Implementing Classroom-based Assessment To Improve Foreign Language Learning In China Colleges

Assessment really does matter in higher education. Internationally academics are seeking better ways to assess students, recognizing that diverse methods are available which may solve many of the problems associated with the evaluation of learning. This paper attempts to discuss the benefits and values of classroom-based assessment in China colleges for English majors. It is not the kind of assessments used to give grades or to satisfy the accountability demands of an external authority, but rather the kind of assessment that can be used as a part of instruction to support and enhance learning. It involves methods of assessing student learning within the classroom environment using course goals, objectives and content to gauge the extent of the learning that is taking place. It's meant to be integrated with teaching in order to improve learning and to help shape and direct the teaching-learning process. The primary aim of this paper is to see whether it will improve student motivation and activate their learner-responsibility in language learning. It's also intended to show whether students will be more likely to get prompt feedback from their teacher, as they're getting more self-reflection on language learning. The focus of this paper is on the implementation of classroom-based assessment in EFL classroom to improve language teaching and enhance the success of language learning. The emphasis is laid on the interface between classroom-based assessment, combined with the traditional way of assessment, and foreign language learning, esp. in the aspect of affective learning.The author believes that continuous classroom-based assessment is a fairer way of assessing students compared to using only examinations. The first step in any type of assessment is to find out what students know and understand about the course being assessed. As mentioned in the paper, however, a student's fear of failure in formal examinations can easily result in anxiety, which, in turn, can get in the way of allowing him or her to demonstrate what they actually know. On the contrary, when assessment arises naturally out of classroom activities, students are often unaware that they are being assessed and this enables them to display what they know without feeling any fear or anxiety. Moreover, since the continuous classroom-based assessment mark is added to the mark awarded for the examination, this should help reduce the pressure of the "all or nothing" nature of the examination. Its ability to reduce student stress levels is, therefore, an important reason for giving an increased emphasis to continuous classroom-based assessment.The paper tries to investigate the classroom-based assessment-from what it is and how it works to planning, implementing, and analyzing assessment projects. It begins with the discussion of the nature and models of language assessment, after which a consideration of the relationship between assessment and language learning, especially, affective learning follows. Then the author illustrates her approach througha case study that details the real-life classroom experiences of teachers carrying out classroom-based assessment projects. Finally some pedagogical implications related to the findings of the study are provided in the hope that they could contribute to help facilitate language teaching and learning through the positive use of classroom-based assessment in the classroom.