Relationship Between Assessment for Learning and English Learning Motivation of University Students in Blended Learning Environment

Abstract

Recently, assessment for learning (AFL) has gained increasing popularity by researchers worldwide. It is generally accepted that AFL enables students to optimize their learning process and improve their learning proficiency through various informal assessment. This study aims at investigating the relationship between AFL and English learning motivation at university level as well as students' perceptions of this kind of assessment in a blended learning course. Blended learning combines the advantages of traditional face-to-face classroom teaching with online learning in order to provide a better learning environment. Both quantitative and qualitative method were used in the study. The quantitative data comes from two questionnaires: Assessment for Learning Questionnaire for Students which consist of Monitoring and Scaffolding part was used to investigate students' perceptions of assessment for learning and the Motivation Subscale of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire was selected as the instrument to measure students' motivation, which was furthered divided into value component, expectancy component and affective component. 115 university students from Hubei Province of China completed the two questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with the selected 6 students. The results of correlation analysis show that intrinsic goal orientation and task value of value component is positively correlated with AFL. Expectancy component is positively correlated with AFL. There is no significant correlation between extrinsic goal orientation and AFL. AFL is not significantly associated with test anxiety. Both monitoring and scaffolding factors contribute to the increase of students' motivation. Results of the interviews indicate that students with high language proficiency are more willing to accept AFL. It is suggested that AFL should be advocated and applied in teaching language course in China. Future studies are needed to investigate the influence of AFL on students' learning outcome in an all-around way.

Evaluation of the Effect of an In-Service Training Program on Assessment for Learning for English Language Teachers

“…Thus, time management is a crucial point in teaching which should be planned carefully to make AfL as a part of their teaching. 'Students' proficiency levels' was also uncovered, and this result is consistent with the results revealed in the study of Lu and Mustapha (2020) suggesting that students with higher proficiency levels indicated higher levels of desire for accepting and practicing AfL. However, several AfL techniques, some of which were presented in the scope of the training in the current study, can be implemented for groups of students with different proficiency levels.…”

“…In the field of teaching English as a second or additional language, taking the advantage of assessment has been discussed for improving learning for nearly 10 years (Davison, 2019). The role of Assessment for Learning' has received increased attention across a number of disciplines and an interest has been growing in studies of English Language Teaching (Cindrić & Pavić, 2017;Ghaffar et al, 2020;Lu & Mustapha, 2020;Nasr et al, 2018;Nasr et al, 2019;Nasr et al, 2020;Umar, 2018;Vattøy, 2020;Xu & Harfitt, 2019). For achieving successful AfL implementation, two requirements have been reported for teachers: "(1) to develop their AfL skills and (2) to ensure that students will respond positively to the activation to develop their skills required in learning" (Alonzo, 2016, p. 46).…”