Formative Assessment Notions in Email-based Language Learning: A Case Analysis

摘要

The paper reports the result of a small-scale study on an email-based reading and writing course at a Chinese college. The study aims to investigate the impact of the computer network on the implementation of formative assessment notions. The research draws on the four formative assessment principles summarized by Chao (1999) and discovers that those principles are not implemented evenly in practice. The analysis of the findings reveals that there is definitely room for formative assessment in the online language teaching and learning, but it is important to abandon the teacher-fronted tradition and recognize students' role as the real "executors" of learning.