Unveiling Assessment for Learning in Chinese University English-as-a-Foreign-Language Classrooms: Teacher and Student Perspectives

Abstract

Assessment for Learning (AfL), an assessment reform agenda arising from Anglophone culture, is believed to contribute greatly to student learning outcomes and learner autonomy. In recent years, the Chinese government introduced assessment reform initiatives to incorporate AfL in university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classrooms. However, little is known about how this imported policy has been implemented. This study, therefore, aims to investigate how the core AfL strategies are interpreted and implemented in Chinese university EFL classrooms. A mixed-methods design comprising two phases was utilised in the study. The first phase was a questionnaire-based quantitative survey to elicit Chinese university EFL teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the frequency of the AfL strategies used in their classrooms as well as the values they ascribed to each of these strategies. Data were collected by using two self-developed instruments—the Assessment for Learning Strategy Questionnaire for Teachers (AfLSQ-T) and the Assessment for Learning Strategy Questionnaire for Students (AfLSQ-S). A total of 409 teachers from eight universities in Northwest China and 1191 first- and second-year students from two of the eight universities responded to the two questionnaires. Findings showed that both teachers and students placed the lowest importance on student-led AfL strategy (peerand self-assessment), and they both reported the lowest level of practice for this strategy. The second phase qualitative study explored how Chinese EFL teachers understood and applied each AfL strategy in their instruction, how Chinese EFL students responded and were engaged in each strategy and, most importantly, what factors influenced their AfL practices. Three teachers, who had participated in the first-phase survey, together each with seven to eight of their students (in total 23 students), were invited to participate in the case study. Data collected from semi-structed interviews, focus groups, stimulated recall interviews, and classroom observations suggested that Chinese teachers did not appreciate the value of AfL in promoting student learning, and that their AfL practices were limited and superficial. Students also indicated resistance to AfL and did not engage fully in all the AfL strategies, especially peer-and self-assessment. Taken together, from the results of the two phases it was concluded that AfL in Chinese EFL classes is not fully valued and implemented. Teachers and students are hindered largely by contextual influences, including the long-standing examination tradition, the Confucian Heritage Cultural values in China, the lack of a trusting classroom atmosphere, and practical classroom-level constraints. In addition, some individual factors, such as teachers’ and students’ low levels of assessment literacy, as well as students’ low levels of self-efficacy also impeded teachers and students from embracing AfL in their classes. Chinese teacher educators are expected to strengthen teacher education programmes to enable teachers to fully understand the principles and theories underlying AfL as well as its value in enhance learning. They should also take into consideration the contextual realities and provide adequate practical and realistic guidance for teachers to adopt AfL in their classrooms. Furthermore, teachers are expected to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for the successful implementation of AfL and increase their confidence in their capabilities to take control of their own learning.