Problems and Measures for English Teaching Assessment in Primary and Junior Middle School

張玉秀

【Abstract】John Cowan says that “Assessment is the engine which drives students in learning.” And New Curriculum Standard for English emphasizes the importance of Assessment reform to the reform of class teaching and curriculum. This paper mainly analyses problems existing in primary and middle school and explores measures needed.

【Key words】primary and middle school； English teaching and learning； assessment

I. A brief introduction to English teaching assessment

Teaching assessment is the process of collecting， comprehending and analyzing information and evaluating teaching process and results according to requirements of teaching objectives and principles. According to the purpose of assessment， there are three types in teaching assessment： diagnostic assessment， formative assessment and summative assessment. Teaching assessment scientifically and effectively is an important element of the teaching activity. How to use it properly and correctly plays an important part in improving our education quality.

II. Problems existed in traditional Assessment

More and more Chinese students learn English as a foreign language， so the Chinese Ministry of Education pays much attention to English teaching in China. Although under this circumstance， English teaching is still far from satisfaction. There isn't a satisfaction in target， content， methods and types in assessment， the concrete manifestation of which is in following aspects：

For a long time， because people misunderstand English teaching task in basic education stage， and treat examination as the main means of assessment for teachers teaching effect and students academic achievement so the goal of assessment is to pursuit ranking and high scores and promotion rate.

The main way to evaluate the quality of students' English learning is test understanding this can only evaluate students after the completed part of learning content and achieve learning objectives but not in the process of learning.

Teaching assessment tends to focus only on the cognition of students and only pays attention to factors about intelligence related to assessment and memory and thinking， while ignoring non-intellectual factors， such as assessments on learning interest learning attitude and learning habits， which has a strong connection with English learning activities and effects. Therefore， to evaluate basic stage of English learning， students should not only reach assessment standard， but also conduct comprehensive non-intellectual factors to test and analyze.

The above points help us to understand acknowledge clearly disadvantages and shortcomings of the past China's English teaching assessment.

III. Measures to reform English teaching assessment

The traditional teaching assessment is lack of advanced educational concepts to support and evaluate which are often confused with concept of examination and test. So assessment focuses only on students' learning results. Assessment can be reflected in the following aspects：

It is important to pay attention to students' emotional evaluation from neglecting emotional assessment. In the past， teaching assessment only pays attention to the development of students' cognition； some people think that study of theory is irrelevant with emotion. In fact， it is a misunderstanding.

As we all know， interest is the best teacher. More importantly， any subject is not only composed of a knowledge system of concepts and principles， but also by a system of nature and social attitudes. As for English， it cannot be taught without the knowledge of vocabulary and grammar behind which hides natural and social views， attitudes and values about world.

IV. Conclusions and Implications

Traditional assessment are using exam or test and comments on students by teachers. There isn't a satisfaction in target， content， methods and types in assessment and some measures can help reform English teaching assessment， but there is still a long way to go.

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