Learner-centered Formative Assessment In Language Teaching And Learning

Historically, educational evaluation has consisted of administering periodic quizzes, reports or tests. In many cases, these have been the bases of reporting grade in elementary and secondary schools as well as course grades at the university level. In China, these traditional evaluations frequently have been complemented by standardized tests such as the nation-wide college entrance examination, Band Four, Six and Eight English tests for English Majors, and Non-majors for obtaining the college graduation diploma, etc.. In language learning classes, mid term and final exams are the criteria to judge whether a student has mastered what he or she is supposed to master. In most cases, it is the marks of the test that determines whether the student should proceed to the next grade or whether he should get a certain diploma. While still widely acceptable in China, these evaluations have provoked questions concerning what the tests tell us about student learning. None appears to offer information about an individual student抯 reasoning processes, an important factor in the constructivist perspective. It has become increasingly evident that the results of traditional standardized tests are not telling teachers all they need to know about student progress in learning. Characterized by pencil and paper formats, multiple choice responses, time restricted completion, and scoring by the U- teachers in schools and colleges, these tests offer no direct evidence of how students engage in the learning process (McLaughlin & Kennedy, 1993). Perhaps the most fundamental problem with these traditional tests is that they distort students motivation and learning by over emphasizing the importance of the scores as outcomes and measures of students? abilities. Tests can redefine students?goals for learning in counter productive ways that make the outcome more important than learning as inquiry, reflection, and process. Research on academic motivation indicates that a focus on extrinsic goals (such as test scores) and task completion (such as getting through the test) undermines intrinsic motivation, interest, and persistence. Thus traditional standardized testing threatens children抯 motivation to learning and education. New forms of assessment that are sensitive to students?backgrounds, motivation, affect and attitudes must be applied so that students are positively motivated to do their test. The assessment must establish intrinsic goals of mastery, improvement and success rather than extrinsic comparative goals based in test scores. Assessment should involve students so that they respect the test purposes, content, and format; they should also elicit productive strategies and positive motivation so that students can maximize their performance. These positive features of assessment might be attained through learner-centered formative assessment where assessment is -s linked to the classroom curriculum and is part of an ongoing process in which students monitor their personal progress. Students may learn to assess and regulate their own performance when they have the responsibility and motivation to improve their own learning and when all students understand that they can progress...