies.