An Empirical Study On Formative Assessment Applied To Improving Students' Learning Autonomy In Senior High School

With the guidance of college entrance examination,the summative assessment is still the primary way to evaluate which kind of level knowledge that students have mastered.This kind of assessment is not good for the educators to arouse the students' inner-learning motivation and confidence to learn a foreign language,and it is not good for students to form a good learning habit.In order to make students have autonomous learning ability and students' life-long learning,formative assessment should be used in real English teaching.The thesis combines formative assessment with autonomous learning together to apply in English teaching and learning with the reference of the previously relevant theories and research results achieved in and out of China,attempting to use formative assessment to improve students' learning autonomy in senior high school and provide some specific ways for English language teachers to improve students' autonomy learning abilities by using formative assessment.This research can offer some reference for efficient learning and students' all-around development,at the same time,providing new sight for English education in the new period.There are four methods in this research,including questionnaire survey,literature analysis method,and classroom observation and interviewing method.The empirical study tries to solve the following three questions:1)What are the situations of students' autonomy learning in senior high school?2)How is a formative assessment applied to improve students' learning autonomy?3)Is it effective to apply formative assessment to improve students' learning autonomy in senior high school? And what are these results?At the beginning of the study,the researcher uses a test paper and a questionnaire to know the level of students' English and the previous situations of students learning,From the test and questionnaire,the researcher is able to know how to use effectively formative assessment to promote students' autonomous learning by knowing students' learning interest,learning style,etc.then,the researcher use a specific English learning schedule including preview before class,learning in class and reflection after class to start this study.The researcher based on task-based approach and learning autonomy uses a case study to show how formative assessment applied in improving students' learning autonomy.The final period is to interview students and let them do post-paper.By interviewing students,the researcher can know whether students have autonomous learning ability or not,know which level they have achieved,and whether they like teachers to use profile to record their learning process or not,and what kind of teaching should like to be.In whole empirical study,the researcher uses classroom observation all the time to evaluate experience results.Using post-paper can evaluate whether students improve their score or not.The reliability of experience results can be improved by combing interview with classroom observation and comparing pre-test and post-test.Students don't have achieved an ideal result in score.The highest is 60.5 and the lowest is 16 in pre-test,and in post-test,the highest achieve 75 and the lowest is 19.No one achieve 90 and there are still many students' scores are below 30.While the average have been improved a little from 33 to 39.From the whole score,there still have no satisfying result.But they have positive attitude on assignments and classroom activities.They have formed good learning habits(preview before class,find more learning materials to make up contents that they can know clearly,etc.).From the results of interview and classroom observation,students can learn independently and solve some learning difficult by using some useful learning strategies.They are able to monitor and evaluate their learning and make appropriate learning plan.In conclusion,using formative assessment can improve students' learning autonomy.