EFL Class Assessment for Secondary School Students

【Abstract】The school teaching work is the main form of the classroom teaching reform， classroom teaching， improving teaching quality， to the classroom teaching scientific assessment of the most attention， is our task. The new standard advocate carry open learning way， the interactive classroom mode， built equality， democracy and relaxed classroom atmosphere， the student get quite big the initiative and have more self-expression， self-development opportunities.

【Key words】EFL class teaching assessment； current situations； formative assessment； alternative assessment； scientific English class teaching assessment system

1. Introduction

Assessment is a way using scientific methods to check students’ work and the process of classroom teaching according to specific learning objectives. For English assessment research， traditional ways of assessments largely ignored students’ motivation and creation. Scientific teaching assessment is good for teachers and students to examine their teaching activities or their learning results. Through researching the present situation of teaching assessment in the eyes of new curriculum standard， it will be beneficial for the new understanding of classroom teaching and the educational theory can become more abundant.

2. English Curriculum Standard about Assessment

2.1 Ensure that students are the subjects of assessment

Assessment should help students know their own progress， develop self-confidence， reflect on and adjust their own study process， thereby ensuring the continuous development of their language ability. Teachers should help students carry out self-assessment.

2.2 Make sure formative assessment plays a role in student development

Formative assessment should check the students’ learning outcomes， attitudes and strategies during the everyday learning process. It helps students develop from passive objects of assessment to active participants in the assessment process.

2.3 Make sure assessment methods are varied and flexible

Teachers must select assessment methods suitable for the age of the students and the learning conditions. During formal assessment teachers should permit students to select assessment methods that suit their characteristics or strengths. If students get unsatisfactory results during a certain test they should be allowed to negotiate with the teacher to retake the test after sufficient preparation.

3. Strategies

In order to improve the current situations， effective measures should be targeted token immediately. In this part， the author pays attention to how to do teaching assessment in various ways.

3.1 Assessing the Instruction

Firstly， teachers should change their traditional concepts of teaching and promote the comprehensive changes of them. Teachers play very crucial roles in the process of teaching such as conductor， designer， initiator and manager.

Secondly， teachers should activate students’ motivations and interests towards assessment. （Brown， 2004） There is no denying that interest is the best initiator and new English curriculum standard put interest in a very important position.

Thirdly， English teachers should take the following aspects as the elements of their self-reflection： language knowledge， language skill， blackboard design and writing， computer aided instruction ability， classroom management， lesson plan， the love of education， students-oriented mode and so on.

3.2 Assessing the Learner

Students are the subject in the process of teaching. Their performances of speech acts ability should be emphasized and summative and formative assessment should be coexisted in the teaching process.

Firstly， according to the new English curriculum， there are five dimensions about learning objectives which are language knowledge， language skills， cultural awareness， emotions and attitudes and learning strategies. The latter three are not easily tested only through summative assessment. （Ellis， 1994） Therefore， in order to judge students’ English proficiency in a holistic and scientific way， students’ portfolio system is used to keep assessment records of each student， they can easily see their own progress， and since portfolios feature the best of student’s work， the assessment procedures become highly motivating for students.

Secondly， self-assessment is a good way for students to evaluate their own learning process under the instruction of some specific principles. （Liu jianchao& Xu Haiyong， 2010） It gives learners chances to evaluate their learning proficiencies and it is of vital importance for learners to have a reasonable resolution of their future learning.

Furthermore， peer assessment is also a creative method for students to evaluate their learning strategies， learning attitudes， self-development by sharing or comparing their learning behavior with others.

3.3 Establishing a Scientific Assessment System

In order to totally change those negative situations， it is time to take effective actions to establish a more scientific system of assessment. Firstly， content of assessment should be improved. It should include the following elements： learning interests； the development of learners’ emotions， attitudes and strategies； language knowledge； language skills. Formative assessment is good to help form or shape learners’ ongoing understanding or skills while the teacher and learners still have opportunities to interact for the purpose of repair and improvement. Students’ portfolio system which are composed of an introductory section， an academic works section， a personal section and an assessment section （2） The records of situations of various learning activities such as answering questions in class， group work performance， learning behaviors during one English class， raising difficult questions to teachers.

Secondly， make sure assessment methods are varied and flexible. Teachers must select assessment methods suitable for the age of the students and the learning conditions. Alternative assessment is a scientific way of assessment whose procedures are based on activities that have authentic communicative function rather than ones with little or no intrinsic communicative value.

4. Conclusions

In contemporary language teaching， learners should be trained systematically in ways of assessing their own learning progress. Learners can identify their own strengths better and know where they need more help from teachers. Portfolios of work are being accepted by teachers and educational institutions. Student-centered records of work can be built over time. These records have some purposes. In the first place， they serve to remind learners of the content covered in the unit. Secondly， they provide a record of achievement， and remind learners of work still to be done. And most importantly， they develop skills in self-assessment and self-evaluation that are important ingredients in a learner-oriented instructional system.

References：

[1]Ellis，R.The study of Second Language Acquisition[M].Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press，1994.

[2]H.D.Brown.Principles of Language Learning and Teaching[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2004.

[3]刘建超，徐海勇.新课程背景下英语课堂教学评价策略研究[J].金色年华：下，2010（11）.