The Effects Of Formative Assessment On Senior High School English Learning

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation offormative assessment on English learning motivation, strategies and attitude. In Chinesecurrent assessment mode summative assessment plays the leading role, it emphasis on theresult rather than process. Assessment should be carried out in order to promote learning andteaching, not just to meet the examination requirement. Summative assessment is contrary tothe final purpose of assessment.Based on New High School English Curriculum Standard, it suggested combiningformative assessment with summative assessment together, emphasis both on learning processand learning result, applying formative assessment actively. As the proceeding of educationreform today, taking summative assessment as the only assessment method can no longermeet the need of talent cultivation requirement, which are lifelong learning and all-rounddevelopment. Therefore, formative assessment which focuses on the application of knowledgeand skill can effectively make up for the deficiency of traditional test. Along with theeducational reform step by step, both schools and teachers have a further understanding onformative assessment. Many educational institutions are in use of the formative assessment tosome extend, which pays more attention on the cultivation of students’ autonomous learningability and humanistic quality, and facilitate to achieve the students’ learning three-dimensional target.The three main research questions of this study are: Does formative assessment helpstimulate students’ English learning motivation? Does formative assessment help correctstudents’ English learning attitude? Does formative assessment help improve students’ Englishlearning strategy? The research subjects are two classes of120newly enrolled freshmen in2012from Anhui Huaiyuan No.3Middle School (Senior high school). Each experimentalclass and control class has60students. The experiment took a whole semester; experimentalclass applied formative assessment while control class still conducted the traditionalsummative assessment. The study includes quantitative and qualitative research, quantitativeone includes pre-and post-questionnaire in experimental class, classroom activity scoring table in experimental class and the final examination results in experimental class andcontrol class. Using SPSS16.0to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative study includesinterview on students and teacher in experimental class, and growth portfolio content.Interview content is the views and suggestions from students and teacher for theimplementation of formative assessment, and students’ learning status. Growth portfolio isused to observe students’ changes in learning state.According to the paired-samples T test of pre-and post-questionnaire results, studentsEnglish learning intrinsic motivation, matacognitive strategies and affective attitude havesignificant improvement. Interview results show that both students and teacher have positiveattitude towards formative assessment, they affirmed formative assessment can offer bothstudents and teacher the timely feedback informative not limited to score, they can bothbenefit from that.At the same time, some problems and limitations appeared in the experiment operationprocess: the implementation of formative assessment occupied a lot of energy and time, itmay become a heavy burden after a long time. Formative assessment is an externalassessment model, Chinese classroom teaching is different from abroad small classes, andsuch a large number of assessment operations cannot play a full effect in local class.The author of this study recommends that future promotion of formative assessmentshould be strong supported from schools, teachers and students, and spends a longer period toimplement formative assessment to conduct research. Increasing teachers’ theory and practiceof formative assessment in literacy training, to ensure teachers’ leading role in theimplementation of formative assessment, and play out the full effectiveness in adoption.