A Study Of Formative Assessment In College EFL Teaching And Learning

At present, Chinese college EFL instructional assessment depends much more on summative assessment, which assesses students'English learning levels and ability only according to their marks in tests. Although summative assessment has some advantages, its negative influences cannot be ignored. It has not only greatly ignored students'interests, activity and creativity in English learning, but also restrained teachers'enthusiasm for reforming EFL teaching content and form. Therefore, in order to make up for the deficiencies of summative assessment, it is necessary for teachers to adopt formative assessment in instruction.Formative assessment is not only an integral part of instruction, but also the important guarantee of realizing instructional goals. In recent years, scholars have paid more and more attention to it. Its theoretical bases include constructivism, theory of Multiple Intelligences and post-modernism. The process consists of eliciting, interpreting and acting on the assessment information gathered from students. In addition, five formative assessment methods are discussed, such as classroom observation, portfolios, journals, questionnaires and interviews.After analyzing formative assessment from the theoretical perspective, we should prove its practical value. Thus, a case study is documented for the purpose of illustrating how formative assessment is carried out and finding out what its practical significance to Chinese college EFL teaching and learning. The research results demonstrate that formative assessment can greatly improve students'EFL learning ability and enhance their confidence.