Formative assessment originated and developed in a Western context.With its function of learning improvement being evidenced in research,formative assessment has been adopted in assessment initiatives in multiple cont...Formative assessment originated and developed in a Western context.With its function of learning improvement being evidenced in research,formative assessment has been adopted in assessment initiatives in multiple contexts including that of China.Research,however,reveals that formative assessment as implemented in Chinese contexts is by no means equivalent to what is understood and implemented in the West;rather,in many cases,it is decontextualised and recontextualised,or culturally appropriated.This paper presents findings of a study which examined the culturally appropriated representation of formative assessment within eight universities in a mid-western province of China.Senior administrators in each university were interviewed face-to-face and individually to fulfill three purposes:(1)To clarify understandings of formative assessment in the area of college English education;(2)To explore the existing gap between formative assessment principles and their representation in College English Curriculum Requirements(CECR),and the gap between formative assessment initiatives at the national level and local contexts;and(3)To distill implications for policy-borrowing and effective implementation in the Chinese context.展开更多
This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 fi...This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 first year junior secondary school pupils (247 boys and 228 girls) were surveyed about their strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Sixteen pupils (8 boys and 8 girls) participated in paired semi-structured interviews about their experiences of learning English vocabulary. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on language learning, the inquiry established the interconnections between the participants' strategy use and beliefs and identified the roles that agency played in their vocabulary learning. The analysis of interview data further revealed that the participants' strategy use emerged from interaction between their agency and the mediation of contextual resources and social agents including parents and teachers. These findings suggest that it is important for language teachers to collaborate with social agents such as parents in their efforts to support young learners' strategic vocabulary learning.展开更多
基金supported by the Shanxi Scholarship Council(No.2012-019).
文摘Formative assessment originated and developed in a Western context.With its function of learning improvement being evidenced in research,formative assessment has been adopted in assessment initiatives in multiple contexts including that of China.Research,however,reveals that formative assessment as implemented in Chinese contexts is by no means equivalent to what is understood and implemented in the West;rather,in many cases,it is decontextualised and recontextualised,or culturally appropriated.This paper presents findings of a study which examined the culturally appropriated representation of formative assessment within eight universities in a mid-western province of China.Senior administrators in each university were interviewed face-to-face and individually to fulfill three purposes:(1)To clarify understandings of formative assessment in the area of college English education;(2)To explore the existing gap between formative assessment principles and their representation in College English Curriculum Requirements(CECR),and the gap between formative assessment initiatives at the national level and local contexts;and(3)To distill implications for policy-borrowing and effective implementation in the Chinese context.
文摘This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 first year junior secondary school pupils (247 boys and 228 girls) were surveyed about their strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Sixteen pupils (8 boys and 8 girls) participated in paired semi-structured interviews about their experiences of learning English vocabulary. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on language learning, the inquiry established the interconnections between the participants' strategy use and beliefs and identified the roles that agency played in their vocabulary learning. The analysis of interview data further revealed that the participants' strategy use emerged from interaction between their agency and the mediation of contextual resources and social agents including parents and teachers. These findings suggest that it is important for language teachers to collaborate with social agents such as parents in their efforts to support young learners' strategic vocabulary learning.