An Action Study Of Students Self-evaluation Strategies In The Teaching Of English Writing In Senior High Schools

Based on an action research, this paper attempts to discuss the application of the self-evaluation learning strategy and its correlations with English writing ability of the third-year high school students. In the study, English writing ability is defined as students' ability to write and to use the writing strategies, which is examined by the writing test scores of students and the results of questionnaires focusing on writing strategies. This research aims to provide students with an instructive guidance in terms of using the self-evaluation learning strategy to fulfil English writing tasks and improve their English writing ability at the same time.This paper is to study the following two major research questions:(1) Are there any differences in students' writing ability between those who use the self-evaluation learning strategy and the ones who do not in the course of English writing practice? (2)Are there any differences in students' attitudes towards English writing between students who apply and who do not after the experiment. Subjects involved in this experiment are two classes of third-year high school students who are being taught by the author; one is used as the experiment class and the other as the control class. Before carrying out the experiment, this paper adopts the instruments of questionnaires concerning English writing in which students of the experiment class apply the self-evaluation strategy to grade their writings and students of the control class use the traditional way of evaluation for their writings. Twenty-four weeks later, another questionnaire survey is done to these two classes. By comparing the data obtained from the two questionnaires, the writer makes the final conclusions. On the basis of the research questions, two hypothesises are put forward in this study, namely, (1)The application of the self-evaluation learning strategy in writing makes students get better understanding for their owe writings and can motivate them to shoulder more responsibilities for themselves, meanwhile, the new way of evaluation is better than the traditional way in improving their English writing ability. (2)Compared with the traditional way of evaluation, students who use the self-evaluation learning strategy tend to develop more active attitudes in the process of English writing training.Both of the two hypothesises have been confirmed. This research shows that students' application of the self-evaluation learning strategy can improve the their English writing ability, so it is reasonable and feasible to use this teaching method in practice. The self-evaluation learning strategy can enhance students' awareness of self-reflection and inspire greater interest in English writing. However, students' application of the self-evaluation learning strategy should be monitored and guided by teachers to ensure that they can make full use of the benefits of self-evaluation to make progress in their study.