Reconstructing and Empowering Formative Assessment in University English Teaching Reform Based on the Production-Oriented Approach (POA): A Case Study of College English at Hunan Women’s University

Abstract

Grounded in the newly revised 2024 syllabi of College English A (I) and College English A (II) at Hunan Women’s University, and informed by the Hunan Provincial Educational Reform project titled “Research and Practice on a POA-Inspired College English Teaching Model in the Digital Era,” this study examines how the three foundational pillars of the Production-Oriented Approach (POA), namely, teaching philosophy, pedagogical hypotheses, and teaching procedures, structurally reshape formative assessment. The research identifies four systemic deficiencies in current university English formative assessment: (1) procedural assessment formalism; (2) ambiguous competence orientation; (3) fragmented feedback mechanisms; and (4) imbalanced teacher-student roles and responsibilities. Crucially, POA’s principle of Assessment for Learning (AfL) functions not as a peripheral evaluative add-on but as a central, generative engine that closes the learning loop, advances learners’ competence trajectories, and realizes the integration of learning and application. Drawing on the dual-course multilayered assessment framework, this paper systematically constructs a five-dimensional, POA-aligned formative assessment model, Goal-Task-Evidence-Feedback-Regulation, and leverages digital platforms (e.g., U-School, Pigai.org, and Chaoxing Learning Platform) to enable data-driven dynamic diagnosis and personalized pedagogical intervention. Empirical evidence demonstrates significant improvements across multiple domains: (1) language production quality (a 37.2% increase in logical coherence in writing; a 41.5% rise in strategic oral communication usage); (2) higher-order critical thinking (enhanced depth and nuance in cultural stance expression within critical writing); and (3) metacognitive autonomy in self-regulated learning (a 2.8-fold increase in frequency of goal-setting and self-monitoring behaviors). This study offers a theoretically robust and practically resilient paradigm for college English teaching reform in application-oriented universities of the new era.