An Action Research On Dynamic Assessment Applied To English Writing Teaching At Senior High School

Influenced by the traditional writing method and idea,at present,writing teaching assessment in senior high schools in China still is mainly static assessment.Static assessment usually focuses on product of writing and pays little attention to the assessment of writing process,so it is not very helpful for the improvement of students'writing proficiency.As one of the most important skills of English,English writing is of great importance in the development of students' comprehensive language abilities.Therefore,it is essential to adopt more effective assessment methods to improve student writing ability.In 2003,Chinese Ministry of Education proposed new requirements on teaching assessment in English Curriculum Standards of Senior High School,which emphasizes on the functions of assessment in improving students' ability and teaching efficiency.Therefore,it is necessary for senior high school English teachers to explore effective assessment procedures and rational assessment model in English writing teaching.Based on the situation of senior high school English writing in China,the researcher adopted DA-based writing teaching model to conduct an action research on dynamic assessment applied to English writing teaching at senior high school.The research discussed the following research questions:(1)In what aspects does dynamic assessment help senior high school students improve their English writing proficiency?(2)To what extent does dynamic assessment affect senior high school students' attitude towards English writing?This action research was conducted among 49 students from a class of senior two at a senior high school in Guangdong province.It lasted eight weeks.Before the action research,a questionnaire and interview were conducted to know the students' attitude towards English writing and writing assessment.According to the model of DA-based English writing in college,the researcher constructed the model of DA-based English writing in senior high school and applied it to the writing teaching of eight compositions.This model of DA-based English writing includes five steps:pre-writing instruction,peer-assessment instruction and operation,self-revision instruction and operation,teacher's assessment of selected compositions and Demonstration of good compositions,each of which is accompanied by students' progress in writing.There were two rounds in the action research and each round lasted four weeks.After the second round,students were asked to do an English writing test,questionnaire and interview again,and all the data were computer-analyzed by SPSS 17.0.The results of qualitative data and quantitative data show the following findings.First,DA-based English writing teaching can largely improve students' writing proficiency,which is mainly reflected on aspects of content,organization,language use and writing norms.Second,DA-based English writing teaching affects students' writing attitudes towards English writing positively,and it obviously improves students' writing interest and confidence.The implications of the research are as follows.Firstly,DA-based English writing teaching puts forward higher requirements for English writing teachers.Secondly,the teacher's intervention and feedback in DA-based writing teaching should be more encouraging and instructive so as to increase students,writing interest and confidence.At the same time,it has provided a new writing teaching approach for English teaching.Lastly,the teacher in this research can learn to reflect with teacher logs,adjust the research plan and solve the problems,which help teachers realize their professional development.In conclusion,this thesis is conducive to senior high school English teachers' understanding of dynamic assessment.Also it has provided some inspirations and suggestions for English writing teaching and writing assessment reform in senior high school,contributing the prosperous development in the field of foreign language teaching in China.