Practical Research On Formative Assessment In Higher Vocational School Public English Teaching

Evaluation is a key component in Higher Vocational School English teaching. A comprehensive, objective, scientific and accurate evaluation system is of vital importance to the achievement of teaching goals. It not only helps teachers obtain feedback, improves administration of teaching, and ensures teaching quality but also provides students with an effective means to adjust their learning strategies and methods, improving their learning efficiency and achieves the desired learning effects.Confined by the traditional concepts on education and talents, summative assessment has been the main assessment methods in the process of teaching while formative assessment has been ignored. Foreign language teaching is no exception. Many side effects on foreign language teaching have been caused by such a traditional assessment system. For example, the'traditional assessment system overemphasizes the test-taking ability. It fails to put the ability, initiative and autonomy of learners into effect.Weaknesses and problems of the traditional assessment system lead to the introduction of formative assessment. It is undoubtedly a kind of challenge against the traditional educational concepts. The significance and necessity of formative assessment have been well acknowledged in the educational field. However, the researches on the theory and practice of formative assessment are mainly carried out in the field of elementary education, researches and experiments have rarely been carried out at the university level. And there is hardly any research on higher vocational education. Therefore, the present paper attempts to propose formative assessment to higher vocational public English teaching and learning and explore an assessment model built on formative assessment in assessing higher vocational public English teaching and learning properly. The principles, ways, tools and techniques of applying such a model are provided at the same time. This will be much helpful to both enrich and improve theories on higher vocational English assessment and to guide the higher vocational English teaching reform.This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter one introduces research background of formative assessment, the theoretical and practical significance of the present study, the methods of the study and review the historical and present situation related to educational assessment at home and abroad. Chapter two firstly introduces teaching assessment, including concept, intention, function and categories, secondly states formative assessment, including the concept, the related theories, features and function. Chapter three is the main part of the whole paper. The application of formative assessment in higher vocational school public English teaching. Firstly analyses the present situation of evaluation system of higher vocational school English teaching, secondly provides the principles, methods, tools of evaluation. The study was conducted in the fall semester,2010, among 3 classes in Baotou Vocational & Technical College. This research uses questionnaires, qualitative methods to observe the daily performances, belief in learning autonomy and after-class learning activities and contrasts the results between before the research and after the research. Then analyses the results of this research, points out the advantages and disadvantages of formative assessment. At last, puts forward the advice when applying the formative assessment.