Application Of English Formative Assessment In Primary School English Teaching

Assessment is an important part of English teaching. Scientific assessment is a strong guarantee to achieve curriculum goals. English course assessment should be based on "New English Curriculum Standard", and it can monitor the whole process of English teaching effectively and scientifically. Traditional summative assessment values result more than process, knowledge more than quality and selection more than encouragement. This kind of assessment can not bring the activity, creativity or initiative of the students into full play. With the development of English teaching and the implementation of the new English Curriculum Standard in the primary schools, more and more teachers are aware that the existing assessment systems can not meet the demands of teaching. In order to change this situation, it is necessary to establish a set of scientific and effective assessment systems---formative assessment which focuses on promoting students’overall development, academic progress and their personalities as well.This thesis reviews the formative assessment and the present research on it at home and abroad. It also inquires into the theoretical basis of the pedagogy and psychology of the formative assessment according to the theory of multiple intelligence, Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis and constructivist education principles. It explores the need, the feasibility and the specific mode of operation for application of English formative assessment in the primary English teaching.The study adopted teaching experiment and questionnaires as the basic instruments. It was carried out in Dongfang Primary School in Yueyang and lasted for a semester. The subjects were120students in Grade Six. Formative assessment was integrated into the teaching of the experimental class, while traditional summative assessment was adopted in the control class. The subjects were required to finish a pretest and posttest at the beginning and end of the experiment. At the same time, students were required to finish the questionnaires about students’ learning attitude and interest at the beginning and the end of the study. The two classes were compared by analyzing the scores of the tests and data of the questionnaires. The result of the experiment shows that the specific formative assessment model put forward by the author can help students to grasp English knowledge, improve their language skills, encourage their positive emotion and attitude towards English learning. It can also develop their cooperative spirit, cultivate their independent learning ability. Meanwhile, the feasibility of applying formative assessment has been justified. Finally, the reflection on assessment itself, assessors and assessees is discussed and suggestions are given to other teachers for future practice.