Research On Formative Assessment For Cooperative Learning In English Listening Teaching

Since the Basic Requirements(trial)was promulgated in 2000,English teaching for non-English majors has experienced almost two decades of teaching reform.Due to limited class learning periods and overmuch teaching schedule,teachers tend to employ the traditional cramming method of teaching,and thus probably reduce students' learning interest and initiative.Cooperative learning has been proved in previous studies as an effective teaching method,which can stimulate students' learning initiative and better the learning atmosphere.Formative assessment is a procedural and developmental assessment,which can track students' learning process,provide prompt feedback and promote an all-round development of students(Li & Zhang,2017).The present study focuses on the application of formative assessment for cooperative learning in English listening class.Students in two parallel classes were chosen as Experimental Class and Control Class in the second semester.During the 15-week experiment,all the subjects received the same in-class instructions and were assigned the same cooperative learning tasks.Formative assessment was applied in Experimental Class while traditional assessment was employed in Control Class.In the study,the author attempts to explore the following questions through qualitative and quantitative research methods:(1)Compared with traditional assessment,is the application of formative assessment in cooperative learning of English listening class more helpful in developing students' listening ability and their mastery of listening strategies?(2)Compared with traditional assessment,is the application of formative assessment in cooperative learning of English listening class more effective in promoting students' learning interest and cooperative initiative?(3)Compared with traditional assessment,what effects does the application of formative assessment have on the learner autonomy of students?Through testing,questionnaire surveys and interviews,data are mainly collected and analyzed by SPSS 19.0.The results show that compared with the traditional assessment,the application of formative assessment in cooperative learning of English listening class could significantly increase students' listening academic scores,learning interests and cooperative initiative,but it doesn't show obvious effects on improving students' learner autonomy.It can also better enhance students' application of listening strategies especially the listening skills like making prediction,recognition and use of key words and fixed collocations,and understanding listening text by using the knowledge of the context.The results of the study contribute to the feasible application of formative assessment in cooperative learning of English listening teaching.Moreover,Practical suggestions for future research were also identified in the thesis.