An Application Of Formative Assessment In Writing Class For English Majors

Assessment is considered a significant factor in English teaching. Formative assessment emerged under humanism and constructivist theory of learning, which is an ongoing assessment that can provide additional qualitative information on student progress. With the immediate verbal feedback, students can easily monitor their learning process.The significance and necessity of formative assessment have been well acknowledged in the educational field. However, research in China on the theory and practice of formative assessment are mainly carried out in the field of elementary education. Few research and experiments have been carried out at college level.This thesis is an application of formative assessment in writing class for English majors. The experiment was conducted to answer the two research questions: 1) Can formative assessment facilitate the writing ability of English majors? 2) Can formative assessment more benefit low-achievers or high-achievers in English writing?Pre-test results show that the control and experimental group students are nearly at the same English writing level before the experiment. Formative assessment is integrated into the teaching of the experimental class, while traditional summative assessment is adopted in the control class. Portfolios, questionnaires, testing, and self-and-peer assessment are served as experiment tools.After one semester's experiment, by analyzing data collected in the experiment, findings are drawn as follows: 1) English majors' writing ability has been improved by using formative assessment, which bases on the following findings: First, data obtained from the questionnaires, tests and verbal reports all show that the application of formative assessment in the writing class facilitates English majors' abilities to develop thesis, organize paragraphs, choose appropriate vocabulary, and manipulate sentences. Second, setting rubrics with students before they write ishelpful for students to write a successful composition. Third, self-assessment is essential to students' improvement of writing ability. Fourth, peer-assessment and portfolio conference benefit students' improvement of writing ability. Fifth, students' interests are improved as a result of experience of success and teacher's encouragement and praise.2) Formative assessment benefits low-achievers more than high-achievers in English writing, which bases on the following findings: First, data obtained from the two tests show that the low achievers improve greater than high achievers in the semester. Second, the low achievers enjoy greater attention and encouragement in the student-centered class than they do in the otherwise traditional class. Third, the low achievers benefit a lot from the peer-assessment and conference. Fourth, the low achievers experience greater success in the process-focused class than they do in the otherwise traditional class as a result of immediate feedback of encouragement.But some limitations still lie in the study like the small size of subjects and short time of implementation.