An Experimental Study On The Effects Of Formative Assessment On Higher Vocational College Students' Autonomous Ability In Public English Learning

With the deepening reform of public English teaching in Higher Vocational colleges,students' English competence,interest in learning and English Autonomous Learning Ability(be short for EALA)become the main teaching goals of public English teaching.Students' interest in English and the level of EALA are the key elements in improving English teaching effectiveness in higher vocational colleges.With regard to teaching evaluation,higher vocational college leaders and teachers attach great importance to the application of formative assessment in public English teaching.Nevertheless,due to the limited understanding of formative assessment,the usage of formative assessment is not satisfactory.In order to achieve the goals of public English teaching in higher vocational colleges,it is necessary to deepen the use of formative assessment in public English teaching,which can help arouse students' interest in learning and foster autonomous learning ability in English.According to the comprehensive evaluation index of college students' EALA created by Professor Xu Jinfen,and based on the features of public English teaching in higher vocational colleges,this study uses four dimensions to research the autonomous learning ability of pubic English in higher vocational colleges.The four dimensions are listed as follows: setting learning goals and learning plans,using learning strategies,monitoring learning process and reflecting on learning outcomes.The experiment of formative assessment was carried out in two classes of 77 students who come from Fujian X Higher Vocational College.This study mainly discusses the following questions:(1)What is the current situation of EALA of higher vocational students?(2)What are the differences in EALA and learning achievement between the two classes after the experiment?(3)How does formative assessment affect EALA of higher vocational students?The major findings are as follows:(1)The level of autonomous learning ability of higher vocational students in public English is low.Most students lack of interest in English.Besides,they are not good at English.(2)Students' EALA in experimental class has been greatly improved after the experiment.On the contrary,there are no significantdifferences between the levels of English autonomous learning ability for the students in control class pre-and-post experiments.Formative assessment has a greater impact on students' learning achievements than traditional evaluation method.(3)After the experiment,students' EALA in experimental class has been greatly improved.Besides,there are significant changes in the four dimensions.The detailed information are listed as follows: firstly,most of the students in experimental class can better understand the teaching objectives of each class,make their own learning goals and learning plans,and be responsible for their own study.Secondly,students in experimental class can consciously apply the English learning strategies to their leaning in vocabulary,listening,reading,etc.Thirdly,students in experimental class can be more active in classroom activities and review language points according to their regular plans.Fourthly,students can summarize their achievements and shortcomings in English learning in time and reflect on their study results through writing English learning journal every week.Then they can overcome difficulties according to the targeted guidance from the teacher,which can help improve their English leaning.Based on these findings,constructivism and humanism theories,this paper puts forward suggestions from three aspects.Firstly,higher vocational colleges leaders should attach great importance to the cultivation of students' autonomous learning ability in pubic English,making reasonable,objective,suitable teaching evaluation system for their colleges.Secondly,English teachers should deeply understand the connotation of formative assessment,and adopt various evaluation tools to evaluate students' performance and improve their English autonomous learning ability.Thirdly,higher vocational college students should have the consciousness of autonomous learning,form into the habit of self-learning and improve their English autonomous learning ability through multiple ways.