Addressing challenges in the implementation of formative assessment in a lower primary school Chinese language classroom

Abstract

Formative assessment plays a significant role in the education field, and has been proven as an effective approach to raise standards of teaching and learning across different subjects, different age groups, and different countries, especially in the main Anglophone countries. However, it remains uncertain how formative assessment can be implemented in Chinese language classrooms in international school contexts. This thesis aims to develop the implementation of formative assessment in a lower primary school Chinese language classroom; explore the possibilities and limitations of such implementation; and investigate the main factors that seem to support or impede the implementation of formative assessment.

The selected formative assessment strategies focus on eliciting evidence of learners’ achievement, and activating students as instructional resources for one another. Data were collected over an entire academic year. Qualitative data were collected through multiple research methods, such as journaling, observation field notes, focus group interviews, documentary analysis, and draw-a-picture technique with one-on-one interviews. Three instructional leaders of that school were invited as my “critical friends” to observe my classes and provide feedback on how formative assessment issues have been handled. As this study is an insider research, managing subjectivity is a crucial issue. Triangulation, prolonged engagement in the field, thick description, and the views of the critical friends are used to enhance the trustworthiness of the study.

The findings show that using questioning, flashcard games, one-on-one interviews, checklist and observation notes are potentially effective means to elicit students’ learning evidence. There are also many different ways of using evidence collected to plan for individual, small group or whole group instruction. Peer tutoring and peer assessment are the key strategies of activating students as instructional resources for one another. Using think-pair-share, learning centers, small group role plays, and TAG (Tell one thing you like; Ask a question; Give a suggestion) are examples of these techniques. Data shows that peer tutoring and peer assessment can help create a more positive learning environment, especially when students and their partners have relatively similar Chinese language abilities. For the areas of interpersonal relationships and personal and social development, data shows the main concern is about the gender issue in partnership arrangements. Working with a different gendered partner creates concerns about appropriateness and effectiveness, or feelings of boredom.

In this study, changes made are elaborated from the themes of improving practice, improving understanding of practice, and improving the work place. The factors that seem to support or impede the implementation of formative assessment have been categorized and explained from the level of personal domain of teachers, the level of the change environment of local school forces, and the level of learners in this study.

The significance of this study lies in four main areas. First, it opens up new possibilities for formative assessment implementation through filling in the gap of exploring how formative assessment can be implemented in Chinese language classrooms in international school contexts. Second, it deepens the discussion on the interconnectedness of formative assessment with teaching and learning as an embedded approach. Third, it contributes to the study of formative assessment enactment as a continuum by analyzing the positioning of this practice on the formative assessment continuum. Lastly, it establishes a three-dimensional framework of factors impacting on formative assessment based on a previous two-dimensional framework.