Implementation of curriculum-embedded formative assessments in two English for academic purposes writing courses in Hong Kong

Abstract

Formative assessment has been increasingly acknowledged as a powerful instrument to facilitate students' learning across disciplines and levels of education. However, it is a relatively new concept in second language (L2) writing. In fact, some key formative assessment strategies such as teacher providing feedback on students’ drafts and students evaluating their own works have been widely used in L2 writing classrooms; however, the literature on L2 writing has rarely examined these strategies from the perspective of formative assessment. Therefore, this study aimed to fill the gap by drawing on the formative assessment literature to examine some writing instructional strategies in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.

A two-phase qualitative study design was adopted for the investigation. The first phase aimed to understand what curriculum-embedded formative assessments (CEFAs) were conducted in 2 EAP courses to facilitate students’ learning of essay writing and how the teachers and students experienced and perceived the CEFAs. Participants were 2 teachers and 12 of their students in 2 first-year EAP classes in a university in Hong Kong. The main data sources included classroom observation, semi-structured teacher interviews and student interviews, and relevant documents such as students drafts, peer evaluation forms, course handbooks, classroom handouts, and relevant university documents. The second phase of the study, conducted approximately 5 months after the first one, was focused on the participants’ reflection on the practices and usefulness of the CEFAs. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the 2 participant teachers, 7 of the participant students, and a coordinator of one of the concerned EAP courses. The findings revealed that 3 kinds of formative assessment strategies were conducted to varying extents in the classes: evaluation of a sample essay, teacher feedback on students' first drafts, and students' peer evaluation. The thesis described how these strategies were conducted in the two classes, how the students were engaged in them, and how the teachers and students perceived them. A qualitative analysis of the data identified 6 factors influencing the implementation of CEFAs in the EAP writing classrooms, which were teacher factors, student factors, classroom atmosphere, curriculum factors, impact of summative assessment, and sociocultural factors. This study builds a bridge between two significant fields of research, that is, formative assessment and L2 writing instructions. The findings add new perspectives to both fields. The identification of the factors that influence the practices of CEFAs in EAP writing in Hong Kong may provide an exploratory framework for understanding the implementation of CEFAs within similar contexts. Finally, the study may raise EAP writing teachers’ awareness of effective ways to conduct formative assessments.