An Exploratory Study Of Formative Assessment Of English Listening Learning And Its Effects On College English Teaching

In College English teaching, summative assessment is pervasive in the traditional evaluation system, which causes test-oriented education. To change this, it is imperative for researchers to explore an evaluation system that integrates with formative assessment. Listening learning has been proved to contribute to overall language proficiency (Dunkel 1991, Feyten 1991, Oxford 1993, et al.). In recent years, the objective of College English teaching reform has been focused on fostering students' listening and speaking, therefore, English listening teaching is worthy of this exploration.This study analyzes the theories and practice of formative assessment and English listening, and designs a mode of formative assessment of English listening learning (FAELL, hereafter), and conducts a three-semester experimental study involving 170 non-English majors from four intact classes in Guangxi University. The experiment was divided into three phases: 84 sophomores were in the first two phases and 86 freshmen were in the third phase. The two intact classes at each grade were randomly divided into experimental groups (EGs) and comparison groups (CGs). EGs received the integrated evaluation system combining FAELL and summative assessment, whereas, CGs received only the traditional evaluation. This study discusses and explores the practice of FAELL with aims to facilitate College English teaching reform and develop students' overall English abilities. The research questions are: (1) what changes should be made to the traditional English teaching? (2) Compared with the traditional evaluation, what are the main effects of FAELL on learning results, behaviors and attitudes to students in different grades? The study used weekly quizzes, observations, questionnaires, interviews and other instruments to collect quantitative and qualitative data for analysis and discussion. The results indicate that: FAELL is feasible, but it needs perseverance and close cooperation among teachers, and the coordination of relevant departments. Modern educational technology is the basic requirement for FAELL. Compared with the traditional evaluation, FAELL guarantees the consistent listening input and exposes students to more choices of learning resources; it stimulates reflection on learning and teaching which promotes communications between teachers and students, from which teachers know the dynamic process of students' learning so that they can make adjustments in time. All this will finally enhance students' self-confidence and initiatives for English learning.This study combines education science with second language acquisition, reinforces the learning in process according to the scientific way of second language acquisition. And it facilities the practice of College English teaching reform and provides constructive insights to foster students' overall English abilities. Limitations have been pointed out at the end of the thesis. Various formative assessment tools are recommended to be involved in the evaluation system; teachers' guidance in implementation needs to be underlined; and FAELL can intertwines more closely with internet technology, with a purpose to implement the reform model for better effects.