An Empirical Study Of Participatory Approach In English Test Paper Evaluation Class In Senior High Schools

The test paper evaluation class as a crucial course in English teaching could provide feedback to teachers and students to further improve teaching and learning.Based on the factual situation of English test paper evaluation class in key middle schools,cooperative learning,peer evaluation or other methods were employed to mobilize students’ learning initiative and promote their learning efficiency.A survey conducted in a county-level middle school in Meishan reveals that English teachers did not give adequate attention to the test paper evaluation class.Students did not perform well and their overall engagement needs to be improved in this class.The participatory approach is student-centred,which requires teachers to mobilize students’ learning enthusiasm through learning activities,so that students can acquire knowledge,improve skills and possess positive emotional experience in the process of “engagement”.In the light of the investigation and the characteristics of the participatory approach,this study tries to apply the participatory approach to English test paper evaluation class in the county-level middle school with the purpose of exploring the effects of the experimental teaching practice.Hence,this study intends to answer the following questions.(1)What is the influence of the participatory approach on the engagement of senior high school students in English test paper evaluation class?(2)What are the changes in students’ academic achievements after the application of the participatory approach?(3)What are the students’ feedback on the application of the participatory approach? Theoretical bases of this study involve Constructivism,Cooperative Learning and Learning Motivation.Questionnaire survey and classroom observation were adopted to investigate the changes in students’ classroom engagement in the experimental class.Tests were used to analyze whether there was any difference in academic performances between the experimental class and the control class before and after the experiment.Besides,semi-structured interviews were carried out to further understand students’ opinions and suggestions on the teaching experiment,and what influences the experiment had on their learning.The research results proved that the participatory approach exerted favourable effects on the English test paper evaluation in the county-level middle school to some extent.This approach facilitated students’ engagement in English test paper evaluation class,especially students’ Sense of Enjoyment in emotional engagement;students in experimental class made progress on their academic performance;most students showed optimistic attitudes toward the participatory approach in English test paper evaluation class,and their abilities of autonomous learning,cooperative learning and skills of text analysis,information search and processing,logical expression were promoted.And they demonstrated the use of meta-cognitive strategies,affective strategies in learning process.This study testifies the effectiveness of the participatory approach in English test paper evaluation class in a county-level high school with the purpose of improving the teachers’ understanding on the English test paper evaluation class,and further optimizing the process of English test paper evaluation class in which teachers can not only help students consolidate knowledge,but also develop students’ learning abilities.Besides,the English test paper evaluation class with the participatory approach require teachers’ superior competency of organized,management and flexibility.However,more convincing research results require a massive investigation on the current situation of English test paper evaluation class and a longer trial period.