279 / 2018-09-04 15:13:13

Application of the CSE in Formative Assessment of English Writing in Elementary & Secondary Schools

CSE; formative assessment; English writing;,elementary and secondary schools

全体主题 > 语言能力标准在教学和测试中的应用

Formative assessment is defined as a process in which students’ performance in their studies is under constant examination and assessment according to certain pre-fixed criteria, after which profound analysis and interpretation of the assessment results is conducted to provide students with timely, rich and effective feedback, thus promoting students’ performance in their academic studies (Black & Wiliam 1998, 2009).
It is widely acknowledged that formative assessment should also play a critical role in foreign language assessment with the aims of promoting students’ proficiency of foreign languages via a variety of assessment approaches as well as abundant feedback. It is a pity, however, that little progress has been recently made in either practical operation or academic research of formative assessment in English teaching in most elementary and secondary schools in China.
Fortunately, China’s Standards of English Language Proficiency (CSE), as a critical element of the national assessment system, can play a guiding role in the improvement of English assessment ever since its birth. The present study initially makes a review of the definition and connotation of formative assessment together with an analysis of the status quo of assessment of English writing in China, which paves the way for the elaboration on the significance and necessity of the application of the CSE in formative assessment of English writing in elementary and secondary schools. What follows is the exemplification of peer assessment and learning contract as two typical approaches of formative assessment established based on the CSE, which focuses on how the two practical approaches could be made use of in authentic contexts of formative assessment of English writing ability. It is hoped that the present study can provide new perspectives and approaches for renovations of formative assessment of English proficiency in elementary and secondary schools.