The Effect Of A Guided Training Of Assessment Techniques On Improving Self-assessment Of Writing Skills By Chinese University Students

Research into self-assessment of language ability has attracted much attention from language testers due to the growing interest in autonomous learning since the 1980s. Nevertheless, the results of research are inconsistent since the nature of self-assessment is so complicated with many factors involved, one of the important being rater training. Given that little research has been conducted on how self-assessment of L2 writing could be influenced by training, this study investigated the effectiveness of a guided training of assessment techniques on improving self-assessment of writing skills in argumentative essays by Chinese university students.Some related literature in self-assessment of language proficiency was reviewed, and on the basis of this, the foundation of the investigation was established, which illustrated why and how the present study was carried out.70 non-English majors in two parallel intact classes of a university participated in this study. Among them, 34 in one class were used as the control group, while 36 in the other class were employed as the experimental group. Participants in the experimental group performed self-assessment after they had completed a training session of assessment techniques followed by practice at the rate of 1.5 class hours per week over a period of three weeks, while those of the control group undertook self-assessment without any training. The data collected included results ofa questionnaire in addition to teacher assessment and participants'self-assessment of two writing tasks.Qualitative study was conducted to analyze the results of the questionnaire, which was designed to elicit participants' attitudes and opinions towards writing assessment and the training. Statistical techniques for quantitative analysis such as one-way ANOVA and correlation were drawn on to examine the participants' self-assessment in the two writing tasks while teacher assessment was set as the criteria to be compared with. The Qualitative and quantitative analyses resulted in the following findings. First, Chinese university students without experience in self-assessing English writing skills could not estimate their own writing ability in a reliable way. Second, the guided training of assessment techniques under investigation is partly useful in improving self-assessment of written work by Chinese students. Third, the guided assessment technique training is effective in improving self-assessment of written work by Chinese students in terms of mechanics, content and form.Finally, the results are discussed based on the data and the findings of previous studies, which is followed by suggestions for further study in this field.