Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Origins of the Study 1
1.2 Rationale of the Study 2
1.3 Research Questions 4
1.4 Methodological Approach of This Study 5
1.5 Organization of the Book 6
Chapter 2 Hong Kong English Assessment Reform:Impact on Students'Attitudes and Anxiety 7
2.1 Overview 7
2.2 Testing and Assessment in Hong Kong 7
2.2.1 Hong Kong Testing and Assessment System 7
2.2.2 Examination Culture in Hong Kong 9
2.2.3 The Paradigm Shift of Assessment System in Hong Kong 11
2.3 Theoretical Rationale of the Assessment Reform 13
2.3.1 Assessment for Learning 13
2.3.2 Formative Use of Summative Assessment 18
2.3.3 Teacher-based Assessment 22
2.4 The Reform:School-based Assessment 24
2.4.1 The Development and Rationale of SBA 25
2.4.2 The Format of SBA 27
2.4.3 Problems and Difficulties Confronting SBA 30
2.4.4 Students in SBA 33
2.5 The Impact of Assessment on Students 34
2.5.1 Testing and Motivation for Learning 34
2.5.2 The Impact of Teacher-based Assessment on Students 36
2.6 Students'Attitudes Towards Assessment 39
2.6.1 Students'Voices 40
2.6.2 Students'Conceptions of Assessment 41
2.6.3 Assessment Attitudes of Hong Kong Students 44
2.7 Anxiety in Assessment 45
2.7.1 The Prevalence of Anxiety in Assessment 45
2.7.2 What is anxiety？ 47
2.7.3 Anxiety:Positive or Negative？ 50
2.8 Summary 53
Chapter 3 Research Design 55
3.1 Introduction 55
3.2 Mixed Methodology 55
3.2.1 Methodological Considerations 55
3.2.2 Pragmatism and Mixed Methods Research 59
3.2.3 Mixed Methods Research Typology 60
3.3 Stage One—The Pilot Case Study 64
3.3.1 Overview 64
3.3.2 Research Questions 64
3.3.3 Research Methods 64
3.3.4 Summary 66
3.4 Stage Two—Large-scale Questionnaire 67
3.4.1 Overview 67
3.4.2 Research Questions 67
3.4.3 Data Collection 67
3.4.4 Data Analysis 70
3.4.5 Summary 70
3.5 Stage Three—Case Study 71
3.5.1 Overview 71
3.5.2 Research Questions 71
3.5.3 Data Collection 72
3.5.4 Data Analysis 75
3.5.5 Summary 76
3.6 Ethics Concems 76
3.7 Trustworthiness 77
3.7.1 Triangulation 77
3.7.2 Member Checks 78
3.7.3 Reflections on My Role as a Researcher 78
3.8 Summary 80
Chapter 4 Stage One—Ethnographic Case Study 81
4.1 Overview 81
4.2 The School Context 82
4.3 Mediation of the Teacher 83
4.3.1 Teaching Belief 84
4.3.2 Mediation of SBA—Underlying Principles 85
4.3.3 Mediation of SBA—Practice 88
4.3.4 Summary 93
4.4 Students'Voices in SBA 93
4.4.1 What did students think of SBA？ 93
4.4.2 How anxious were students about SBA？ 103
4.5 Summary 110
4.5.1 Summary of Findings 110
4.5.2 Implications for Further Stages 112
Chapter 5 Stage Two—Large-Scale Questionnaire 115
5.1 Overview 115
5.2 Development of the Major Instrument 115
5.2.1 Development Procedure 116
5.2.2 The Instrument 117
5.2.3 Summary 122
5.3 Questionnaire Pilot 122
5.3.1 Descriptive Analysis 123
5.3.2 Reliability 125
5.3.3 Correlations 126
5.3.4 Summary 128
5.4 Results of the Main Study 129
5.4.1 Background Information 129
5.4.2 Descriptive Analysis of Major Variables 131
5.4.3 Reliability and Factor Analysis 140
5.4.4 Correlation 146
5.4.5 Group Differences 149
5.4.6 Multiple Regression Analyses 152
5.5 Summary of Findings 154
5.5.1 Students'Attitudes Towards SBA 154
5.5.2 Students'Anxiety About SBA 157
5.5.3 The Relationship Between Attitudes Towards and Anxiety About SBA 158
5.5.4 Implications for the Next Stage 159
Chapter 6 Stage Three—Case Study in School B 161
6.1 Overview 161
6.2 The School 161
6.3 Teacher's Mediation of SBA 163
6.3.1 Teacher's Mediation of SBA—Principles 163
6.3.2 Teacher's Mediation of SBA—Practice 165
6.4 Students'Attitudes Towards SBA 170
6.4.1 Accountability 170
6.4.2 Improvement 171
6.5 Students'Anxiety About SBA 174
6.5.1 The School 174
6.5.2 TheTeacher 175
6.5.3 Class Atmosphere 180
6.6 Students'Preparation for SBA 182
6.6.1 Self-preparation 183
6.6.2 Peer Cooperation and Rehearsal 184
6.7 Summary of Findings 187
Chapter 7 Stage Three—Case Study in School C 189
7.1 Overview 189
7.2 The School 189
7.3 Teacher's Mediation of SBA 191
7.3.1 Teacher's Mediation of SBA—Principles 191
7.3.2 Teacher's Mediation of SBA—Practice 194
7.4 Students'Attitudes Towards SBA 199
7.4.1 Accountability 199
7.4.2 Improvement 203
7.4.3 Enjoyment 205
7.5 Students'Anxiety About SBA 206
7.5.1 The School 207
7.5.2 The Teacher 208
7.5.3 Class Atmosphere 210
7.6 Students'Preparation for SBA 212
7.6.1 Self-preparation 212
7.6.2 Rehearsal with Teachers 213
7.6.3 Peer Cooperation 214
7.6.4 Tutorial School 216
7.7 Summary of Findings 218
Chapter 8 Synthesizing Quantitative and Qualitative Findings 221
8.1 Overview 221
8.2 What were students'attitudes towards SBA？ 222
8.2.1 Improvement 222
8.2.2 Accountability 225
8.2.3 Enjoyment 229
8.2.4 Summary 230
8.3 To what extent did students experience anxiety in SBA？ 232
8.3.1 Anxiety About SBA 232
8.3.2 The Relationship Between Students'Attitudes towards and Anxi-etyAbout SBA 236
8.3.3 Summary 238
8.4 How did the contextual conditions affect students'attitudes towards and anxiety about SBA？ 240
8.4.1 SBA Context at the School Level 241
8.4.2 Teachers'Mediation of SBA 243
8.4.3 Summary 251
8.5 Summary 252
Chapter 9 Conclusion 253
9.1 Introduction 253
9.2 Students'Perspectives on SBA 253
9.3 Complexity of Assessment Impact 256
9.4 Implications 262
9.5 Limitations and Further Research 267
References 271
Appendix 1:The Questionnaire Used in Stage Two 288
Appendix 2:SBA Assessment Criteria 294
Appendix 3:SBA Assessment Record 299
Appendix 4:Factor Loadings for Items in Students'Attitudes Towards SBA 302
Appendix 5:Item-level Reliability Statistics 303