An Empirical Study On The Assessment Of College English Teaching And Learning

In recent years,classroom assessment has increasingly become a research focus in the field of language assessment due to its important role in classroom instruction and student learning.On the one hand,teachers and students,as the two major participants in classroom activities,can benefit from classroom assessment.On the other hand,exploring their perceptions of classroom assessment and teachers’ classroom assessment practices will in turn help to explore classroom assessment activities of higher quality.However,it is found that most of the existing studies in China focus on large-scale standardized tests,with the role of classroom assessment underestimated for a long time.Within this context,this study explored teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom assessment as well as teachers’ English classroom assessment practices in Chinese tertiary level.Meanwhile,teachers’ challenges and coping strategies in the process of implementing English classroom assessment were also revealed.To achieve this objective,both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered for the current study.The quantitative data consisted of both teacher and student questionnaire,which were finally completed by 200 second-year undergraduates and 41 college English teachers in a Chinese university.The qualitative data were made up of 5 teacher interviews,3 student focus groups and 3 classroom observations.Quantitative data in this study were analyzed through SPSS 21.0,while qualitative data were mainly categorized into themes according to the participants’ responses.Results demonstrated that both teachers and students generally held positive perceptions of classroom assessment.Besides,both T-tests and ANOVA results indicated that there existed no significant difference between students’ perceptions of classroom assessment and their gender as well as major.Also,there was no significant difference between teachers’ perceptions of classroom assessment and their gender,highest education level,age,subject taught and teaching experience.However,compared with teachers without language assessment educational background,those with language assessment educational background perceived more confident and satisfied with their own assessment practices.With regard to classroom assessment practices,it was found classroom assessment was implemented at a regular basis by college English teachers in this university.They tended to employ traditional paper-pencil assessment,performance assessment,etc.in English classrooms,while assessment methods like self-and peer-assessment,diagnostic assessment,portfolio assessment and parental assessment were rarely involved.Moreover,the qualitative results suggested that college English teachers encountered various challenges during implementing classroom assessment and some coping strategies they adopted were also shared.As revealed from the research findings,both teachers and students have favorable perceptions of classroom assessment.Teachers’ language assessment educational background exerts great influence on their classroom assessment practices,and they are still facing lots of challenges when implementing classroom assessment.Therefore,exploring both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom assessment as well as teachers’ English classroom assessment practices has important implications for teacher development and student growth,which can further promote Chinese college English education.