An Analysis On The Contrast Between Summative And Formative Assessment In Senior High School English Teaching

The current assessment in senior high school English teaching depends too much upon summative approach. This kind of conventional assessment method is weak in sparking the student's enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation in language learning. It hinders the development of the student's autonomy and creativity and consequently leads English teaching in senior high school to the extreme of exam-oriented education. In this situation, it is imperative that the current summative assessment be reformed and become an assessment system that is beneficial to the development of the student and the improvement of English teaching. The reformed assessment system should also help perfect the curriculum and be in accord with quality education.In this thesis, the origin or educational assessment and the current research on educational assessment are reviewed. Next, a contrast is conducted between the functions, features and forms of summative and formative assessments. And it is followed by an analysis of the contrast.The final conclusion is that formative assessment has special advantages in the aspects of promoting the student's mastery of language knowledge and language skills, inspiring positive attitudes towards English learning, cultivating the spirit of teamwork and developing learner's autonomy. But in order to achieve the goal of best teaching result, summative assessment and formative assessment should be combined in senior high school English teaching.