Enhancing Learning-Oriented Assessment Through the Practical Application of CEFR Descriptors

The purpose of this action research is to revise an existing evaluation sheet being used in a university discussion course in order to increase its value for learning. When an assessment task is learning oriented, the primary objective is not to rank students or evaluate the quality of a course, but to allow teachers and students to clearly see the extent to which learning goals have been achieved, so that progress can be made toward the next level of achievement. This can be done through the effective provision of feedback, which includes self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment. In order to facilitate such feedback, an evaluation sheet for a transcript task had been created, yet was deficient in a number of areas. This study addressed two research questions. Firstly, how can the CEFR descriptors be adopted and applied to the current evaluation sheet to increase its value for learning? Secondly, to what extent do students and teachers view the revised evaluation sheet as useful for learning? The revised evaluation sheet was firstly implemented in one discussion class, and then scaled up and implemented across an additional seven classes. Data were gathered from the sheets themselves, a student questionnaire survey, and a teacher online survey. Results suggest that the revised evaluation sheet helped students understand the goals of the course and evaluate their own learning, and that students viewed the sheets as useful for learning.